National Day of the Republic of China

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 collapse of the imperial Qing dynasty, ending 2,133 years of imperial rule of China since the Qin dynasty and establishment of the Republic of China on 1 January 1912.[3] The day was once held as 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 at the same date but not as a public holiday, which put more emphasis on its revolutionary characteristics as commemoration of a historical event rather than celebration to the founding of the Republic of China.

"Double Tenth" redirects here. For the massacre in Japanese-ruled Singapore, see Double Tenth incident.
For the national day that is celebrated in mainland China, see National Day of the People's Republic of China.

National Day of the Republic of China
A combination of two 十 ('ten') characters, often seen during the holiday
Also calledDouble Tenth Day, Double Ten Day, Anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution, Taiwan National Day
Observed byRepublic of China (as National Day or Double Ten Day)
People's Republic of China (as the Anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution)
TypeHistorical, cultural, nationalist
Celebrationsfestivities, including fireworks and concerts
Date10 October
Next time10 October 2024 (2024-10-10)
Frequencyannual
First time10 October 1911
Related to1911 Revolution
National Day of the Republic of China
Traditional Chinese國慶日[1]
Simplified Chinese国庆日
Double Ten Day[2]
Traditional Chinese雙十節
Simplified Chinese双十节

Following the outcome 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 Taiwan Area, thus the name “Taiwan National Day” is also used by some groups, but it is also celebrated by many overseas Chinese communities.

Names

Double Ten Day can be referred to variety of names such as the National Day of China or Chinese National Day[4] 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 largely uncommon as the ROC was founded in 1911 at the same time when Taiwan was under colonial rule by Japan.[5][6] The name "Taiwan National Day" has been criticized by former ROC president Ma Ying-jeou.[7]

Celebration in Taiwan
Generalissimo and former president Chiang Kai-shek presiding over the 1966 Double Ten celebrations.

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.[8]

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.[9]

National Day Military Parade
The 1950 Double Ten celebration.
Students holding Sun Yat-sen placards during the 1965 Double Ten celebration.
Republic of China Army Tanks in front to the Presidential Office during the 1966 Double Ten celebration.
Cadets from the ROC Military Academy on march during the 2011 Double Ten celebration.

In the past, the Republic of China Armed Forces have traditionally put on a military parade. During this parade, troops and equipment are marched 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 inform the President of the permission to commence the parade proper. (Until 1975, the President also inspected the parade formations riding a vehicle, as each battalion of the parade formations presented arms in his/her presence and all the unit colours and guidons also dipped in his/her presence.) The presidential holiday address to the ROCAF and the country was the finale of the parade wherein all the units comprising the ground column, following the march past, reassembles at the center of the road for the address.

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. The other two remaining F-104 aircraft were ordered to look for the crashed aircraft and accidentally collided and crashed in Tucheng City, Taipei County (now New Taipei City), killing both pilots. The parade was not held again until 1971 (the 60th anniversary), while the mobile column and flypast segments returned in 1975. When Chen Shui-bian became president, the parade was not held until 2007 and then it was entitled a "Celebration Drill" and not a traditional military parade. Since Ma Ying-jeou became president, one parade has been held on the centenary celebrations of the Double Tenth Day, and another on the 105th, the only one under Tsai Ing-wen's presidency.

The tradition of shouting "Long live the Republic of China!" (中華民國萬歲; Zhonghua Mingguo Wansui!) at the end of the addresses by the president of the Republic of China was not held for the first time in 2016. It was also the very year that fire and police services joined the parade for the first time in history, breaking a tradition of a purely-military parade to include personnel from civil uniformed services.

