%0 Journal Article
%T Sun Yat
%A Yue Du
%J Modern China
%@ 1552-6836
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0097700418787519
%X This article explores the significance of the cult of Sun Yat-sen, often referred to as ¡°Father of the [modern Chinese] Nation¡± ‡ø¸¸ (Guofu), for Nationalist state-building in China. Although Sun Yat-sen¡¯s title of Guofu was formalized only in 1940 as a result of competition over Nationalist Party (Guomindang, GMD) orthodoxy between opposing Nationalist regimes in Chongqing and Nanjing during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the term reflected the ongoing importance of Sun¡¯s legacy in securing political legitimacy in the Chinese Republic. Overall, the GMD promulgated state-sponsored veneration of the Guofu to justify its political tutelage in the name of parental guardianship over the Chinese people. Yet Sun¡¯s legacy allowed for multiple interpretations, which complicates any effort to lock this legacy to one political purpose. The development of different elements of the Guofu¡¯s legacy by competing wartime regimes shows how it failed to provide a truly unifying tool for political legitimation
%K nation-state building
%K Nationalist party-state
%K cult of Sun Yat-sen
%K Guofu
%K pater patriae
%K Second Sino-Japanese War
%K collaboration
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0097700418787519