Background
Mr. Sun Hung-i was born at Tientsin, Chihli province in 1870. He was a well known literati and reformer and was recognized as a leader of progressive parties.
Mr. Sun Hung-i was born at Tientsin, Chihli province in 1870. He was a well known literati and reformer and was recognized as a leader of progressive parties.
After taking high literary degrees under the Ching regime Mr. Sun was elected member of the Chihli Provincial Assembly. He gained a nation wide reputation in 1911 when he headed people’s representation of the whole country to demand of the Ching government to start constitutional government at once.
Mr. Sun had much to do with the first Revolution. After the establishment he organized the Democratic Party with headquarters at Shanghai. In 1912 he was elected a member of the First Parliament. After its dissolution by Yuan Shih-kai in January 1914 he went to Shanghai standing out as one of Yuan’s strongest opponents until 1916. In June 1916 he was appointed Minister of Education in Tuan Chi- jui’s Cabinet. In July 1916 he was transferred to be Minister of the Interior which post he held until November 1916.
Since his retirement, Mr. Sun lived at Shanghai working hard for the constitutional course. He was once appointed a cabinet minister in the Canton (Guangzhou) government. But after visiting Canton he decided not to accept the offer. He has been several times offered by the Peking government important portfolios in the cabinet but he has not accepted any. In spite of this he remained an important factor in China’s politics.