Dr. Sun Yat-sen is a great national hero and patriot, and the great forerunner of the Chinese democratic revolution. He devoted his life to the revolution, and made remarkable contributions to the Chinese nation. His glorious achievements and great thoughts are valuable wealth of the Chinese nation and even mankind. As a memorial of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, our museum is committed to conduct research on Dr. Sun Yat-sen and his thoughts, and has made a series of achievements, as outlined below:

1. Research topics

We carry out academic research with the theme of “Dr. Sun Yat-sen and the social and historical environment in which he grew up”, mainly including research on the social background of Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s birth and growth (including Cantonese culture, the folklore of the Pearl River Delta, and the history of overseas Chinese); research on Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s life experiences; research on Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s family, relatives and descendants; research on Dr. Sun Yat-sen and his contemporary figures (especially of Zhongshan origin); research on cultural relics related to Dr. Sun Yat-sen; research on Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s thoughts; and research on relevant museum operations and visitor services.

2. Academic forces

In order to further strengthen and promote academic research, we have introduced and trained a number of senior and intermediate researchers in history, museology, foreign languages, etc., created a rational academic echelon, and established partnerships with universities (Sun Yat-sen University) and research institutes (Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences). On November 12, 2002, we established the Zhongshan Institute for Dr. Sun Yat-sen Studies, which has become an important academic institution and force of studying and commemorating Dr. Sun Yat-sen. On February 21, 2017, the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences established the Institute for Dr. Sun Yat-sen Studies at our museum as a state-level research institute and a new-type think tank jointly established with the locality which are based on the locality, history and research, and oriented to the world, the present and applications, thereby striving to build a national first-class and globally well-known research, information and academic exchange center and a synergetic innovation and talent training base, so as to deepen studies on Dr. Sun Yat-sen and modern China, create fundamental and applied academic achievements for decision making by the government, and provide theoretical and intellectual support to develop Chinese culture.

3. Literature

To support academic research, we have established Dr. Sun Yat-sen Library to collect and preserve his works, research monographs, relevant literature and research information, and set up relevant databases to lay a foundation for our researches. The library currently keeps over 100,000 books, and 10,000 gigabytes (10,000G)of electronic data including Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s databases and periodical databases, forming Dr. Sun Yat-sen Research Information Center that combines collected cultural relics, files, books and other traditional literature with modern electronic data.

Currently, Dr. Sun Yat-sen Research Information Center has the following databases: 1) Chinese general library of academic resources; 2) database of full texts of periodicals in the late Qing dynasty (1833~1911); 3) database of full texts of periodicals in the Republican China period (1911~1949); 4) collection of Chinese cultural and historical materials; 5) Dr. Sun Yat-sen database; 6) database of Zhongshan files in the Republican China period; 7) database of Dr. Sun Yat-sen audios and videos; 8) database of full texts of Shun Pao; and 9) collection of ancient local annals of China.

4. Academic achievements

In recent years, we have published a number of academic research achievements around our research topics, including: 1) editing and publication of Series of Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Works (chief editors Huang Yan and Xiao Runjun, Guangdong People’s Publishing House), in which 20 works are to be published, and 12 already published, including The Three People’s Principles, Overall Plan for Founding the State, Overall Plan for the Revolution, Autobiography and Narrative of Revolutionary Experiences, Important Papers before the 1911 Revolution, On the Three People’s Principles and the Five-power Constitution, On People’s Livelihoods and Socialism, On Rule by the People and Local Autonomy, On Reorganizing the Chinese Nationalist Party and Holding the First National Congress, Red Cross Ambulance First Law Theory (translated), On Military and Speaking to Soldiers, and On Farmers and Workers; 2) editing and publication of Historical and Cultural Series of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and Cuiheng (chief editor Xiao Runjun, Cultural Relics Press), in which the published books include Chronicle of Sun Mei, Li Xiangen’s Diaries- Collection of Poems, Cuiheng Village, Dr. Sun Yat-sen- As I Knew Him, Official Autonomy: Political Tutelage of Zhongshan as a Model County during 1929-1934, Manuscripts of Soong Ching-ling Research, New Essays on Cuiheng, New Collection of Dr. Sun Yat-sen Studies, Biography of Yao Guanshun- The Legendary Life of Dr. Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Lead Guard, Compilation of Dr. Sun Yat-sen Studies (1990-2015), Patriot and Revolutionist Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Study on Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Ancestral Origin and Family Background, etc.; 3)and other relevant academic works (omitted, as detailed on our official website).