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. 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
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 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 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, killing both pilots. The parade was not held again until 1971, 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.
| 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 | labels=no | 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 | |
| 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 | ||
| 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 cancelled | |||
| 1980 | Chiang Ching-kuo | Taipei | ||||
| 1981 | 漢武演習 | Chiang Ching-kuo | Taipei | Hsu Li-nung | 11,966 | ROC Seventieth Anniversary |
| 1982 | Chiang Ching-kuo | Taipei | ||||
| 1986 | Chiang Ching-kuo | Taipei | ROC Seventy-Fifth Anniversary | |||
| 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. | ||
| 1988 | 光武演習 | Lee Teng-hui | Taipei | Chen Tingchong | 13,166 | ROC Seventy-Seventh Anniversary |
| 1991 | 華統演習 | Lee Teng-hui | Taipei | Ro Wenshan | 12,566 | ROC Eightieth Anniversary |
| 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 |