The White Sun on the Nationalist flag has 12 rays representing the 12 months. The three colors used on the flag correspond to the Three Principles of People created by Sun Yat-sen.
Nationalist Party
Also called Koumintang (KMT)
Founded 1911
First leader = Sun Yat-sen
1912 overthrow emperor
More transitional party
Made up of working middle class
1925 Sun Yat-sen dies
Chiang Kai-shek = new leader
Ruled China from 1912 to 1949
Nationalist Leaders
Sun Yat-sen
Pictured above is Sun Yat-sen.
1860-1925
Started Nationalist Party in China in 1911
Helped overthrow the last emperor
Leader of Nationalist Party until death in 1925
Pictured above is the first Nationalist leader Sun Yat-sen in uniform.
Pictured above is Sun Yat-sen at an earlier stage in his life.
Chiang Kai-shek
Pictured above is Chiang Kai-shek.
1887-1975
Chinese military and political figure
Succeeded Sun Yat-sen in 1925
Fled to Taiwan with 2 million followers in 1949 after Communist takeover
Chiang Kai-shek was a general in the Nationalist Party.
Pictured above is Chiang Kai-shek in his earlier years.
The Communist flag has a hammer, representing the industrial working class, and a sickle, standing for the agricultural workers. These two together show the unity of the groups.
Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
Formed 1921 in Shanghai by young radicals from University of Beijing
First sole leader = Mao Zedong in 1935
More radical party
Made up of peasants who wanted redistribution of wealth: a shift in wealth from a rich minority to a poor minority
1976 Mao Zedong dies
Deng Xiaoping = new leader
Ruled China from 1949 to present
Communist Leaders
Mao Zedong
Pictured above is Mao Zedong.
1893-1976
Helped found Chinese Communist party in 1921
Led the Long March from 1934-1935
Became first sole leader of CCP in 1935
Launched the Great Leap Forward
Figure during Cultural Revolution
Pictured above is Mao Zedong waving to the people of China.
Pictured above is Mao Zedong in his earlier years.
Deng Xiaoping
Pictured above is Deng Xiaoping.
1904-1997
Chinese Communist statesman
Succeeded Mao Zedong
Ended Cultural Revolution
Came up with Four Modernizations policy of industry, agriculture, technology, national defense
Pictured above is Deng Xiaoping saluting the Communist flag.