But the continuous invasions by foreign imperial colonial powers in the 19th centuryhad dragged the middle kingdom into an abyss of suffering and backwardness.which in turn intensified the Chinese people's yearnings for peace and harmony.The resentment against the imperial colonial powersand the sense of historic injusticecontinued to fester and inspire the revolutionary forces within China.The weakened Qing Dynasty continued to disintegrate during the Hsinhai Revolution,finally collapsing after the Wuchang Uprising of 1911.Having ruled China since 1644the Qing Dynasty was replaced by the Republic of China,which was formally established on January 1, 1912.This ended over 2000 years of imperial rule in China.The much revered revolutionary, Doctor Sun Yat-Sen,was the first president and the founding father of the Republic of China.He received his medical degree from the University of Hong Kong,and had extensively traveled in the west.Doctor Sun's political philosophy is known as the Three Principles of the People,Nationalism, Democracy and the People's Livelihood.Doctor Sun passed away in 1925.
