Wang Yuanyuan

    cheekywang@hotmail.com

    MORE than 200 collections of family belongings of Sun Wan and Tai En-sai, daughter and son-in-law of Sun Yat-sen, are on display in a new exhibit at Shenzhen Museum in Futian District.

    The collections feature photos, letters, diaries, stationary items, porcelain, jewelry and daily-use items, said Ye Yang, curator of the museum.

    Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese revolutionary and the first president and founding father of the Republic of China. As the foremost pioneer of the Republic of China, Sun is referred to as the “Father of the Nation” in the Republic of China, and as the “forerunner of democratic revolution” in the People’s Republic of China. He played an instrumental role in the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) during the Revolution of 1911 and later co-founded the Kuomintang (KMT), serving as its first leader.

    Sun planned his first uprising in October 1900 in Sanzhoutian, which is now Yantian District in Shenzhen.

    Sun Wan was Sun Yat-sen’s second daughter by Sun’s first wife, Lu Muzhen. She was born in 1896 and died in 1979. Sun Wan graduated from the University of California in the United States and lived overseas with Lu since she was a child. She returned to China after graduation and married Tai.

    Tai was born in 1894 in Guangdong Province and died in 1955 in Macao. He earned a doctoral degree at Columbia University and worked for the KMT government for about 20 years.

    The couple finally settled down in Macao in 1949 with Lu. The family was very close to Sun Yat-sen and Tai was one of the witnesses for Sun Yat-sen’s will.

    “Tai was very interested in collections, so he kept his family belongings very well. It was also very fortunate that the family’s belongings did not go into markets after their deaths,” Ye said. “Because of Tai’s interest, many precious relics were preserved, which provide us with very important resources to study the ‘First Family’ during the Republic of China period.”

    Shenzhen Museum has more than 1,700 collections of items belonging or related to Sun Wan and Tai. Many of them are closely related to Sun Yat-sen, such as photos and letters. The collections were donated by senior Chinese-American Situ Qian in 2008. Situ was an adopted daughter of Sun Wan and Tai, and spent most of her life with the couple in Macao.

    “Collections in this exhibition include the most valued and special items from Shenzhen Museum, Hong Kong Museum of History, Macao Museum, Guangdong Museum of Revolutionary Museum and the Memorial Museum of Generalissimo Sun Yat-sen,” Ye said.

    Several pieces, such as a bronze bowl with a Chinese character for “love,” a prime minister medal and a gold cross owned by Lu, are highlights of the exhibition.