Comrade Guevara
Starting today, Lai Qingde officially succeeded Tsai Ing-wen as the leader of the Taiwan region, and the future of cross-strait relations in the Taiwan Strait is uncertain, but it is not the topic I want to discuss today. What I would like to talk to you about today is another interesting topic: Why do Taiwan's leaders always choose to take office on the very romantic day of "May 20"? Was it intentional, or was it a coincidence?
Why 5.20?
It is really not a deliberate attempt by the Taiwan leader to take office on 20 May to catch up with the "romantic" fashion, but is purely a coincidence. Moreover, people chose this day as early as the inauguration ceremony of the first "president" more than 70 years ago, and 5.20 as the "Internet Valentine's Day" is still a trend that has been formed since around 2010.
Next, let's talk about the origin of "5.20" as the inauguration date of Taiwan's leader.
The opening part of the Constitution of the Republic of China
It is said that after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Chiang Kai-shek, then president of the Kuomintang and chairman of the national government, claimed to comply with the strong call of the democratic parties for the realization of constitutional government, announced the end of the period of political training, and began the transition to the constitutional period. In 1946, the Kuomintang officially announced the handling of "democratic constitutional government", and in the absence of the Communist Party, the National Congress representing the "people of the whole country" formulated a constitution based on the draft constitution drafted by Zhang Junmao, the leader of the Democratic Socialist Party, and completed and promulgated it on December 25, 1946, and the Nationalist Government announced that it was about to be dissolved.
In accordance with the provisions of the "Constitution", the National Congress was convened for the first time in 1946, with the task of formulating the Constitution of the Republic of China, also known as the "Constituent National Congress"; In 1948, the National Congress was convened for the second time, with the task of implementing the "Constitution", electing the "President", and implementing the "President" system, also known as the "Constitutional National Congress".
The first "presidential" election officially began on April 20, 1948, the "presidential" candidates were Chiang Kai-shek and Ju Zheng, and the "vice presidential" candidates were Li Zongren and Sun Ke, and finally Chiang Kai-shek was elected "president" with 90.03% of the votes, and Li Zongren was elected "vice president".
In 1948, Chiang Kai-shek (second from left), Li Zongren (third from left) and U.S. Ambassador Stuart Layden (first from right) and others took a group photo
After the election, Chiang Kai-shek decided to go to the "Presidential Palace" in Nanjing a month later, on May 20, to take the oath of office. As a result, this date has become a common practice, and it has also become the legal date for the inauguration of successive leaders after the "national government" moved to Taiwan.
The first "presidential" inauguration ceremony is interesting, Li Zongren was played by Lao Jiang as a monkey
Talking about the inauguration ceremony of the first "president" of the Kuomintang, we have to mention an interesting incident: "Vice President" Li Zongren was played as a monkey by "President" Chiang Kai-shek. What's going on here?
This "interesting anecdote" is recorded in detail in the memoirs of the person concerned, Li Zongren.
It is said that a few days before his inauguration, Li Zongren asked Chiang Kai-shek for instructions on the clothing of the inauguration ceremony, and Chiang replied that he should wear a suit and a tuxedo. Li Zongren recalled, "I was skeptical at first, because Western-style dresses were not commonly used in the celebrations of the Nationalist Government, but he had decided that I had to do it." So Li Zongren found a famous suit shop in Shanghai overnight to make a set of tuxedos with high crowns and stiff collars.
Li Zongrenrong's costume photo
However, on the eve of the inauguration ceremony, there was an edict from Lao Chiang in the presidential guard room, asking Li Zongren to "use military uniforms". Regarding Lao Chiang's temporary change of hexagram, although Li Zongren felt that the military uniform was "not in harmony" with the atmosphere and environment of the day, since Chiang had already instructed him, "of course I had to follow it."
It wasn't until the day of his official inauguration that Li Zongren found out that he had become a big mess, and he was "played by a monkey" by Lao Jiang. It turned out that when the salute official respectfully invited the chief and deputy "presidents" to take office, Li Zongren was shocked to find that Lao Jiang was not wearing a military uniform at all, but "a long robe and a horse coat, standing on the stage as if no one was around", and he stood behind Lao Jiang, looking like Lao Jiang's adjutant!
Afterwards, Li Zongren wrote resentfully in his diary, "Even in such a small place, Mr. Jiang cannot relax his measurements, and you can imagine how he behaves." This embarrassing scene embarrassed me not so much as embarrassing himself."
At the inauguration ceremony, Li Zongren was like Lao Chiang's adjutant
In fact, the reason why Lao Jiang deliberately humiliated Li Zongren was not only because of his narrow-minded personality, but also because of the deep resentment between the "central department" and the "gui line" represented by the two.
Lao Chiang was extremely reluctant for Li Zongren to expand in the political circles and encroach on his own territory, so when Li Zongren announced his candidacy for "vice president," Lao Chiang sent Zhang Qun and others to ask Li to be elected with both soft and hard measures, but the result was rejected. The old Jiang who touched the nail pulled out Sun Yat-sen's son Sun Ke to confront Li, and the intention of pulling Li to "dismount" was obvious, but the result was still unsuccessful.
According to Li Zongren's recollection, on the day the "vice presidential" election results were announced, "when the announcer reported that I had won more than half of the votes and had been elected in accordance with the law, Mr. Chiang was so angry that he kicked the radio away." His indignation was simply beyond words. The day after he was elected, Li Zongren and his wife visited Chiang Kai-shek, but they sat in the reception room for 30 minutes before the old Chiang and his wife came out, their faces full of indifference.
Li Zongren turned against Lao Jiang, which is not unrelated to the "employment turmoil".
Then, there was the "small loss trick" of the inauguration ceremony, Lao Jiang finally made Lao Li ugly, but this kind of "small trick" is really a price drop, which can only make people see Lao Jiang's narrow-mindedness more clearly. In the end, Jiang and Li parted ways, and this "interesting story" must be a catalyst.
Resources:
Oral narration by Li Zongren, written by Tang Degang: Memoirs of Li Zongren, Guangxi Normal University Press, 2005.