FOREWORD
the great Reformer, for so insurmountable was Sun's modesty that he had given out no detailed information concerning himself, and particularly of his early life. After much persuasion, in the summer of 1919, Dr. Sun consented to give to the author the time necessary to prepare the story of his life, and, indeed, did devote many days. (with the author) to the assembling of such material. But, alas! the modesty of the Chinese leader would always intervene at a crucial period; and because of his absolute silence upon dramatic situations, in which Dr. Sun was the central hero, it has been necessary to supplement the information given by the Chinese leader by gleanings from many sources, particularly from among the few survivors of the oldest members of his following. To these is owing much of the matter which may, by some, be termed eulogistic. Because of the various sources from which the subject-matter is drawn, it has been found difficult to organize the narration so that extraneous material, repetition, and hero-worship should not affect the biographical data. Another difficulty was that the biographical data could not be composed upon any Occidental pattern, for, among the Chinese, biographies are unknown as demanded by the man of the West. Still another difficulty was the coördinating of biographical
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