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Although many things divide them today, Communist and Nationalist Chinese agree in their admiration for Sun Yat-Sen, known as the father of modern China. He was born to a peasant family near Canton (Guangzhou) and educated in Hawaii, where he converted to Christianity. He returned to China and led an unsuccessful rebellion in Canton in 1894. A decade later he forged a union between several Chinese groups, called the Revolutionary Alliance Society. The alliance advocated freeing China from foreign control, overthrowing the Manchu dynasty, and providing for the people's welfare. Its programme was often summarized as nationalism, democracy, and socialism. On October 10, 1911, Sun's followers rose in rebellion. (The event is now celebrated in China as Double Ten, for the tenth day of the tenth month.) Although Sun was in the United States when the rebellion began, when he returned to China he was chosen head of the provisional government. The Manchus agreed to give up power in return for the guarantee of their safety. In 1912 the Republic of China was proclaimed. Hope for genuine reform was dashed by its first president, Yüan Shikai, who tried unsuccessfully to establish a new dynasty. Power passed to warlords in the provinces for