國慶日

The tradition & historical record

The National Day of the Republic of China, also referred to as Double Ten Day or Double Tenth Day, is a public holiday on 10 October, now held annually as national day in the Republic of China (ROC, commonly known as Taiwan). It commemorates the start of the Wuchang Uprising on 10 October 1911 which ultimately led to the establishment of the Republic of China on 1 January 1912, and the collapse of the imperial Qing dynasty, ending 2,133 years of imperial rule of China since the Qin dynasty. The day was once held as a public holiday in mainland China during the Mainland Period of the ROC before 1949. The subsequent People's Republic of China continues to observe the Anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution on the same date but not as a public holiday and places more emphasis on its revolutionary characteristics as a commemoration of a historical event rather than celebrating it as the founding of the Republic of China. Following the consequence of the Chinese Civil War, the ROC government lost control of mainland China to the Chinese Communist Party and retreated to the island of Taiwan in December 1949. The National Day is now mainly celebrated in the Taiwan Area, thus the name "Taiwan National Day" is also used by some groups, but it is also celebrated by many overseas Chinese communities. ¹

Double Ten Day can be referred to variety of names such as the National Day of China or Chinese National Day when the ROC was in power in mainland China and as the internationally recognized government of "China" until the 1970s. Another name Taiwan National Day, is also used but in dispute as the ROC was founded in 1912, contemporarily Taiwan was ruled by the Empire of Japan. The name "Taiwan National Day" has been criticized by former ROC president Ma Ying-jeou. ¹

During the establishment of the Republic of China, Taiwan and Penghu were under Japanese rule, which began in 1895. In 1945, after surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II, Taiwan and Penghu were placed under the control of the ROC. In Taiwan, the official celebration begins with the raising of the flag of the Republic of China in front of the Presidential Office Building, along with a public singing of the National Anthem of the Republic of China. It is then followed by celebrations in front of the Presidential Office Building; from time to time, a military parade may occur. Festivities also include many aspects of traditional Chinese and/or Taiwanese culture, such as the lion dance and drum teams, and cultural features coming from Taiwanese aborigines are integrated into the display in recent years. Later in the day, the president of the Republic of China would address the country and fireworks displays are held throughout the major cities of the island. In 2009, all government sponsored festivities for the Double Ten Day were cancelled, and the money intended for the festivals (NT$70 million) were reallocated for reconstruction of the damage done by Typhoon Morakot. In 2022 former President Ma Ying-jeou, who opposes the styling of the holiday as Taiwan National Day, publicly called for current President Tsai Ing-wen to stop using the name Taiwan National Day in material associated with the holiday. His view was criticized by Robert Tsao as obsolete. Because of the lack of direct relations between the origin of the holiday and Taiwan in modern Taiwan the holiday is widely believed to be slightly absurd but is still widely celebrated. ¹

Traditionally, the Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF) have staged a military parade. During prior parades, troops and equipment march past a reviewing platform in front of the Presidential Office Building. Typically, foreign ambassadors, military officers, and other representatives and dignitaries are invited to view the parade. Following the National Anthem and the firing of a 21-gun salute, the parade commander, a general-ranked officer of any of the service branches of the ROCAF, would then be driven to the front of the grandstand to request permission from the President to commence the parade proper. Until 1975, the President also inspected the parade formations while riding a vehicle, as each battalion of the parade formations presented arms in the presence of the President and all the unit colours and guidons also dipped in their presence. After all the units in the ground column marched past the grandstand, they would reassemble at the center of the road for a holiday address delivered by the President to the ROCAF and the country, marking the close of the parade. The parade has been held intermittently during the period of the Republic of China on Taiwan. The military parade on 10 October 1949, was the first public military parade held in Taiwan with Chen Cheng serving as the Grand Review Officer. The 1964 National Day parade was struck by tragedy when a low flying air force F-104 Starfighter fighter aircraft struck a Broadcasting Corporation of China tower, causing the plane's fuel tank to fall and kill three people including a woman and her baby in front of the Central Weather Bureau building in downtown Taipei. ¹

Until 1991, following the opening report by the Parade commander, usually a lieutenant general or vice admiral of the ROCAF, the massed military bands of the ROC Armed Forces, led by the Senior Drum Major, would take their positions in the parade, playing the ROC Armed Forces March, a medley of the official songs of the service branches of the armed forces. Then the parade would march past, in the following sequence, with minor variations over the years: ¹

ROC Armed Forces Joint Honor Guard Parade commander and staff Joint Division of Armed Forces Academies Republic of China Military Academy Republic of China Naval Academy Republic of China Air Force Academy National Defense University College of Political Warfare Instruction ROC Air Force Institute of Technology Chung-cheng Armed Forces Preparatory School Army Academy R.O.C. Contingent of personnel from the service branches ROCA combined divisional formation Composite brigade of ROCN personnel (including Republic of China Marine Corps) Composite group of ROCAF ground and air defense personnel Republic of China Military Police Republic of China Joint Logistics Command Reserve and militia formations of the Republic of China Armed Forces Reserve Female battalion of the College of Political Warfare Instruction Drum and Bugle Corps of military educational institutions Taiwan Police College (formed part in past parades of the 1970s and 1980s) ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “National Day of the Republic of China”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

National Day is national holiday in Taiwan, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 3 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²