Incorporating elements of German military dress including a turndown collar and four symmetrically placed pockets and based on a suit popular with Chinese men in Japan and Southeast Asia, the Zhongshan suit was an attempt to cater to modern sensibilities without completely adopting western styles. Instead of the three hidden pockets in western suits, the Zhongshan suit had four outside pockets to adhere to the Chinese concepts of balance and symmetry. Over time, minor stylistic changes were made. The suit originally had seven buttons, but this was changed to five buttons.
In the 1920s civil servants of the government were required to wear the Zhongshan zhuang. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the suit became a symbol of proletarian unity, and was regularly worn by party cadres.
After Sun Yat-sen's death, popular mythology assigned a revolutionary and patriotic significance to the Zhongshan suit. The four pockets were said to represent the Four Cardinal Principles cited in the classic Book of Changes. The five center-front buttons were said to represent the five Yuans (branches of government) cited in the constitution of the Republic of China and the three cuff-buttons to symbolize the Three Principles of the People.