ABSTRACT
Sun Yat-sen studies have a history of 60 years. The period from 1949 to 1966 is the initial stage of Sun Yat-sen research. During this stage, scholars had striven to make an objective and fair evaluation of Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary thought and contributions under the guidance of Marxism, which was a kind of exploration, and also the start of the qualitative research. As for Sun Yat-sen’s view of society and history, most researchers agreed with Mao Zedong’s assertion that the world view of the Three People’s Principles is the so-called historical view centering on people’s livelihood. On the characteristics of the constitution of Sun’s cultural thoughts, some scholars cited Sun Yat-sen’s self-statement and summarized it as “following conventions and traditions”, naturalization and innovation. Some scholars thought that Sun was “a master and pioneer in advocating opening up and utilizing foreign investment in the modern and contemporary history of China”.
