"Sun Yat Sen not only confirmed their (peoples) discontent, but also set before them a vision of gains which revolution should bring to China and the ideal society which should be built from the ruins of empire" .
It is argued though whether Sun's influence in the 1911 revolution was strong. "It is clear that Sun's involvement in and influence on the 1911 revolution has been exaggerated" and that it was the forces of discontent, weak leadership, corruption and the decline of the military and the economy that brought on the rebellion, not the individual Sun Yat Sen. It was simply the fact that a republican form of government developed with Sun as it's provincial president that he gained his status from the revolt. "Since 1908 the Tongmenghui had been bitterly divided and prominent members such as Huang Xing were sharply critical of Sun and had lost touch with the Tokyo headquarters of the movement when the rebellion occurred." This means that Sun's influence at the time of the rebellion would have been greatly lacking and the push for the revolution would have been organized by other Tongmenghui members.
I believe that Sun Yat Sen.'s influence on the 1911 revolution is hard to ignore. Without his campaigning and push for a revolt against dynastic rule it is doubtful whether the revolution would have occurred as it did. His Three Principles ideology informed the Chinese people that there was a possibility for a better future for China. Although there was the conflict in his revolutionary group and he lost contact with his revolutionary base when the rebellion occurred, he had already laid the plans down and created a base for other revolutionaries to work off.
The impact of Sun Yat Sen giving up the presidency to Yuan Shikai halted the previously rapid progression of the revolution. When this occurred it is debatable how much Sun did to restart progress of the revolution. Sun became president of China on the 1st January 1912 and because of Sun's emphasis of the need of unity he China he immediately started negotiations with Yuan Shikai who was a warlord who controlled most of China.
