Sun Yat-sen
Founding figure of the Republic of China, whose principle of the 'equalization of land rights' was directly influenced by Henry George and shaped Taiwan's land tax.
Overview
Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925) was the revolutionary leader regarded as the founding father of the Republic of China. Among his Three Principles of the People, the principle of minsheng (people's livelihood) included the "equalization of land rights" — a land policy directly shaped by Henry George's ideas.
Georgist Influence
Sun encountered George's work and explicitly endorsed capturing land-value increases for the public. He proposed that landowners self-declare land values, that the state tax those values, and that the increase in value over time be captured publicly — a scheme closely mirroring George's single tax and the self-assessment logic later seen in the Harberger tax.
Legacy
Sun's land principle became constitutional doctrine in the Republic of China and was implemented in Taiwan through the Land Value Increment Tax, making Sun the channel by which Georgist ideas reached East Asian land policy at national scale.
See Also
Sources
- Lincoln Institute (1998), "Policies and Mechanisms on Land Value Capture: Taiwan Case Study." PDF