Taiwan Today

This is the handsome Chung-shan Building dedicated to Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the Founding Father of the Chinese Republic, on Novem­ber 12, his 101st birthday anniversary (100th according to Western reckoning). The site is scenic Yangmingshan (Grass Mountain) in suburban Taipei. Three characters, Chung-shan Lou, are inscribed in the calligraphy of President Chiang Kai-shek at entrance. Chung-shan is the courtesy appellation by which Dr. Sun is known to the Chinese. The building was designed by woman architect Hsiu Tse-lan. It has a main auditorium, the Chinese Cultural Hall, seating 1,800, a dining roam for 1,500, conference rooms, library, and offices. The building's purpose is the enhancement and wider dissemination of the rich and ancient Chinese culture. Much of Dr. Sun's genius lay in his ability to combine the old values with the modern scientific methods of the 20th century.

 

 

 

Speaking to nearly 2,000 Chinese officials at the Chung-shan Building dedication ceremony, President Chiang declared that Chinese culture, centered on the Confucian teachings and reinforced by Dr. Sun's Three People's Principles, is indestructible. "The more violent it has been assailed or crushed," he said, "the stronger, healthier, brighter, greater, and more durable Chinese culture has become." The President said Taiwan is "the unique treasure house conserving all the best in China's literature and artifacts" but that people had been unable to see the treasures in "architectural settings doing justice to her traditional culture". That is why the government decided to build the Chung-shan Building. The First Couple held a tea for foreign dip­lomats at the new building in the afternoon (bottom).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Sun's birthday was observed by the free Chinese of Taiwan with many other colorful programs. Lion dancers performed in front of Sun Yat-sen statue in downtown Taipei (top). At the request of 1,500 officials, political leaders, and educators, President Chiang Kai-shek proclaimed Dr. Sun's birthday as Chinese Culture Renais­sance Day. The President urged the people to consider the Chung-shan Building on Yangmingshan "as bases for our national reconstruction and as banners under which we shall strive for the renaissance of Chinese culture". Building's dining room and marble stairs are seen bottom.