List of Republic of China National Day Parades

Parade YearExercise NameGrand Review OfficerVenueParade CommanderNumber of TroopsRemarks
1949n/aChen ChengTaipeiUnknownFirst military parade held in Taiwan under the control of the Republic of China.
1951n/aChiang Kai-shekTaipeiAi AiROC Fortieth Anniversary
1952復華演習Chiang Kai-shekTaipeiTang Shou-chi10,046
1953n/aChiang Kai-shekTaipeiZhou Yuhuan19,000
1954n/aChiang Kai-shekTaipeiXu RuchengArtillery battle underway in Quemoy. Flyby aircraft requisitioned for defense of Quemoy.
1955光華演習Chiang Kai-shekTaipeiCheng Wei-yuan
1956光復演習Chiang Kai-shekTaipeiLiu Dinghan21,500
1957中興演習Chiang Kai-shekTaipeiHu Xin12,000
1960鼎興演習Chiang Kai-shekTaipeiChu Yuan-Cong
1961復興演習Chiang Kai-shekTaipeiCheng Wei-yuanROC Fiftieth Anniversary (Golden Jubilee)
1962復華演習TaipeiCancelled on September 11, 1962
1963復漢演習Chiang Kai-shekTaipeiYuan Guo-Zheng15,370
1964興漢演習Chiang Kai-shekTaipeiHau Pei-tsunTwo F-104 aircraft collided after an air formation, killing both pilots
1971Chiang Kai-shekTaipeiFirst parade after 6 years absence, marked the 60th Anniversary of the ROC, ground column only present
1975大漢演習Yen Chia-kanTaipeiZhang JiajunFull remastered video of 1975 National Day parade
1978漢威演習Chiang Ching-kuoTaipeiChiang Chung-lingFlypast cancelled due to rainy weather
1979Chiang Ching-kuoTaipeiGround column only present, air flypast and military mobile column cancelled
Full video of 1979 National Day parade
1980Chiang Ching-kuoTaipei
1981漢武演習Chiang Ching-kuoTaipeiHsu Li-nung11,966ROC Seventieth Anniversary

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6)

1982Chiang Ching-kuoTaipei
1986Chiang Ching-kuoTaipeiROC Seventy-Fifth Anniversary (Diamond Jubilee)
1987僑泰演習Chiang Ching-kuoTaipeiIt was the last military parade held during Chiang Ching-kuo's administration. It was held on 11 October, the day after the Double Ten Day celebrations due to Chiang's ailing condition.
(Also the first since the abolition of Martial Law in Taiwan earlier that July.)
1988光武演習Lee Teng-huiTaipeiChen Tingchong13,166ROC Seventy-Seventh Anniversary

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

1991華統演習Lee Teng-huiTaipeiRo Wenshan12,566ROC Eightieth Anniversary

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

2007同慶操演Chen Shui-bianTaipeiWu Sihuai3,000Exhibitions presented on national defense, non-traditional military parade
2011Ma Ying-jeouTaipei1,000+The centennial event featured a skydiving show of 12 paratroopers of the Army Airborne Training Center above the plaza in front of the Presidential Office.[10] Military parade involving 1,000+ personnel, 71 aircraft and 168 vehicles.[11] On the part of the ground troops only the ROCAF Honor Guard Battalion and the ROCAF Composite Headquarters Band joined the parade on behalf of the armed forces.
2016慶祥操演Tsai Ing-wenTaipei2,500+
2017Tsai Ing-wenTaipei
2021Tsai Ing-wenTaipei
2022Tsai Ing-wenTaipei

Full order of march past for National Day Parades until 1991

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:

Ground column

Flypast

The parade's flypast segment was for many years organized in like manner as in the Bastille Day military parade. First, while the honor guard departs from the presidential grandstand the training, fighter and transport aircraft of the ROC Air Force, the transport and anti-submarine aircraft of ROCN Naval Aviation and transport planes of ROCA Army Aviation fly past first, followed by the helicopters of all three service branches, together with those of the National Police Agency, National Fire Agency and Coast Guard Administration after the ground column segment is concluded.

Mobile column

The mobile column, for many years, served as a crowd favorite of National Day civil-military parades, since in this segment the ROC shows off to its people the advanced and modern military equipment and vehicles in service and those being introduced, many of them nationally produced, for use by the servicemen and women of the ROCAF, and since 2016, the state civil security institutions. As in every parade, the ROCMP's motorcycle column leads off the mobile column segment, followed by (as of 2016):

  • ROCN mobile column
  • Republic of China Air Force mobile column
    • Air defense guns and missiles
    • Equipment and materiel, including air to air missiles
  • Mobile column of ROCA formations and equipment (order as of 1991, 2007, 2011 and 2016 parades)
    • Anti-tank weapons
    • Signals
    • Armored cavalry
    • CBRN defense
    • ROCA Corps of Engineers
    • Motorized and mechanized infantry
    • Armored formations
    • Logistical and combat support
    • Air defense and missiles (mobile missile and gun systems and truck-towed systems)
    • Towed guns of the field artillery
    • Self propelled artillery (MRLs and self-propelled guns)
    • Disaster risk and response vehicles and equipment for calamity response operations
  • National Police Agency
    • Criminal Investigation Bureau vehicles and equipment
    • NPA National Highway Police
    • Mobile vehicles of the NPA's Special Police Corps
  • National Fire Agency vehicles and equipment
  • Coast Guard Administration small marine equipment and vehicles

Alongside the military and civil security mobile column, in the parades of the 70s and 80s and in more recent parades, a civil mobile column is present, composed of vehicles from the automobile and truck companies, state-owned firms, and the private sector.

