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The National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is located
in Taipei City, Taiwan, Republic of China. It is a memorial to the
Republic of China's National Father, Dr. 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.
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 (1,000 m2). 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 view Chiang's open casket.
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.
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 a formal changing of the guards that is a
common tourist attraction.
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