Three Principles of the People

"San Min Chu-i" redirects here. For the national anthem of Taiwan, see National Anthem of the Republic of China.

Three Principles of the People
Sun Yat-sen, who developed the Three Principles of the People
Traditional Chinese	三民主義
Simplified Chinese	三民主义
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sānmín Zhǔyì Bopomofo ㄙㄢ ㄇㄧㄣˊ ㄓㄨˇ ㄧˋ Wade–Giles San1-min2 Chu3-i4 Tongyong Pinyin San-mín Jhǔ-yì IPA [sán.mǐn ʈʂù.î] other Mandarin Xiao'erjing صً مٍ ﺟُﻮْ ىِ Wu Wugniu sae1 min2 tsyu3 gni6 IPA Shanghainese: [se˥ min˨ tsɿ˧ ȵi˦] Hakka Romanization sam24 min11 zu31 ngi55 Yue: Cantonese Jyutping saam1 man4 zyu2 ji6 IPA [sam˥ mɐn˩ tsy˧˥ ji˨] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Sam-bîn Chú-gī

The Three Principles of the People (Chinese: 三民主義; pinyin: Sānmín Zhǔyì) refer to a nationalist, republican, anti-imperialist political ideology developed by Sun Yat-sen which consist of nationalism (民族主義), democracy (民權主義), and people's welfare (民生主義). The Principles were influenced by a broad set of influences, including Georgism, Marxism, and Chinese utopianism. Under Kuomintang rule, Sun's thought achieved canonical status as part of an overall cult of personality.

Aided by fellow members of his Tongmenghui, Sun first set forth the Principles in 1905, notably in a polemic published by the newly-founded party newspaper Minbao; later editions featured articles on the theme by Sun's associates. From January to August 1924, Sun delivered a series of weekly lectures on the Principles, which were later collected and published under the title The Three Principles of the People.

After Sun's death in 1925, the Kuomintang united China under its banner and established Sun's principles, as codified in the 1924 lectures and interpreted by party leader Chiang Kai-shek, were made the official ideology of the state. Under Communist rule, both Sun and his Principles were comparatively minimized, until Deng's era of reform, during which they were used to justify his Four Modernizations.