sun yat-sen (孫逸仙 pinyin: sūn yìxiān; cantonese yale: syùn yaht-sìn) (november 12, 1866 - march 12, 1925) was a chinese revolutionary leader and statesman, the founder of the kuomintang and the first provisional president of the republic of china. in the 1930s he was posthumously given the title "father of the nation" (國父 guófù), which is currently used in taiwan. in the mainland, he is commonly referred to as the "forthgoer" (革命的先行者) and is mentioned by name in the preamble to
