The Light of Fraternity Spirit Reflecting on the Archwa

Now we are going to visit the must-see scenic spot in Nanjing, Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum.

Dr. Sun Yat-sen is a great forerunner of Chinese democratic revolution . He was born in a peasant family in Canton Province in 1866. Sponsored by his elder brother, he had primary education in Hawaii from 1878 to 1883.

As we know since the middle of the Qing Dynasty, China began to decline, Chinese people had to live a miserable life and they were referred to as the “ Sick Men of East Asia”by the westerners.

Dr. Sun Yat-sen dreamed to save the nation by practicing medicine. However, as time went on, he found a medical doctor could only cure some physical disease, but could not solve serious social problems. He gave up his profession and devoted himself to democratic revolution.

In 1905, he founded "Chinese Revolutionary League" and also put forward the three people’s principles, namely "Nationalism, Democracy, and People’s Livelihood".

Then he led “1911 Revolution”, which brought to an end of 2000-year-long feudal system in China.

On January 1st, 1912, he inaugurated in Nanjing as the president of the Republic of China.Unfortunately, suffered from liver cancer, Dr. Sun Yatsen passed away in Beijing at the age of 59.

You may ask why Dr. Sun Yat-sen was buried in Nanjing instead of in his hometown or Beijing where he died ?

H e r e i s the true story: one day in April, 1912, he went hunting at the site of present mausoleum with his friends. He was really amazed by the beautiful environment, so he said to them: “I wish I could be bestowed a piece of land by people and be buried here after my death.”

The mausoleum was designed by a young architect named Lv Yanzhi, in the shape of a liberty bell, intending to remind people never to get self-contented. The construction began in 1926 and was completed in 1931.

The park of mausoleum covers an area of 80,000 square meters. The whole architecture lies on the north-south axis with 392 steps and 10 platforms in between.

First, you can see a 12-metre high gateway with Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s handwriting “Fraternity”carved on its front top.

The 480-meter long tomb avenue leads to the main entrance tower roofed by blue-glazed tile. You can see Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s motto “The World Belongs to the People ”. Behind it, you can see the tablet pavilion which houses a huge tombstone which is engraved with “ Premier Dr. Sun is buried here by the Chinese Koumintang on June 1, 1929. ”

In the center of memorial hall sits the Italian white marble statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen.Beyond the memorial hall is the tomb vault. Visitors will bow to see Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s reclining marble statue with his body buried 5 meters underneath.

Dear friends, Dr. Sun Yat-sen is highly respected by Chinese people both from mainland and Taiwan. I firmly believe that he will smile in the heaven when we are united through peaceful means and China will be more prosperous and strong!

OK, you will have 20 minutes for photo-taking and free walk. And I will meet you in the centre of the square. See you then!

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博爱坊

博爱坊位于中山陵最南端半月广场处，是整个陵墓的开端。四柱三门的冲天式仿古石牌坊。高12米，宽17米，花岗岩石柱上盖有蓝色琉璃瓦，柱脚前后抱鼓石，牌坊上雕刻莲花瓣及和玺彩画等图案。在牌坊正中间有一块横匾，匾额上是中山先生亲手所书的“博爱”二字。博爱坊的名字由此而来。“博爱”取自于唐宋八大家之首的韩愈《原道》：“博爱之为仁也。”孙中山先生毕生致力于中国的资产阶级革命，为民族独立自由奋斗不息，可以说“博爱”二字是对先生伟大的革命精神最好的写照。

知识拓展

太平天国

太平天国（1851年—1864年）（其中“天”字两横上长下短；“囯”字内为“王”字），后期曾先后改称上帝天国、天父天兄天王太平天国。是清朝后期的一次由农民起义创建的农民政权，也是清朝历史上规模最大的农民战争。

1850年末至1851年初，由洪秀全、杨秀清、萧朝贵、冯云山、韦昌辉、石达开组成的领导集团在广西金田村发动反抗满清朝廷的武装起义，后建立“太平天囯”，并于1853年攻下金陵（今南京），定都于此，号称天京。1864年，太平天国首都天京被湘军攻陷，洪秀全之子、幼天王洪天贵福被俘。1872年，最后一支太平军部队，翼王石达开余部李文彩在贵州败亡，太平天国终结。

太平天国历时14年，达到了旧式农民战争的最高峰，不仅是中国历史上第一次在南方兴起而波及全中国的农民战争，也是世界历史上规模空前的一次农民战争。而且还开创了中国农民战争不少先例，例如中国农民起义第一次遭到中外势力共同镇压；利用西方宗教发动起义；反对资本帝国主义的侵略，并提出了一整套纲领、制度和政策等。 J+iTwtcfj0N1vuLYWzZkIhk9Q7c1ysueqWeTIbm3dkthY0lyTCzZtbPu8ueSHJcY