The government began to prepare the construction of the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in 1964 to commemorate Father of the Republic of China, Dr. Sun Yat-sen's great character, revolutionary career, and phylosophical blueprint for a modern China. The hall should serve as a place not only for people to pay tribute to Father of the Republic, but also for cultural, artistic, educational, academic, and recreational purposes. In 1965, then President Chiang Kai-shek officiated the ground breaking ceremony. The design plan by the famous architect Wang Ta-hung was selected in a public contest one year later, and modified under the instruction of President Chiang, to underline Chinese architectural characteristics. The main construction was completed on May 16, 1972. The majestic and solemn building itself is sited in Chung-shan Square Park, featuring green grass and floral bushes. It now boasts to have the landmark building, a scenic open space, and the best performance center in eastern Taipei City.
The Memorial Hall was affiliated to Taipei City Government originally. In June 1986, it became part of the Ministry of Education, together with Chung-shan Hall in Yang Ming Mountain. Its official name was changed from "the Administrative Bureau of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall" to "the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall".
In the early time, the Memorial Hall primarily functioned as a place to display the historical relics of Dr. Sun's life and lead in the revolution. Later, it opens to exhibitions and performances. Now, it has a world-class performance hall, and elegant exhition center with an area of around 10,000 square feet. It also has a multi-media theatre with the newest facilities, an audio-visual center, lecture halls, Chung-shan Symposium, a professional library with a collection of over three hundred thonsand books, Lake Tswei exhibition and performance area, and Chung-shan park.
The Memorial Hall is committed to the promotion of Dr. Sun's phylosophies-universal love, an egalitarian society, and the "goal of life is to help the others" and to refresh the people's memory of Dr. Sun and pass on his beliefs. The first director Shih Chun-wen set up a solid foundation for the Memorial Hall. succeeding directors, Frank C.C. Tong, Wang Ching-po, Kao Chung-yun and Tseng Chiang-yuan led the Memorial Hall come of age. The present director, Chang Jui-pin, takes it into the stage of prosperity. Now, the Memorial Hall advances towards internationalization and localization, life-time education, and renovation of hardware facilities. The aim is to integrate Dr. Sun's beliefs with more attributes of contemporary Chinese culture.
Opening hours:
Daily 9 am - 5 pm
