Abstract
Memorial services for Sun Yat-sen took place all over China in the weeks following his death. The assemblies, rallies, and parades, large and small, featured both old and new styles of public mourning, including tables laden with incense and ritual offerings of food, as well as flower arrangements and a performance by a girls' choir. Sun was described as a national hero exactly as he had represented himself. Popular acclaim in death was all the more remarkable since segments of the political elite and the press retained doubts about Sun's contributions to China and the revolution. On the other hand, many editorialists had nothing but praise for Sun, comparing him not only to Washington but also to Confucius, Jesus, and, more obscurely, Dr. Stockmann, the upright fictional scourge of the complacent in Henrik Ibsen's play, Enemy of the People. But anger still lingered in some quarters about Sun's military suppression of Guangzhou merchants.
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