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.
Names 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.
Celebration in Taiwan
國慶籌備委員會
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.
National Day Military Parade
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. 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!" () 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 the tradition of an exclusively-military parade to include personnel from civil uniformed services.
+List of Republic of China National Day Parades Parade Year Exercise Name Grand Review Officer Venue Parade Commander Number of Troops Remarks 1949 Chen Cheng Taipei Unknown First military parade held in Taiwan under the control of the Republic of China. 1951 Chiang Kai-shek Taipei Ai Ai ROC Fortieth Anniversary 1952 Chiang Kai-shek Taipei Tang Shou-chi 10,046 1953 Chiang Kai-shek Taipei Zhou Yuhuan 19,000 1954 Chiang Kai-shek Taipei Xu Rucheng Flyby aircraft was requisitioned for the defense of Quemoy during the First Taiwan Strait Crisis 1955 光華演習 Chiang Kai-shek Taipei Cheng Wei-yuan 1956 光復演習 Chiang Kai-shek Taipei Liu Dinghan 21,500 1957 中興演習 Chiang Kai-shek Taipei Hu Xin 12,000 1960 鼎興演習 Chiang Kai-shek Taipei Chu Yuan-Cong 1961 復興演習 Chiang Kai-shek Taipei Cheng Wei-yuan ROC Fiftieth Anniversary (Golden Jubilee) 1962 復華演習 Taipei Cancelled on September 11, 1962 1963 復漢演習 Chiang Kai-shek Taipei Yuan Guo-Zheng 15,370 1964 興漢演習 Chiang Kai-shek Taipei Hau Pei-tsun Two F-104 aircraft collided after an air formation, killing both pilots 1971 Chiang Kai-shek Taipei First parade after 6 years absence, marked the 60th Anniversary of the ROC, ground column only present 1975 大漢演習 Yen Chia-kan Taipei Zhang Jiajun Full remastered video of 1975 National Day parade 1978 漢威演習 Chiang Ching-kuo Taipei Chiang Chung-ling Flypast cancelled due to rainy weather 1979 Chiang Ching-kuo Taipei Ground column only present, air flypast and military mobile column cancelledFull video of 1979 National Day parade 1980 Chiang Ching-kuo Taipei 1981 漢武演習 Chiang Ching-kuo Taipei Hsu Li-nung 11,966 ROC Seventieth Anniversary (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) 1982 Chiang Ching-kuo Taipei 1986 Chiang Ching-kuo Taipei ROC Seventy-Fifth Anniversary (Diamond Jubilee) 1987 僑泰演習 Chiang Ching-kuo Taipei It 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-hui Taipei Chen Tingchong 13,166 ROC Seventy-Seventh Anniversary (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) 1991 華統演習 Lee Teng-hui Taipei Ro Wenshan 12,566 ROC Eightieth Anniversary (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) 2007 同慶操演 Chen Shui-bian Taipei Wu Sihuai 3,000 Exhibitions presented on national defense, non-traditional military parade 2011 Ma Ying-jeou Taipei 1,000+ 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. Military parade involving 1,000+ personnel, 71 aircraft and 168 vehicles. 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-wen Taipei 2,500+ 2017 Tsai Ing-wen Taipei 2021 Tsai Ing-wen Taipei 2022 Tsai Ing-wen Taipei 2023 Tsai Ing-wen Taipei 2024 Lai Ching-te Taipei
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
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)
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 Marine Corps Amphibious Reconnaissance and Patrol Unit