Dignitaries from around the province gathered at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Guangzhou to mark the 147th anniversary of the birth of Sun Yat-sen yesterday.

There was an exhibition at the ceremony that stretched 120 metres titled “Sun Yat-sen and Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall” in which a copy of Sun’s medical records, the certificate of his marriage to Song Qingling, and items of clothing worn by Sun were on show, Chinanews reports. The items will be on exhibition at the hall for the rest of the year.

On the same day, The Memorial Museum of Generalissimo Sun Yat-sen’s Mansion hosted an exhibition titled “Zhang Binglin: A Scholarly Revolutionary.” As well as being a rebel like Sun, Zhang Binglin was one of the most important Chinese intellectuals of the early twentieth century. The exhibition involved a large number of historically significant items related to the lives of Zhang and Sun, such as letters they sent to each other and a letter from Chen Jiongming, another important revolutionary.

Sun Yat-sen is frequently described as “The Father of Modern China” and is unique in being exalted by the governments of both China and Taiwan. CNN describes him thus:

Sun’s philosophy, honed over many decades, boiled down to “Three Principles of the People”: nationalism, democracy and people’s livelihood. “Nationalism” involved the overthrow of the emperor and the ending of international hegemony over China; “democracy” meant a republican, elected form of government; “people’s livelihood” called for extensive land reform.

But there is also an argument that he is overrated as a historical figure. According to the biography by Marie-Claire Bergere, Sun was known in his own lifetime as an “impractical idealist.” His railway plans, though characteristically grandiose and hugely significant, did not fully take into account the difficulty of the terrain that lines would be built on.

Last year The Economist published a lengthy article arguing that the 1912 assassination of Sun’s friend turned “bitter rival” Song Jiaoren may have ended China’s chances of becoming a democracy. With his Jeffersonian ideals and admiration for Britain’s Parliament, the 30 year-old Song had just led the Nationalists to overwhelming success in the country’s first parliamentary elections. As he lay dying, he dictated a telegram urging Yuan Shikai to “promote democracy.”

Song may have had the political intelligence to make the Republic of China succeed.