Last Thursday night, Brown Taiwan Society invited the Brown community to celebrate Double Tenth (10/10), Taiwan's National Day, with a huo guo (hot pot) dinner. Unlike the American version of this holiday, Independence Day, Double Tenth is not unanimously accepted by the Taiwanese people as the founding day of present day Taiwan.
As BTS, we had trouble deciding whether it would be appropriate for us to celebrate a holiday that many consider archaic and irrelevant to Taiwan's history and current state of affairs. In the end, we have chosen to let everyone make that decision for himself or herself and so here we present some of the various viewpoints of Double Tenth in hopes that you will develop your own conclusion.
Historically, Double Tenth is remembered as the beginning of the founding of the Republic of China. Deeply concerned with the plight of the Chinese people, Sun Yat-Sen led the Wuchang uprising on Oct. 10, 1911, in a successful revolution that resulted in the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and in the establishment of a democratic and nationalist Republic of China. Sun's party was known as the Kuomintang (KMT), and when civil war broke out between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party in 1945, Chiang Kai-Shek, leader of the KMT, fled from China in 1949 and established the Republic of China in Taiwan. The KMT governed Taiwan for over 50 years, until the 2000 presidential elections, when power was peacefully transferred to the Democratic Progressive Party, the current party in power.
Today in Taiwan, Double Tenth is celebrated with a flag-raising ceremony in front of the president's office as well as parades and firework displays in major cities across Taiwan. However, not all the Taiwanese people share the same sentiment for celebrating Double Tenth as Taiwan's National Day. In addition, celebrations are no longer as elaborate in recent years as they were in the past.
There are those who believe that Double Tenth is an outdated holiday and that Taiwan should not be celebrating its historical affiliation with China. Furthermore, others claim that Taiwan is no longer the "Republic of China," while certain politicians have even attempted to change its official name to "Taiwan." Other factors that may have caused the Double Tenth festivities to have dwindled in scale include a reduced budget due to typhoon damage, general economic slum, and preoccupation with fighting terrorism.
On the other hand, there are the Taiwanese that believe that Double Tenth symbolizes the creation of the Republic of China after 5,000 years of imperialistic governance. In addition, the date is historically important because it essentially created the first Republican government in Asia. However, others claim that the present-day festivities should not match the old in scale and nature because the KMT is no longer in power and that the ruling party, the DPP, does not endorse the significance of this holiday.
Recently, there have been visible changes in terms of how Double Tenth is celebrated. On many banners hung for the celebration, "Taiwan" is used instead of "The Republic of China" and these banners are never put up before the national day of the People's Republic of China, which falls on Oct. 1.
This year, the usual official banner bearing two red "Double-Tens" have been replaced by two birds symbolizing peace. Despite these changes, organizers of this year's celebration promise fun and excitement; there are even Olympic and Paralympic medalists scheduled to sing the national anthem at the celebrations. This weekend's celebrations in Taiwan will serve as an indicator of how the changing times have redefined Double Tenth.
At this time, the controversy has yet to be resolved, but for now, 10/10 will remain Taiwan's National Day and it will undoubtedly continue to be a significant date for supporters of both viewpoints.
Regardless of which viewpoint you support, it seems that we can all agree that Double Tenth is a part of history and, at the very least, a significant milestone.
Zoe Tseng '06 and Nancy Ku '08 are bad as they want to be.
