Renaming of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Side view shortly after the renaming ceremony in May 2007. The images evoke the Wild Lily student movement of 1990.

The renaming of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei to National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall (traditional Chinese: 國立台灣民主紀念館, simplified Chinese: 国立台湾民主纪念馆)^[1] was unilaterally announced by President Chen Shui-bian on May 15, 2007, and subsequently resulted in controversial physical changes made to the monument.

President Ma Ying-jeou's election as the 12th term President of the Republic of China, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is expected to be restored to its original name, inscription, and purpose as a hall to commemorate the late President of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek.^{[2][dubious – discuss]}

[edit] Background

Taiwan's society underwent a dramatic transformation in the years following Chiang's death in 1975. In the next two decades Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) and Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) presided over a peaceful transition from single-party rule enforcing martial law to pluralistic democracy with protected human rights. The nature and meaning of Chiang Kai-shek's rule could be openly debated and, as details of the 228 Incident and White Terror publicly emerged, they were.

In 2000 Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of the Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, was elected president. The executive branch of Taiwan's government fell out of KMT control for the first time. Executive power had been handed to the DPP and its affiliated parties, known as the Pan-Green Coalition; the KMT and its affiliated parties, known as the Pan-Blue Coalition, maintained control of the legislature. Elections in 2004 preserved the situation, awarding a second term to Chen and a majority in the legislature to the opposition.

[edit] Proposal

In 2006 37 DPP legislators proposed that Chiang Kai-shek's memorial be relocated to his tomb at Cihhu and that the current structure be renamed Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall (traditional Chinese: 台灣民主紀念館, traditional Chinese: 台湾民主纪念馆). They noted that the law authorizing a memorial for Chiang does not specify the site; a change in locale could thus be enacted by a simple executive order.^[3]

The proposal attracted support from other Pan-Green officials. Pan-Green leaders saw the idea as another step in the direction of rectifying names and symbols associated with Taiwan's authoritarian past to make them more inclusive and characteristic of local Taiwanese culture. Pan-Blue officials resisted the measure. Few expressed open support of Chiang Kai-shek or one-party rule, arguing instead that the move represented unnecessary expense and election-year theater and that the localization of Taiwan's place names and symbols represented a treacherous effort to desinicize the island's culture.

[edit] Renaming process

Police guarded the hall during the initial stages of the renaming controversy as the main chamber was closed to the public.

During the controversy, the statue chamber was officially closed to the public for "the project of repairing the roof".

Scaffolding placed by the central government to cover the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall inscription was partially dismantled by the Taipei city government.

Sample of the new guides that can be found at the Hall

In 2007 the Ministry of Education of the Executive Yuan (part of the executive branch of government led by the DPP) decided to rename the hall. Support and resistance to the measure, mainly along party lines, materialized immediately.

The Memorial had been listed as a "third tier" landmark on the government's list of protected heritage sites. The Executive Yuan subsequently demoted the Memorial Hall to a "fourth tier" landmark, in order to make changes to the hall without Legislative approval. The Executive Yuan said the name change complied with laws stating that fourth-tier landmarks may be modified by the Executive Yuan directly via Organic Regulations, rather than via Organic Acts that require legislative approval.^[4] KMT-led Taipei City government responded by designating the 27-year-old hall and its surrounding walls a "temporary historical site" to make alterations to the structure unlawful according to city ordinances.^[5]

The official ceremony marking the renaming of the hall took place on 19 May 2007 when President Chen Shui-bian unveiled a plaque in front of the memorial bearing the name National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall (Traditional Chinese: 國立台灣民主紀念館). ^[6] Chen announced that the name change reflected the desire of citizens "to bid goodbye to the old age and to show that we Taiwanese are all standing firmly behind the universal values of freedom, democracy and human rights." He noted that the date, May 19, marked the fifty-eighth anniversary of the imposition of martial law on Taiwan; the event began rule by the military on the island for thirty-eight years. ^{[7] [8]} Minor scuffles broke out among gathered spectators before the ceremony. ^[9]

Large banners covering the north and south faces of the hall displayed the new name along with images of Formosan lilies. Their design recalled the pro-democracy Wild Lily student movement (traditional Chinese: 野百合學運) of 1990. New signs, displaying the new name and graphics, appeared in the garden park areas of the north and south gates. A drape covered the original name plaque over the entrance and the doors remained closed. No physical changes to the structure of the hall, though, were apparent and the statue of Chiang Kai-shek remained intact inside.

