Sun Yat-sen was born on 12 November 1866 to a Cantonese Hakka family
in the village of Cuiheng, Xiangshan (later Zhongshan county),
Guangzhou prefecture, Guangdong province in the Qing China.[2] He was
the third son born in a family of farmers, and herded cows along with
other farming duties at age 6.[2]
At age 10, Sun Yat-sen began seeking schooling.[2] It is also at this
point where he met childhood friend Lu Hao-tung.[2] By age 13 in 1878
after receiving a few years of local schooling, Sun went to live with
his elder brother, Sun Mei (孫眉) in Honolulu.[2]
Sun Yat-sen then studied at the ʻIolani School where he learned
English, UK history, mathematics, science and Christianity.[2]
Originally unable to speak the English language, Sun Yat-sen picked up
the language so quickly that he received a prize for outstanding
achievement from King David Kalākaua.[10] Sun enrolled in Oahu College
(now Punahou School) for further studies for one semester.[11][2] In
1883 he was soon sent home to China as his brother was becoming afraid
that Sun Yat-sen would embrace Christianity.[2]
When he returned home in 1883, Sun met up with his childhood friend Lu
Hao-tung at Beijidian (北極殿), a temple in Cuiheng Village.[2] They saw
many villagers worshipping the Beiji (literally North Pole)
Emperor-God in the temple, and were dissatisfied with their ancient
healing methods.[2] They broke the statue, incurring the wrath of
fellow villagers, and escaped to Hong Kong.[2][12][13]
From here, Sun studied medicine at the Guangzhou Boji Hospital under
the Christian missionary John G. Kerr.[2] Ultimately, he earned the
license of Christian practice as a medical doctor from the Hong Kong
College of Medicine for Chinese (the forerunner of The University of
Hong Kong) in 1892.[2][9] Notably, he was one of the first two
graduates.[14] He had an arranged marriage with fellow villager Lu
Muzhen at age twenty; she bore him a son Sun Fo and two daughters, Sun
Jin-yan and Sun Jin-wan.[15]
Sun was later baptized in Hong Kong by an American missionary of the
Congregational Church of the United States, to his brother's disdain.
The minister would also develop a friendship with Sun.[16][17] Sun
pictured a revolution as similar to the salvation mission of the
Christian church. His conversion to Christianity was related to his
revolutionary ideals and push for advancement.[17]