Study On National Ceremony Of The Republic Of China

"National Ceremony of the Republic of China" refers to the stylized action during the reigning period of the Nanking Provisional Government,the Bejing Government and the Nanjing government in the Republic of China.The authority who stood for China acted as a "nation-state" held the periodic and orientational ceremony or sent delegates for the it.During the performative ceremony,the public were active participates or passive onlookers.The knowledge of western national ceremony came to exist and was known by the Chinese people in the late Qing Dynasty,and it merged with the Chinese traditional rituals and festive culture,from which came into being the "Late Qing Dynasty" National Ceremony.After the Revolution of 1911, people of all ranks relocated themselves after experienceing the upheavals and returned to normality. The political powers were temporally belonged to the" Republic of China". The ceremony of the provisional government of the Republic of China in 1912 which also was Sun Yat-sen's inaugural ceremony as the Temporal President,was exactly the first national ceremony of modernity. The ceremony suggested the emergence of a new nation state as well as a new government. The new State sought for "legitimacy".Sun Yat-sen paid a formal visit to the tomb of Zhu yuanzhang in Nanjing during the ceremony of North-South Reunification. Against this background,Sun Yat-sen proceeded his inaugural ceremony which would display a forthcoming new political system. Meanwhile, Yuan Shih-kai inaugurated as the Temporal President with power and authority.People welcomed the new state with the hope for a promising future.Revolutionary and Republicanism as some kinds of "New Tradition",became new resources of legality. The Nationalist Party members advocated the new "Revolutionary Tradition" in the way of commemorating the 72 martyrs in the Hung Huagang Battle in the first day of the republic state.It actually proceeded as a ceremony to highlight the Nationalist Party's achivements in the establishment of the new state, which helps to claim the ruling legitimacy. The Republicanism mainly saw in the commemorating of the Double Tenth Day, by which way the Republicanism was closely related to the the National Day. The commemorating of the first National Day also predicted the triumph of the Republicanism and its expanding influence.The country didn't appear as prosperous as the new republic state should bring with. The long stand dictatorial system was substituted by the democracy system, while actually transition was not an easy task.People of power were reactive,along with which were the restless people. That was why Yuan Shih-kai resorted to the "Old Tradition"by worshipping to Heaven and Confucius to Save the country. The public have a special feeling for old tradition,some people embraced the ceremonies and hoped it would help the country. While the ceremony of worshipping to Heaven and Confucius went against with spirit of democracy an republicanism.It aroused criticism. The country was in a dilemma of tradition and the new state.The president's inaugural ceremony,as some typical modern national ceremony,its holder and mold of value and orientation,not limited to the ceremony itself, were watched by the public.People were more concerned about the former to some degree. In the late years of the Beijing government, growing disappointment about the Republicanism was seen in the politic views of the National Day. People were depressed by the political reality,that was the reason why national ceremony of the Republic of China went into difficulty and the slogan of Democracy and Republicanism as well as Nation-state became nominal.Sun Yet-san passed away in Beijing on March,12th,1925. The Beijing government and the Nationalist Party together held the funeral ceremony,during which the struggle between the powers of the south and north was delicate.At the same time, The media encouraged the fervour of reviewing Sun Yet-san,people had quite opposite views.The Nationalist Party members went south instantly after the funeral,Sun's body was left at the BeYun Tomb in Beijing. It was not until June,lst,1929 when the Nationalist Party seized the power that the grand ceremony of Sun's funeral was held. The ceremony was unparalleled, which extensively expressed the authority of the party-state. By then Sun Yet-san was seen as a great man.As a" Revolutionary" party,the Nationalist Party tried to pursue its ruling legality in order to stabilize the country. National ceremonies of modernity in the Republic of China became some routine was the evidence of the endeavor,as well as the establishing of the "Revolutionary Anniversary Days" which amounts to the number as many as 28. That were all contributed to the Party-state's authority and status as well as the ceremony's " being Party-state".The "party-state" faced ruling crisis as soon as the September 18th Incident in 1931 happened. Facing the grin situation,the Nationalist Party and the national government absorbed some traditional rituals to adapt itself to the national ceremony which presented for modernity. Confucius Birthday and the National Tomb-sweeping Day,which contained much of the major adaption,presented themself in a modern image to express the tradition. Besides that,Nationalism was the characteristic of the memorial day during the anti-Japanese war. The dates of the main incidents of Japan's invasion of China became memorial days, which greatly help to call on people to defend the country.As an personal affair,the birthday of Chiang Kai-shek was fully made advantaged to "raise funds for buying the airplane". It was a nationwide anti-Japanese mobilization as well as the power and authority exhibition of Chiang. People's worshipping of Chiang went with the thrive of nationalism during the war,which sounds reasonable in a broad way. The nation needed a powerful government as well as a strong leader for the final victory.China suffered a lot and finally made through. The nation celebrated the victory. The alliance during the war between the Communist Party and the Nationalist Party broke out,and it came with the Civil War. The national ceremony of the Republic of China like the Anti-Japanese war memorial became propaganda tool for "Suppressing The Rebellion" and fostering the worship of Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang's 60th birthday was celebrated in the name of the new state. It was inappropriate for the deteriorate situation,and the same with the worship of Chiang. After the war,the national ceremony should serve for the construction of the country and advocate for the spirit of Democratic Republic of China.While on the contrary,the ceremony played too much emphasize on the politics,and it went astray. Facing the downward spiral situation and the inner problems of the national government,the performative ceremony seemed to fade away with the declining destiny of the Nationalist Party and the national government.