After Sun's death, a power struggle between his young protégé Chiang Kai-shek and his old revolutionary comrade Wang Jingwei split the KMT. At stake in the struggle was the right to lay claim to Sun's ambiguous legacy. In 1927, Chiang married Soong Mei-ling, a sister of Sun's widow Soong Ching-ling, and he could now claim to be a brother-in-law of Sun. When the Communists and the Kuomintang split in 1927, which marked the start of the Chinese Civil War, each group claimed to be his true heirs, and the conflict that continued until World War II. Sun's widow, Soong Ching-ling, sided with the Communists during the Chinese Civil War and was critical of Chiang's regime since the Shanghai massacre in 1927. She served from 1949 to 1981 as vice-president (or vice-chairwoman) of the People's Republic of China and as honorary president shortly before her death in 1981.
A personality cult in the Republic of China was centered on Sun and his successor, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. The cult was created after Sun Yat-sen died. Chinese Muslim generals and imams participated in the personality cult and the one-party state, with Muslim General Ma Bufang making people bow to Sun's portrait and listen to the national anthem during a Tibetan and Mongol religious ceremony for the Qinghai Lake god. Quotes from the Qur'an and the Hadith were used by Hui Muslims to justify Chiang's rule over China.
. . .Sun Yat-sen remains unique among 20th-century Chinese leaders for having a high reputation in both Mainland China and Taiwan.
Video Title: The Life and Times of Sun Yat-Sen. Source: East Asian Studies Center, The Ohio State University. Date Published: September 9, 2015.
