Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial

The other great Memorial Hall in Taipei is for Chiang Kai-shek. Built by Chiang Kai-shek, to memorialize himself. (Children can we define the word "'ego"?) When Chiang Kai-shek was defeated by the communists in 1949 and retreated to Taiwan, he believed that he was still the rightful "Emperor of China" and therefore deserved a monument like he might have had he been in Beijing, like at the Tienanmen Square.

After Sun Yat Sen died in 1925, he successor was Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Kai-shek became the KMT leader and in the next 25 years he had to fight warlords, the communists and the Japanese. At the end of WWII only the communists were left, but Chiang Kai-shek was defeated and retreated to Taiwan. The communists would have pursued him to Taiwan, but the Korean War broke out and the US supported Chiang as allies against the communists.

Chiang maintained until his death in 1975 that he would retake the mainland from the communists. (Children can we define the word "delusion"?) But maintaining that delusion on the small island of Taiwan is a hard task. But Chiang built a great memorial to himself. This building has a great statue of Chiang seated as President Lincoln from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

Every hour there is a "changing of the guard" like at Buckingham Palace in England.

Here is a movie from the center of the courtyard of the CKS Memorial from the Gate to the National Gallery to the CKS Memorial to the National Theater back to the Gate.