From May 1-31, 2012, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York (TECO-NY) will be holding a photo exhibit featuring Sun Yat-sen in the Lower Concourse South in the Connecticut Legislative Office Building (300 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106-1591). The Exhibit, titled “Sun Yat-sen: His Life and Legacy,” presents rare images and stories from the life of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, a great revolutionary leader in modern East Asian history and the founding father of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

The founder and president of the first democratic republic in Asia, Dr. Sun Yat-sen was a revolutionary statesman who struggled for many years towards his dream of building a democracy that could bring lasting stability and prosperity to the Chinese people. Born in China in 1866, Dr. Sun was educated in the US from age 12 to 18. During his life, he returned to the US many times to promote his revolutionary ideals and was heavily influenced by his observations and studies of democracy. His experiences in the US had a profound bearing on his pursuit of founding a republic based on his Three Principles of the People: nationalism, democracy, and the people’s well-being. Sun’s Revive China Society, which he founded in Hawaii, was China’s first revolutionary political party. It later became the Kuomintang (the Nationalist Party or the KMT), the current ruling party in Taiwan.

Taiwan and Connecticut have enjoyed a sister state relationship since 1999, and have worked on promoting cultural, educational, and economic exchange. TECO-NY has held exhibitions at the Legislative building in the past, memorably last year during the 100 year anniversary of the founding of the ROC. It hopes to continue to enhance this already rich relationship by organizing cultural events and reaching out to local communities in Connecticut.

This photo exhibition is free and open to the public during the Legislative Office Building’s office hours. If you have any questions about the upcoming exhibit, please contact Karen Chu at Karen@taipei.org or by phone at 212-317-7355.