Celebrations in Mainland China and special administrative regions
Obelisk and Republic of China flags flying at Sun Yat Sen Commemorative Garden, Hong Kong

As the Chinese Communist Party became the official government of mainland China in 1949, 10 October is now celebrated in the People's Republic of China as the anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution and the Wuchang Uprising.

2012 Double Ten Day Celebration in Hong Kong.

The former British colony of Hong Kong celebrated the ROC National Day as a public holiday until the government of the United Kingdom cut its diplomatic relations with the ROC Government as London recognized Beijing in 1950, shortly after the PRC's founding and it was postponed.[12] The former Portuguese colony of Macau had celebrated the ROC national day as a public holiday until the government of Portugal cut its relations as Lisbon recognizes Beijing in 1979. After the civil war in mainland China, the National Day was celebrated in regions inhabited by Chinese patriots who remained loyal to the Republic. Before the sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred to the PRC in 1997 and Macau also transferred in 1999, many ROC supporters there would display patriotic and colourful flags (mainly the national flag of ROC) to celebrate the National Day. Taiwan agencies in Hong Kong and Macau have annually held a public ceremony to celebrate the National Day of ROC with members of pro-ROC private groups.[13] The day continues to be celebrated in Hong Kong and Macau after the transfer of sovereignty to the mainland, but the national flags publicly shown have been removed by Police of Hong Kong since July 1997 and by Police of Macau since December 1999.[14] Flag-raising ceremony at Hung Lau, Tuen Mun, Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary base, is the most noticeable yearly event, organized by Johnny Mak. Since 2020, the event was celebrated as the PRC's Anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution rather than the ROC's Double Ten Day in line with the holidays in mainland China. Chris Tang claimed in September 2021 that celebrations in Hong Kong for Double Ten Day could risk breaching the national security law.[15][16] The event in Macau is commemorated under the name of the Xinhai Revolution Memorial Day.

Other countries
Banners and flags hanging in Montreal's Chinatown in celebration for the 100th National Day

Overseas Chinese played a key role in the birth of the ROC since the nation's founding father Sun Yat-sen, a medical doctor by training, received financial support mainly from the overseas Chinese communities abroad to overthrow the imperial Qing dynasty and establish the second republic in Asia in 1912. Outside Taiwan, the National Day is also celebrated by many Overseas Chinese communities. Sizable National Day parades occur yearly in the Chinatowns of San Francisco and Chicago.

See also

References
  1. 紀念日及節日實施辦法 (Jìniànrì jí jiérì shíshī bànfǎ)
  2. 國民中小學九年一貫語文科課程綱要英語科 (Guómín zhōng xiǎoxué jiǔ nián yīguàn yǔwén kē kèchéng gāngyào yīngyǔ kē), p149, 22
  3. Atwill, David; Atwill, Yurong (2021). Sources in Chinese History: Diverse Perspectives from 1644 to the Present. ISBN 9780429560347.
  4. https://taiwantoday.tw/news_amp.php?post=6855&unit=4,20,20,29,31,35,35,45
  5. Cheung, Eric (10 October 2022). "'No room for compromise' on Taiwan's sovereignty, President Tsai says in National Day speech". CNN. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  6. "中華民國2021國慶". rocbirthday.tw. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  7. https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2023/10/02/2003807105
  8. Pan, Jason. "Robert Tsao pans Ma Ying-jeou ahead of National Day". taipeitimes.com. Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  9. Wingfield-Hayes, Rupert. "Defiant Taiwan's identity is moving away from China". bbc.com. BBC. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  10. 10 October 2011, Skydiving show wows crowds on National Day, Focus Taiwan news
  11. Cindy Sui, 10 October 2011, Legacy debate as Republic of China marks 100 years, BBC News
  12. Far Eastern Economic Review, 1968, page 450
  13. "Sinorama". Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  14. 香港移交後之爭議事件
  15. "Celebrating Taiwan holiday in Hong Kong risks secession charge: security chief". South China Morning Post. 23 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  16. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202109/23/WS614c5161a310cdd39bc6b121.html
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