On May 22, Taipei City authorities moved in and dismantled the scaffolding obscuring the "Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall" tablet, and also removed the gigantic signs bearing the text "Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall" which had been hung over the memorial hall, on the basis that this covered the cultural site, which violates the Cultural Protection Law of the ROC and also that it was unauthorised advertising which violated Taipei City law. The City Government also issued a fine to the Ministry of Education for the second time over its redesignation moves, for blocking the view of and access to a heritage building. The Ministry of Education had earlier shut the gates to the Memorial for what it claimed was "repair work". The City Government has stated that, since no workmen could be observed conducting any repair work, it will take steps to re-open the gates. ^[10]

On May 24, the new name plate unveiled by Chen Shui-bian was taken down by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education cited the costly efforts to have a constant police guard at the name plate as the primary reason for its removal. A veteran was seen spitting on the new name plate that prompted the 24-hour police presence.^[11]

On June 7, a joint meeting of committees in the Legislative Yuan repealed the Ministry of Education's Organic Regulations of the National Taiwan Democracy Hall that established the name change.^[12] The move effectively voided the legal basis for the change, though pan-Blue legislators refrained from declaring the new name dead or the old one preserved. One legislator involved in the repeal was quoted as saying the final designation for the hall remained a political issue to be resolved through political means.^[13] Wang Shu-hui, DPP deputy caucus whip, argued that the legislature had "infringed upon the power of the central government by abolishing measures governing organizations under its jurisdiction".^[14]

On November 6, The Council of Cultural Affairs officially designated the memorial hall and its surrounding park a national historic site, which puts control over alterations to the site in the hands of the central government's heritage bodies.^[15]

The Memorial Hall website remains at http://www.cksmh.gov.tw, from the abbreviation of "Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall", but it refers to the hall at the time as the Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall. However, subsidiary bodies, such as the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall Digial Library, have not changed their name in suit.^[16]

[edit] Legal controversy

The legality of the Executive Branch's move has been disputed by the Pan-Blue Coalition. Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) said: "According to the Constitution, any administrative order that goes against an existing law is invalid. So if the Legislature has not yet abolished the organic act of the CKS Memorial Hall, which has the same legal status as law, the newly proposed organic regulation, which is an administrative order, is invalid." The Constitution of the Republic of China gives only the Legislature the power to enact, amend, or repeal laws.^[17] KMT legislators contend that the move by the Executive Yuan encroaches upon the powers of the Legislative Yuan, thereby violating the separation of powers.

Taipei City mayor Hau Lung-pin declared he would authorize no changes to city-maintained signs, including mass transit signs and maps, that would recognize changes in the hall's name. Hau cited the high costs of making such changes and blamed the name change on the desire of officials to create "ideological strife." ^[18][19][20] The mayor asserted that, until the amendment proposed by the Executive was passed by the Legislature, he would recognize no changes to the hall as legal.^[21]

Apart from the political and legal controversy, the new name has also been criticised from a linguistic perspective. The term "Memorial Hall" (紀念堂) is normally used in Chinese to commemorate a deceased person or past event, such as the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall in Beijing, or the numerous Sun Yat-sen Memorial Halls in Taiwan and mainland China. Critics thus argue that the name "Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall" implies that Taiwan's democracy is dead and to be commemorated.^[22]

[edit] Re-opening

On December 4, 2007, the Cabinet-level Council of Cultural Affairs passed a regulation giving the central government exclusive jurisdiction over modification to the memorial hall. Once the regulation was formally announced by the Cabinet, the Ministry of Education would be permitted the change to the inscription on the front gate of the hall, from "Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness" ("大中至正") to "Liberty Square" ("自由廣場"), which was spelled out in the left-to-right Western order opposed to the traditional right-to-left order. In reaction to the passing of the regulation, Kuomintang-led Taipei City government officials said that they will continue to fight for jurisdiction over the hall.^[23][24] The new inscriptions to be used on the main building and the main gate are made up of Chinese characters from the works of famous ancient Chinese calligraphers. The inscription over the main building spells "Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall" (台灣民主紀念館) in seven characters taken from the calligraphy works of Ouyang Xun (歐陽詢) of the Tang Dynasty, while the four Chinese characters that represent "Liberty Square" (自由廣場) on the main gate is from the work of calligrapher Wang Xizhi of the East Jin Dynasty.^[25]

