Both faithful readers of this blog know that today is one of those holidays that we faithfully celebrate every year. We refer to it as Ten-Ten Day or Double Ten Day — October 10 is celebrated as National Day in the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan.
It’s hard to write something new about the day every year, so if you’re new to this site and don’t want to check the entry from last year, here’s a brief summary….
An uprising began in the city of Wuchang in 1911 and triggered the Xinhai Revolution leading to the end of the Qing Dynasty and two millennia of dynasty rule in China. On January 1, 1912 the Republic of China was established, but after the end of World War II the Communists took control over mainland China and the Government of the ROC had to relocate to Taiwan.
National Day is celebrated only in Taiwan — mainland China doesn’t recognize this holiday. National Day was also a public holiday in Hong Kong until control was passed from the United Kingdom to China.
As I’ve indicated in the past, we began celebrating the holiday when we were living in Manila and lived next door to the Taiwanese Embassy — they had a big party every year on Ten-Ten Day, so it just seemed appropriate that we should, too. I have visited and worked in Taiwan many times picked up a few tidbits of information that maybe not everyone knows….
Taiwanese democracy is based on the constitution of the Republic of China’s 3 people’s doctrine written by Sun-Yat Sen (viewed by many as the “Father of the Nation”) who based it on Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Sun-Yat Sen was greatly influenced by Lincoln’s principle for racial equality when he was going to high school at Puhahoe High in Honolulu — the same high school attended by President Barak Obama.
An interesting fact about Sun Yet-sen, is that his picture hangs in the Taiwanese Parliament, schools, courthouses and other public buildings across the country, but he was born in Guangdong, died in Beijing, and officially only visited Taiwan on three occasions
Taiwan is one of the world’s largest producers of screws. One-sixth of all the screws in the world are made in Taiwan — 50 percent of all the screws available in the US are of Taiwanese origin.
You’re probably aware that the color red is considered lucky in Taiwan, but did you know that the traditional color for family members to wear at funerals is white — not black. The color white symbolizes death….
An estimated 90 percent of Taiwan’s population suffer from myopia (shortsightedness.)
Taiwan used to be known as “the Butterfly Kingdom” (in the 1960s.) At that time one of Taiwan’s biggest exports was butterflies, with around 10 million a year being sent overseas to collectors.
This year, in addition to celebrating Ten-Ten Day, we can celebrate that the Washington Nationals advanced to the next round in the playoffs. It turns out that baseball is also the national sport in Taiwan. In the Little League World Series, held in Pennsylvania, Taiwanese teams have won the tournament on 17 different occasions — far more than anyone else. I thought this would be a good way to tie Ten-Ten Day and the upcoming World Series together — anyhow, happy Ten-Ten Day to all…..
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