Song Jiaoren

Song Jiaoren was a republican revolutionary, political leader and a founder of the Kuomintang.

:: Lian
:Courtesy name: Dunchu

Biography

An anti-Qing dynasty revolutionary and follower of Huang Xing, in 1904, Song fled China for Japan, where he studied western political thought and made contacts among the expatriate Chinese student population and Japanese . During this period, Song was a close friend of Japanese nationalist thinker .

In 1905, together with Sun Yat-sen, Song helped found and was a leading activist in the ''Tongmenghui'' , which was an organization dedicated to the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and the formation of a republic. Song returned to China in 1910 after the Xinhai Revolution, and after the declaration of the Republic of China, Song helped transform the ''Tongmenghui'' into the Kuomintang . Song spoke out against the increasing authoritarianism of Chinese president Yuan Shikai, and expressed concerns towards Yuan’s indications that he would like to restore a to China with himself as emperor.

Song died of wounds from an assassination attempt on 20 March 1913 at a Shanghai rail station when he was planning to deliver speeches supporting a cabinet system. Followers of Yuan Shikai were speculated to be behind his shooting.