230 This is not due to any mystical veneration of numbers, or religious influence. In spreading doctrines which would have to be followed by the unlettered as well as by the scholars, Sun Yat-sen found it necessary to develop the general outline of his principles in such a way as to give them a considerable mnemonic appeal. Thus, the three principles—and the three French (liberty, equality, fraternity) and American (of, by, for the people) principles—and the triple foreign aggression, the four popular powers, the five governmental rights. The use of the number three permitted Sun Yat-sen to weave together the various strands of his teaching, and to attain a considerable degree of cross-reference. It cannot be shown to have induced any actual distortion of his theories. 231 Hsü translation, cited, p. 213. See also d’Elia translation, p. 134. 232 d’Elia translation, cited, p. 114. 233 d’Elia translation, cited, p. 101. 234 d’Elia translation, cited, p. 113. The whole present discussion of economic oppression is drawn from the latter part of the second lecture. Except in the case of direct quotation, no further reference will be given to this section, which occurs at pp. 97-115 of the d’Elia translation. 235 d’Elia translation, cited, p. 106. 236 d’Elia translation, cited, p. 113. 237 d’Elia translation, cited, p. 113. 238 In referring to a sub-principle, the author is following Sun Yat-sen’s arrangement of his ideas, even though the exact term, “sub-principle,” is not to be found in Sun’s works. Each of the three principles can be considered with respect to national unity, national autonomy, and national survival. The correlation of the three principles, each with itself and then the two others, logically leads to the appearance of nine sub-principles. The writer has not followed any artificial compulsion of numbers, merely for the sake of producing a pretty outline, but has followed Sun Yat-sen in seeking to make clear the specific relations of each of the three principles to the three cardinal points which they embody. 239 d’Elia translation, cited, pp. 179-180. 240 d’Elia translation, cited, p. 180. 241 d’Elia translation, cited, p. 180. 242 Tsui, cited, pp. 113-114. 243 Linebarger, _Conversations_, cited, pp. 21 and following, Book I.