Festival honors the ‘Father of modern China’

Two parks and six statues in Hawaii honor a world-renowned history maker who’s unknown to many kamaaina. Dr. Sun Yat-sen led a revolution that ended thousands of years of imperial rule in China and led to the establishment of the Republic of China.

Between 1879 and 1910, Sun made six trips to Hawaii that ranged in duration from two months to four years. During his longest stay from June 1879 to July 1883, he was educated at Honolulu’s ‘Iolani School and Oahu College (which reverted to its original name, Punahou, in 1934).

“Sun Yat-sen was a respected physician, a courageous leader and a kind, humble man who never gave up on his dream of a new China,” said Busaba Yip, cultural director of the Wo Hing Museum & Cookhouse in Lahaina, who has been researching his life and accomplishments for 16 years. “He envisioned a strong, united country with a just democratic government that granted citizens equal opportunities for education, land rights and wealth. While democracy in China ultimately didn’t endure, China is a powerful player in world affairs today.”

Launched in 2012, the Sun Yat-sen Chinese Heritage Festival pays tribute to the man who’s hailed as the “father of modern China.”

Attendees can peruse exhibits about Sun and the Wo Hing Society, which was organized informally in the late 1800s and established in 1905 to help immigrant sugar plantation workers from China maintain ties with their motherland.

The society initially held meetings and social gatherings in a two-story building on Front Street in the late 1800s. Its second hall, which stands on the site today as the Wo Hing Museum, was completed in 1912.

Wo Hing Society records indicate its members supported Sun and the revolution and were among many Chinese people on Maui who donated money — sometimes their life savings — to fund it.

“We know Sun visited Lahaina, and it’s likely he held meetings about the revolution at the first Wo Hing Society hall, but they were kept secret and the society’s documents do not go into detail about them,” Yip said. “That’s because the emperor had spies on Maui; if the revolutionists were identified, they and their entire family would be killed. Only the most loyal of Sun’s followers knew when he would be in Lahaina, who attended his meetings here and where he stayed.”

Festival goers can learn more about Chinese history and culture by trying the traditional art of papercutting, enjoying musical performances featuring the Chinese bamboo flute and erhu, and watching demonstrations of calligraphy, acupressure massage and knot tying.

The Maui Academy of Performing Arts will present a 30-minute excerpt from “Mulan Jr.,” a one-act musical based on the 1998 Disney animated film “Mulan” about Hua Mulan, a legendary woman warrior. A presentation by Yip will focus on Sun’s life and accomplishments. Longtime Maui residents Carolyn Kam and Robert Santos, vice president of the Wo Hing Society, will discuss the stores their families owned and operated in Lahaina from 1915 to 1986 and 1909 to 1964, respectively.

After fulfilling their sugar plantation contracts in west Maui, many Chinese stayed to open businesses such as laundries, markets, restaurants, tailor shops, taro farms and poi factories.

“Although the festival is named after Sun Yat-sen, it also remembers those industrious immigrants,” Yip said. “Like Sun, they dreamed of a better life. And, like him, they achieved that through faith, hope, hard work and perseverance.”

Dr. Sun Yat-sen spent time in the isles

Dr. Sun Yat-sen was born in Cuiheng village, Guangdong, China, in 1866. His older brother, Sun Mei, came to Hawaii in 1871 at the age of 18, first working as a rice farmer on Oahu, then prospering as a merchant and cattle rancher on Maui. Thus, he was able to pay for his younger brother’s education at ‘Iolani School, Oahu College and Hong Kong Medical College.

Sun Mei was the biggest supporter of his brother’s revolution efforts, financially and ideologically. His 3,900-acre ranch in Kamaole (near the upcountry town of Keokea) served as the revolution’s headquarters on Maui.

When Sun Yat-sen’s first uprising against the Qing Dynasty failed in October 1895, he became the most wanted man in China. The following year, Sun Mei moved him and his family to his ranch to ensure their safety.

Nine subsequent revolts failed before he was finally successful in October 1911. Sun Yat-sen served as the founder and first provisional president of the Republic of China, which included mainland China and the island of Taiwan, until 1949 when Communists overthrew the government on the mainland and established the People’s Republic of China.

Sun died in Beijing in 1925. He is remembered on Maui with the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Park in Keokea, which occupies part of the site of Sun Mei’s ranch.

The Sun Yat-sen Foundation for Peace and Education (808ne.ws/2xVLS0p) donated the statues of Sun that stand there, at the Chinese Pavilion in Kepaniwai Park in Iao Valley and at Wo Hing Museum & Cookhouse in Lahaina.

Three more statues of Sun stand in Honolulu:

>> The Dr. Sun Yat-sen Hawaii Foundation (sunyatsenhawaii.org) donated the statue of Sun as a boy in the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Park next to Hawaii Theatre.

>> The statue beside the Chinese Cultural Plaza was a gift from the people of Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

>> The statue in the Chinese garden at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport was presented to the state of the Hawaii by the Hawaii Dr. Sun Yat-sen Centennial Memorial Committee to mark the 100th anniversary of Sun’s birth.

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.