This is like a Sherlock Holmes tale, but true and of historical note. Sun Yat-sen is one of the few political figures revered in both the People's Republic of China and Taiwan. His perseverance, intelligence and charisma helped lead the overthrow of the Qing dynasty. History could have taken a different path except for this rescue. It was a relatively short time ago - 114 years - and what China has been through in the interim and is now experiencing shows how dramatically cultures of thousands of years grope forward, and how small events matter dearly.
