Why did both Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek claim to follow Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles of the People?

Following the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925 and the subsequent split between the Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communist Party in 1927, both Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong sought to claim the political legitimacy associated with Sun’s legacy.1

Sun Yat-sen is widely regarded as the "father of modern China" and a symbol of Chinese modernization. His Three Principles of the People—nationalism, democracy, and socialism (or people's livelihood)—served as the fundamental doctrine for his revolutionary movement. Because these principles were broad and defined through a series of lectures during a period of Nationalist-Communist cooperation, they remained open to interpretation.21

By claiming to uphold the true spirit of these principles, both leaders aimed to position themselves as the rightful successors to Sun’s revolutionary vision. Chiang Kai-shek, as the leader of the Nationalist Party, utilized the doctrine to anchor his government's authority, while the Chinese Communists honored Sun as a "pioneer of the revolution," effectively co-opting his prestige to validate their own political objectives in the eyes of the Chinese people.12