Origins
In 1894 when the Revive China Society was formed, Sun only had two principles: nationalism and democracy. He did not pick up the third idea, welfare, until his three years trip to Europe (1896-1898). He did not announce these ideas until spring of 1905 when he was in Europe again. Sun was in Brussels, and made the first speech of his life on the "Three Principles of the People". In many cities he was able to organize the Revive China Society. There were about 30 members in the branch at the time in Brussels, and 20 in Berlin, 10 in Paris. After the Tongmenghui was formed, Sun published an editorial in Min Bao (民報). This was the first time the ideas were expressed. Later on, in the anniversary issue of Min Bao, his long speech of the Three Principles were printed, and the editors of the newspaper discussed the problem of people's livelihood.
The ideology is said to be heavily influenced by Sun's experiences in the United States and contains elements of the American progressive movement and the thought championed by Abraham Lincoln. Sun credited a line from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, "government of the people, by the people, for the people," as an inspiration for the Three Principles.
Read more about this topic: Three Principles Of The People
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