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Sun
Yat-sen's Address at the University of Hong Kong
"Why I Became
a Revolutionist?"
~ Extract from
The Hongkong Daily Press, February 20, 1923
~
Speeches
of Welcome
In welcoming the visitor, Mr Edward Ho Tung (Students' Union
President)
said Dr Sun's name was almost synonymous with that of the
China, and his
experiences, if written in book form, would make one of
the most fascinating romances ever written. -(Applause.)
If a love of liberty was a test of greatness, if a love
of one's country was a test of greatness, then Dr Sun would
be associated with the name of greatness itself. -(Loud
applause.) .....Dr Sun was a great Chinese, a true gentleman
and a large-hearted patriot. -(Applause.)
Dr
Sun Yat-sen's Address
Dr Sun Yat-sen, who received another ovation on rising to
speak, began by saying that he felt as though he had returned
home, because Hong Kong and its University were his intellectual
birthplace. He had not prepared a speech but thought he
would like to answer certain questions which had been put
to him many times and which, no doubt, many present would
also like to put to him. He had never before been able to
answer it properly, but he felt to-day that he was in a
position to answer. The question was "Where and how
did I get my revolutionary and modern ideas?" The answer
was, "I got my idea in this very place; in the Colony
of Hong Kong." - (Laughter and applause.) "I am
going to tell you," continued Dr Sun, "how I got
these ideas. More than thirty years ago I was studying in
Hong Kong and spent a great deal of spare time in walking
the streets of the Colony. Hong Kong impressed me a great
deal, because there was orderly calm and because there was
artistic work being done without interruption. I went to
my home in Heungshan twice a year and immediately noticed
the great difference. There was disorder instead of order,
insecurity instead of security.
His
Own Protector
When I arrived home I had to be my own policeman and my
own protector.
The first matter for my care was to see my rifle was in
order and to make sure plenty of ammunition was still left.
I had to prepare for action for the night. Each time it
was like this, year after year. I compared Heungshan with
Hong Kong and, although they are only 50 miles apart, the
difference of the Governments impressed me very much. Afterwards,
I saw the outside world and I began to wonder how, it was
that foreigners, that Englishmen could do such things as
they had done, for example, with the barren rock of Hong
Kong, within 70 or 80 years, while China, in 4,000 years,
had no places like Hong Kong."
Interesting Autobiographical Details
After he had studied all this, Dr Sun continued, he went
home to persuade the village elders to do the same thing,
on a small scale, - at least to clear the streets and make
a road to connect with the next village. The elders approved
but said, he have not got the money." He replied, "Labour
can we had. We young men can start the work." During
his stay at home he applied himself to sweep the street
and clean the road. (Applause.) And many young men followed
him. Immediately they began work outside the village, there
was trouble and at last he had to give up his idea of getting
Hong Kong on a small scale. - (Laughter.)
Later, he approached the magistrate of the district, who
was very sympathetic and promised to help during the next
vacation. But when that next vacation came round he found
that there was a new magistrate - a man who had paid $50,000
for the post and so the previous holder had been removed.
Studying
the Principles of Government
Such cases, one after another, impressed him and he returned
to Hong Kong and began to study the government. He found
that among the government officials corruption was the exception
and purity the rule. - (Applause.) - It was quite the contrary
in China, where corruption among officials was the rule.
- (Laughter.) He thought the Provisional Government would
be better and went to Canton. He found that the higher the
government the more corrupt it was. - (Laughter.) Finally
he went to Peking, but he found things there one hundred
times more corrupt and rotten than areas in Canton, and
he was forced to the opinion that, after all, village government
was the purest government in China. - (Applause.) He was
told that the good governments in E ngland and in Europe
were not at first natural to those places, but that men
had brought years ago there was just the same corruption,
just the same forgeries in the Courts, and the same cruelty.
But, he was told, Englishmen loved liberty and that Englishmen
had said. He shall no longer stand these things, we shall
change them." Then the idea came into his head. "Why
can we not change it in China?" - (Applause.) We must
imitate the same thing; we must change the government first,
before we can start anything. Without good government a
people could do nothing and in China "we had no government"
and were miserable for many centuries. "Immediately
after I graduated I saw" added Dr Sun "that it
was necessary to give up my profession of healing men and
take up my part to cure the country. ?(Loud applause.) That
is the answer to the question, where did I get my revolutionary
ideas: it is entirely in Hong Kong. - (Laughter.)
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