“Sun Yat-sen Culture” – Socio-Cultural Brand for the Greater Bay Area of China and the World Consolidation

Abstract

Introduction. This article is devoted to the description of the phenomenon named after the Chinese revolutionary and thinker Sun Yat-sen, who lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The image of this outstanding representative of the South Chinese Lingnan (Cantonese) culture has been actively used by the Chinese government for more than 15 years to unite the population of the urban cluster of the Greater Bay Area (Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau) of South China. The paper discusses the cultural and historical context, the personality of the politician himself, the prerequisites for his personal “culture” formation, as well as the methods and goals of popularizing the “Sun Yat-sen culture.” Methods and Materials. A wide range of recently published works by Chinese and foreign researchers and publicists on related topics were reviewed, analyzed, and theoretically compiled. Analysis. The author fills in the gaps in understanding the connection between the features of Sun Yat-sen’s image and the current tasks of the Chinese state. The characteristic features of the personality and the “Sun Yat-sen figure” have been determined, and its functions have been identified. Results. As a result of the application of general scientific methods, the author comes to the conclusion that the “Sun Yat-sen culture” is introduced as a regional brand, a role model, a showcase, and a personal cultural brand of South China. This brand is being transformed from local to regional and wider by means of state popularization. This happens with the aim of strengthening socio-cultural ties in the Greater Bay Area, with the prospect of further uniting representatives of the “Chinese world” and more. The article also shows examples of the means of socio-cultural brand popularization and touches upon its correlation with the idea of “discursive power” in modern China.