He has the most prominent lineage in modern China and is the only son of Sun Yat-sen, the first president of the Republic of China. He once set up a separate government and wanted to protest with Chiang Kai-shek, but in his later years he cooperated with Chiang Kai-shek and became the chairman of Soochow University. His life has not been magnificent or earth-shattering, but his sensitive identity is destined to make him not ordinary. In this episode, let's take a look at the extraordinary life of the son of the "Father of the Nation".
As we all know, Sun Yat-sen had three wives in his lifetime, the most famous of which was Ms. Soong Ching Ling, the mother of the Republic of China. But unfortunately, although Sun Yat-sen and Soong Ching-ling have loved each other for many years, they have not had children. Instead, Sun Yat-sen's first two wives bore him three daughters and a son. Among them, the Japanese wife Kaoru Ōtsuki gave birth to a daughter for Sun Yat-sen, Miyagawa Fumiko, while his wife Lu Muzhen gave birth to two daughters and a son, Sun Jiao, Sun Wan, and Sun Ke. As the only son of Sun Yat-sen, Sun Ke was placed high hopes by Sun Yat-sen since he was a child, even if he was busy with the revolutionary cause, he never left sun ke's education behind.
In order not to let his actions affect his son, Sun Yat-sen sent Sun Ke to the United States to study when he was four years old. Sun Ke, who received nearly 20 years of Western education in the United States, grew up to join the League and returned to China after the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution. When the Republic of China government was established, he served as the secretary of the Grand Marshal's Office. A few years later, Liao Zhongkai proposed that Sun Ke be the first mayor of Guangzhou, and it was unanimously recognized. This has nothing to do with the fact that he is the son of Sun Yat-sen, but because Sun Ke has studied municipal management in the United States and published books on urban planning, he has a certain ability to assume the high-powered position of mayor of Guangzhou. Of course, it can also be said that everyone has high hopes for Sun Ke, after all, he is the son of the great president's family.
Although Sun Ke's administrative philosophy is not bad, when he really entered the official field, the administrative means were indebted to some fire, and he always did not have logistical and financial problems during his tenure. For example, in 1923, he was scolded by his father for preparing military salaries, and Hu Hanmin's truthful report was even more believed by him to provoke the relationship between their father and son, and he chose to beat Hu Hanmin with his cane in a fit of anger. When Sun Yat-sen saw this scene, he was furious and snatched the guard's gun and claimed to kill this contrarian. In the end, nothing happened under the obstruction of everyone, but it is not difficult for us to see that Sun Ke's mind and consideration are not very mature. For example, after the end of the Northern Expedition, Sun Ke served as the president of the Executive Yuan, but he had no choice but to resign because he could not solve the financial problems.
Within a few months, he and Wang Jingwei had formed a Nationalist government in Guangzhou, intending to protest against Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government in Nanjing. But it is ironic that this government ended up going out of business because he couldn't solve the fiscal problem. In desperation, Sun Ke could only return to Nanjing to join Chiang Kai-shek, but the relationship between the two has not been very good. Fast forward to 1949, when the army of the Nationalist government in Nanjing was completely defeated under the suppression of the People's Liberation Army, Sun Ke, who was the president of the Executive Yuan, actually wanted to force Chiang Kai-shek to take the initiative to ask for negotiations with the People's Liberation Army. However, the negotiations eventually failed, Chiang Kai-shek was defeated in Taiwan, and Sun Ke also chose to go to France because of his contradictions with Chiang Kai-shek, and eventually moved to the United States because his children were all in the United States. At this time, Sun Ke, who quit the political arena, was again embarrassed by the family's economic problems, although he was in a high position and had been an official for many years, but his habit of not saving private wealth was indeed well inherited from Dr. Sun Yat-sen. As an official for half his life, he has always had a very clean style, and he has always had no worries about food and clothing, but at this time, because he did not have much savings and no income, he could only live a poor life abroad.
When Sun Ke and his wife were in the United States, they did not say that there were no servants to serve, and they even needed to grow their own vegetables, wash and cook. Chiang Kai-shek, who learned of Sun Ke's recent situation, invited him back to Taiwan in 1965 and made him the dean of the examination institute and the chairman of Soochow University. Although these positions do not have any real power, the income is still not low. It can be seen that Chiang Kai-shek still remembers his old feelings, and he is still good to him. In 1973, Sun Ke died of illness in Taipei at the age of 82.
When we look at Sun Ke's life, we can only say that he is lucky but unfortunate. He was fortunate because his father was Sun Yat-sen, who was already at the peak of his life as soon as he was born. But it is precisely because of his illustrious life that he has been forcibly given many heavy responsibilities that he cannot reach. His political career is not a success or a failure, but his unique personality and good style habits are still worth learning.