Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
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The National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (Chinese: 國立國父紀念館; pinyin: Guólì Guófù Jìniànguǎn) is located in Taipei City, Republic of China. It is a memorial to the Republic of China's Father of the Nation, Sun Yat-sen, and was completed on May 16, 1972. As the hall was opened in the very beginning, its main displays were revolutionary events of the national father at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Recently it became a multi-purpose social, educational and cultural center for the Taiwanese public.
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[edit] History
The Republic of China government began to prepare the construction of the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in 1964 to commemorate Father of the Republic of China, Dr. Sun Yat-sen's great character, revolutionary career, and philosophical blueprint for a modern China. The hall would serve as a place not only for people to pay tribute to Father of the Republic, but also for cultural, artistic, educational, academic, and recreational purposes. In 1965, Chiang Kai-shek officiated the ground breaking ceremony. The design plan by the famous architect Wang Ta-hung was selected in a public contest one year later, and modified under the instruction of Chiang, to underline Chinese architectural characteristics. The main construction was completed on May 16, 1972. The majestic and solemn building itself is sited in Chung-shan Square Park, featuring green grass and floral bushes. It now boasts to have the landmark building, a scenic open space, and the best performance center in eastern Taipei City.
The Memorial Hall was affiliated to Taipei City Government originally. In June 1986, it became part of the Ministry of Education, together with Chung-shan Hall in Yang Ming Mountain. Its official name was changed from "the Administrative Bureau of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall" to "the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall".
In the early time, the Memorial Hall primarily functioned as a place to display the historical relics of Dr. Sun's life and lead in the revolution. Later, it opens to exhibitions and performances. Now, it has a world-class performance hall, and elegant exhition center with an area of around 10,000 square feet. It also has a multi-media theatre with the newest facilities, an audio-visual center, lecture halls, Chung-shan Symposium, a professional library with a collection of over three hundred thousand books, Lake Tswei exhibition and performance area, and Chung-shan park.
The Memorial Hall is committed to the promotion of Dr. Sun's philosophies - universal love, an egalitarian society, and the "goal of life to help the others" and to refresh the people's memory of Dr. Sun and pass on his beliefs. The first director Shih Chun-wen set up a solid foundation for the Memorial Hall. succeeding directors, Frank C.C. Tong, Wang Ching-po, Kao Chung-yun and Tseng Chiang-yuan let the Memorial Hall come of age. The present director, Chang Jui-pin, has taken it into the stage of prosperity. Now, the Memorial Hall advances towards internationalization, localization, life-time education, and renovation of hardware facilities. The aim is to integrate Dr. Sun's beliefs with more attributes of contemporary Chinese culture.
Shortly after the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall was built, President Chiang Kai-shek died of pneumonia in Taipei. His funeral was held in the main hall of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. Tens of thousands of people turned out to view President Chiang's body. His body was moved to Chihu, Taoyuan County in a slow motor procession. Thousands of people lined up on the streets to get their last glimpse of their beloved leader, Chiang Kai-shek.
[edit] Exterior
The exterior of the hall contains some gardens, and decorative historical walls. It has many wide open spaces where the people of Taipei often go to spend some time relaxing.
[edit] Interior
The interior of the hall includes a main hall entrance with a statue of Sun Yat-sen and many exits to other parts of the hall, containing historical artifacts.
Every hour, there is an entertaining and highly formal changing of the guards that is a common tourist attraction.
[edit] Other halls by the same name
There are other Sun Yat-sen memorial halls, for example, in Guangzhou.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
