Double Ten Isn't Taiwan's Birthday

It's often a mistake for people to think that Double Ten is Taiwanese independence day. Actually, it was December 7, 1949, which was when Taipei became the capital of Taiwan. Instead, the real history of Double Ten can be

From the Taiwanese Community Center, we can read this interesting tidbit about Double Ten and why it still matters for Taiwan:

So what is this holiday all about?
October 10th is Taiwan National Day, but it is not Taiwan’s birthday.
Instead, it commemorates October 10, 1911, which was the start of an event called the Wuchang Uprising in China. This uprising led to the Xinhai Revolution which brought about the fall of the Qing (Ching) Dynasty, the end of the Chinese dynasties, and the founding of the Republic of China in 1912.
At this time, Taiwan had been under the rule of the Empire of Japan since 1895, and it was not until the end of World War Two in 1945 that Japan was forced to relinquish control of the island to the Republic of China.
Meanwhile, back on the Mainland, things were not going so well for the government of the Republic of China. They were fighting the Chinese Communist Party in the Chinese Civil War on and off between 1927 and 1949. Eventually, the government of the Republic of China lost control of the mainland and retreated to the island of Taiwan.
October 10th is still observed on the Mainland by the People’s Republic of China as the Anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution, but in Taiwan, it has become National Day — a day where pride in Taiwanese identity is celebrated across the island.

Hare are more details on the Wuchang Uprising and the Xinhai Revolution from OFTaiwan:

Wuchang uprising marks the start of the end of the Chinese dynasties. Unhappy with the Manchu controlled Qing dynasty, revolutionaries in China were gathering to overthrow the Qing dynasty. Amongst these revolutionaries was Dr. Sun Yet-Sen, who helped found the Tongmenghui (同盟會.) Sun Yet-Sen spent much of his time overseas trying to get funding for the uprising. This was also because Sun was exiled from China since a previous Guangzhou uprising (1895.)
After many provinces ceded from the Qing Dynasty, Sun returned to China and was elected the first president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China on Jan 1, 1912.
The end of the Qing Dynasty was finalized with the last emperor Puyi abdicating his throne on Feb 12, 1912.

The Taiwanese were celebrating the end of the corrupt Qing Dynasty instead of liberation from the Communist Party of China (CPC). The theme of the fall of the Qing Dynasty may be a popular theme in Taiwanese entertainment and Chinese entertainment. It's akin to how Filipinos celebrate June 12 as liberation from Spain day. I guess the Taiwanese have more sentimental value to the fall of the Qing than the fall of the Empire of Japan or independence from the Chinese government.

BRUTAL Truth: Stop HOPING for Another "PNoy-Like President" Because the Parliamentary System will Produce MUCH BETTER Leaders

Let me get this straight, I'm not here to totally dismiss the good that the late Benigno Simeon "Ninoy" C. Aquino III did. I'll try to be least biased when I'm writing this to "give a shock" to those who tend to treat his term as a "magical time". However, I'm going to have to warn people about the problem of looking for "another Messiah leader". Yesterday was the would've been 66th birthday of Noynoy if he were alive. One can talk good about Noynoy's legacy. However, we need to realize that relying on Noynoy's term is a violation of the Mahathir Mohamad principle of "Never stop learning." We need to think that there's only one Noynoy and when he died, he died . TV-5 reveals that Rep. Edgar Erice, a long-time friend of the late leader, also said the following: Caloocan City 2nd District Rep. Edgar Erice made the remark in a social media post marking Aquino’s 66th birth anniversary. In the post, he co...

Justice for Kingston Ralph Ko Cheng

Would you still want to hate to follow rules? Well, it's time to think about the tragic loss of Kingston Ralph Ko Cheng , who lost his life because someone in the road didn't want to follow simple guidelines. It was two days ago when, suddenly, Kington's life was taken away from him. It was difficult for me to process what happened. I would like to share my thoughts of this reckless incident of what happens when laws are ignored. Either you become the victim (for not following rules) or you end up someone who follows rules (like what happened to Kingston). Here's something I found on Facebook : The Price of Paper Laws Kingston Ralph Ko Cheng was 23. A Monash university graduate, a talented musician, and a café owner, he moved back to Cebu to build a life. That life ended on a pedestrian crossing near his home. A speeding Toyota Innova hit him with such force it threw his body into a utility pole. The driver, 21-year-old Sean Andrew Pajarillo, had already hit a parke...

Atayal Cloth Dance

I may not be going to Taiwan or the Mountain Province any time soon. However, I'm still fascinated by the performances done by both groups. It's no surprise that the DNA tests done would reveal common ancestry between Malaysian, Indonesian, Filipino, and the ethnic groups in Taiwan. The words sound to be very similar to an Ifugao song. Similar yet different. The dances of the Taiwanese tribes in Taiwan share similaritites with the other ethnic groups in Asia. Above is an Ifugao dance demonstration.

The Anthem of Mt. Alishan's Mysterious Origins

There are many versions of the song "Gāo Shān Qīng" (高山青) which literally means "High Green Mountain". The Taiwan Panorama website also shares this detail of the anthem of Mt. Alishan : Though the Tsou don't actually live within the Alishan Forest Recreation Area, the CFDO had little choice but to build a cultural scene for Alishan on the basis of the old song Gao Shan Qing to satisfy visitors' imagined expectations of Alishan . The Tsou folk singing and dancing had stopped during the recent tourism downturn, but the Alishan National Scenic Area Administration held tryouts in 2008, for which the winning troupe won the opportunity to perform at the Alishan Forest Recreation Area entrance. "Tall green mountains, deep blue waters; the girls of Alishan are lovely as the waters; the men of Alishan are strong as the mountains...": Gao Shan Qing has pretty much become the anthem of Alishan. Gao Shan Qing was the theme song for the 1950 film Happenings in ...

The Happy Aborigines Taiwanese Song

While looking for an Aborigine song that gave me an earworm--I found this interesting aboriginal song. By looking at this video, I suspect that this song is actually a love song between a man and a woman,. It does sound very Ifugao-like as well.

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