I used ChatGPT to write this as it’s a lot to cover. But it’s an interesting history not commonly known. CKS and the Soong family were probably involved but no direct evidence of them being initiated, but they would have been involved with Chinese masons. Early KMT rituals were similar to Masonic ones. Today, Taiwan is one of the only Asian countries where Masons operate freely.
Most Taiwanese grow up learning the standard story:
Sun Yat-sen overthrew the Qing, became the Father of the Nation, and founded the Republic of China.
The U.S. is the world’s strongest democracy because of the Founding Fathers.
End of story.
But there’s a completely overlooked layer beneath that — one that shaped both early Chinese nationalism and the structure of the modern ROC state:
Freemasonry.
Yes, the same “Free Masons” people associate with strange symbols on the dollar bill or old British gentlemen’s clubs.
This isn’t conspiracy.
It’s an entire chapter of history nobody talks about — not in Taiwan, not in China, and barely in the West.
Let’s break it down.
1. Sun Yat-sen Was a Freemason — Confirmed, Documented, Not Debatable
While studying and fundraising in Hawaii, Sun Yat-sen joined Zetland Lodge No. 525 under the Scottish Rite. Lodge records exist.
Why? Because Freemason lodges in the late 1800s were:
- the social clubs of wealthy overseas Chinese
- connected to Western-educated elites
- safe places to organize without Qing spies
- full of donors and political sympathizers
- international, discreet, and highly networked
SYS used this environment to build the revolutionary connections he needed.
This part of his life is almost never taught in Taiwanese or Chinese textbooks.
2. Chinese “Freemasons” Supported Sun’s Revolution
Overseas Chinese brotherhoods like:
- Hongmen (洪門)
- Tiandihui (天地會)
- Chee Kung Tong (致公堂)
were originally Qing-resistance secret societies, but by SYS’s time had evolved into:
- community power structures
- mutual aid networks
- wealthy overseas groups
- political activists
- operators of “Chinese Freemason” halls
These groups provided:
- fundraising
- manpower
- smuggling routes
- safe houses
- printing presses
- logistics
- international cover
Some even rebranded themselves as “Chinese Freemasons” because Western Freemasonry had prestige and protection.
SYS didn’t overthrow the Qing with armies — he did it with networks like these.
3. The KMT Itself Was Built on Fraternal/Masonic Organizational DNA
Early KMT and Tongmenghui structures quietly resembled lodge systems:
- ritualized initiations
- oath-taking
- multi-level membership
- cell-based units (like lodges)
- internal ranks
- structured meetings
- moral and political lectures
- codified brotherhood culture
This wasn’t accidental.
It grew from SYS’s time in:
- Christian missions
- Western Freemasonic lodges
- Chinese secret societies
So while the KMT is now a political party, its early structure was basically a hybrid between a revolutionary lodge and a political organization.
No one talks about this, but it’s absolutely true.
4. Why Taiwanese Don’t Know This History
Several reasons:
A. PRC censorship
The CCP declared all secret societies “counterrevolutionary,” including Hongmen and Freemasonry.
Since Sun Yat-sen had ties to these groups, Communist textbooks either:
- erase the connection
- downplay it
- reinterpret SYS in a Marxist lens
B. KMT authoritarian rule in Taiwan
From 1949–1987, the KMT didn’t want to emphasize:
- secret brotherhoods
- private networks
- underground organizing
because they were running a martial-law state.
SYS became a Confucian-Christian patriarch.
The fraternal side of his background vanished from the narrative.
C. Western Freemasonry lost influence
By the late 20th century, lodges became:
- older
- quieter
- charitable
- less politically important
The mystique faded — so people forgot the historical reality.
5. The U.S. Has the Same “Invisible Masonic Layer” in Its Founding
About one-third of the Founding Fathers were Freemasons:
- George Washington
- Benjamin Franklin
- James Monroe
- Paul Revere
- John Hancock
Freemasonry was central to early American civic life. It wasn’t a “secret society ruling the world,” it was:
- a debating society
- a moral training institution
- a school for self-governance
- a networking hub for elites
- a proto-civil service
Why is this relevant to Taiwan?
Because SYS admired this system deeply — and literally learned it from inside a lodge.
6. Taiwan Today Still Has Masonic Lodges (Most Taiwanese Don’t Know That Either)
Taiwan has active lodges under several jurisdictions:
- lodges chartered by the Philippines
- Scottish Rite bodies
- English-style Freemasonry
- mixed-language Taiwanese lodges
They meet mostly in Taipei and Kaohsiung.
The demographic tends to be:
- businessmen
- academics
- doctors
- lawyers
- military officers
- expats
- Taiwanese who studied abroad
It’s low-key but real.
And it’s one of the few places in Asia where Freemasonry operates freely.
7. Why This Matters
Understanding this hidden layer explains:
how SYS built the networks that toppled the Qing
why overseas Chinese communities were politically powerful
how modern Taiwanese civic culture developed
why the KMT’s early structure looks the way it does
why Taiwanese elites historically had strong international ties
why Taiwan inherited SYS’s legacy more directly than the PRC
And perhaps most interestingly:
Why Taiwanese society feels uniquely “Westernized” compared to China
— the ROC’s founding father was shaped by Western fraternal, Christian, and civic systems.
8. So does this mean “Freemasons ran China”?
No.
Freemasonry didn’t control China.
But it gave early revolutionaries access to tools the Qing dynasty never had:
- global networks
- modern organizational methods
- ideological training
- secrecy
- discipline
- funding
- legitimacy among overseas merchants
- access to missionaries and Western elites
SYS wasn’t powerful because he had armies.
He was powerful because he had connections.
And many of those connections lived in halls with square-and-compass symbols.
Conclusion
This isn’t conspiracy.
It’s just a missing chapter of Taiwan and Chinese history — one that explains a lot once you see it.
If you grew up in Taiwan or the West, you likely never learned:
“Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of the ROC, was a Freemason who built his revolution partly through Masonic and Masonic-adjacent networks.”
But it’s true — and it adds a fascinating dimension to understanding why Taiwan’s political culture ended up so different from the PRC’s.