The leader of the revolution, Sun Yat Sen. He was born in Zhongshan, China, in 1866. He was Christian, and from the age of twelve, he attended British colleges in Hong Kong and American institutions in Hawaii. He had traveled extensively for many years, and what he observed in developed nations like Britain and Japan led him to believe that China was underdeveloped and weak. Sun held that the Manchu dynasty needed to be overthrown for China to modernize. Sun established a number of covert organizations with the intention of violently ousting the Manchus. He was the leader of the "Revive China Society" from 1894 to 1905. In 1905, he created the "Tongmenghui," which means "Sworn Chinese Brotherhood."
He was forced into exile in the years 1895-1911 because of his anti-government views, but this did not stop them from spreading across China. Many young people followed his views, especially those who had traveled to Japan to complete their education and scholarships that the government had introduced as part of their educational reforms.
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