On December 6, the Memorial Hall was closed to the public at 9:00am for three days by order of the Ministry of Education to facilitate the replacement of the inscription on the main gate. Some relatives of victims of the 228 Incident held a vigil at the Memorial Hall supporting the Ministry's decision while other groups of people protested the replacement of the inscription; the City government laid roadblocks to prevent cranes from approaching. Kuomintang presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou said at a separate setting that he would undo any removal or name change to the hall if he was elected next year.^{[2] [26]}

On December 7, the old inscriptions on the main gate were removed. The Taipei City government issued another NT$1 million fine to the Ministry of Education for damaging a historical site. The Ministry of Education defended its move, and denied any other plans to modify the site, such as removing the statue of Chiang Kai-shek or demolishing the walls surrounding the park.^[27] More than 600 police officers were dispatched to maintain order, but, as the previous day, some minor clashes occurred, and supporters applauded, while protesters booed and jeered outside a barricade of barbed wires when the final character, zheng (正), was peeled off at 5:26pm.^[28] A TV cameraman was run over by a small truck and seriously injured as supporters and opponents of the government's decision to alter the plaque at the Memorial Hall clashed near the scene.^{[29] [30]} Contracted workers took more than seven hours to separate the four characters, each weighing half a ton, and lower them down carefully one by one. On December 8, the four new characters, which match the size of those taken down, were placed on the lawn in the afternoon by the side of the gate in advance of their installation.^[31] Also on that afternoon, the last bolt was hammered to complete the installation of the new "Liberty Square" inscription on the front side of the arch. At the same time, the new plaque for the main hall, bearing the name "National Taiwan Democracy Hall", was shown publicly for the first time. The plaque over the Hall itself would be separated into 15 smaller pieces and removed.^[32] The official re-opening of the site was scheduled for December 9. However, the slow pace of work postponed the re-opening until the next day.^[33] The delay was caused by the requirement to carefully align each character, with ground crews having to stand approximately one hundred metres away and guide the team on the crane who were affixing the characters. On December 6 city government's Labor Standard Inspection Office had issued an order to halt all work on the gate inscriptions, citing unsafe scaffolding.^[34]

The first character of the new inscription is installed on December 8, 2007.

The new inscription

On December 30, Vice President Annette Lu apologised to the public for the Education Ministry's mishandling of the controversial plaque removal at the Memorial Hall, which she referred to as the "Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall" despite the Ministry of Education's purported renaming. She further blamed her party's underperformance in opinion polls ahead of the 2008 presidential election on Education Minister Tu Cheng-sheng's mishandling of the issue.^[35]

On New Year's Day 2008, the Memorial Hall with a new exhibition on Taiwan's democratizing process sponsored by the "2.28 Memorial Fund". President Chen said the re-dedicated monument symbolised "opening the door to democracy". While the 10m-high (33ft) bronze statue of Chiang remains in place, the guard of honour has been removed. As part of the new exhibition, records of victims and milestones on the road to democracy were placed around the statue, along with about 300 kites.

[edit] Possible restoration

In late March 2008, following the election of President Ma Ying-jeou, it was announced that the special exhibition will end on March 31, 2008. The kites will be sent on a traveling exhibition overseas. Other exhibits will be placed in storage, with the hall returned to its earlier state prior to the shut-down. Because of the sensitivity of the timing, the Education Ministry has been low key in its decision-making process.^[36][37]

KMT candidate Ma Ying-jeou was elected the 12th President of the Republic of China on March 22, 2008.^[38] Ma had earlier pledged to restore the name of CKS Memorial Hall, the original hall contents (flags and guards), and the inscription on both the central gate and door.^[2] President Ma took office on May 20.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall

In an interview after his election, Ma Ying-jeou said that the "illegal" renaming was "violent" and "of course, ineffective". He promised to conduct wide public consultation regarding the names of the main gate and Memorial Hall, before acting according to law to either restore the old name or complete any re-naming processes.^[39]

[edit] References