{"id":16858,"date":"2021-10-04T16:30:55","date_gmt":"2021-10-04T20:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=16858"},"modified":"2021-10-04T16:30:55","modified_gmt":"2021-10-04T20:30:55","slug":"celebrating-national-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/celebrating-national-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating National Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year on October 1st, China celebrates its National Day<\/strong> (\u56fd\u5e86\u8282 gu\u00f3 q\u00ecng ji\u00e9). This is one of the most important holidays in the country. It’s one of two Golden Week<\/strong> (\u9ec4\u91d1\u5468 hu\u00e1ng j\u012bn zh\u014du) holidays, along with the Spring Festival<\/strong> (\u6625\u8282 ch\u016bn ji\u00e9). People all over the country are enjoying a few days off of work or school and celebrating National Day, so that’s what we’re doing in this post! We’ll learn a lot of useful vocabulary for talking about China and help you understand more about the most populous country on the planet.<\/p>\n

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Tiananmen Square is the place to be on National Day. Photo taken and used with permission from Sasha Savinov.<\/p><\/div>\n

A Brief History of the Holiday<\/h2>\n

Back on October 1st, 1949, Mao Zedong<\/strong> (\u6bdb\u6cfd\u4e1c m\u00e1o z\u00e9 d\u014dng) procalimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China<\/strong> (\u4e2d\u534e\u4eba\u6c11\u5171\u548c\u56fd zh\u014dng hu\u00e1 r\u00e9n m\u00edn g\u00f2ng h\u00e9 gu\u00f3). This marked the end of the Civil War<\/strong> (\u56fd\u5171\u5185\u6218 gu\u00f3 g\u00f2ng n\u00e8i zh\u00e0n) between Mao’s Communist Party<\/strong> (\u5171\u4ea7\u515a g\u00f2ng ch\u01cen d\u01ceng) and the rival Kuomintang<\/strong> (\u56fd\u6c11\u515a gu\u00f3 m\u00edn d\u01ceng) led by Chiang Kai-shek<\/strong> (\u8523\u4ecb\u77f3 ji\u01ceng ji\u00e8 sh\u00ed).<\/p>\n

The war was fought between 1927 and 1949 except for a brief period where hostilities were put on hold to battle the invading Japanese. This time where the two sides worked together against a common enemy is known as the Second United Front<\/strong> (\u7b2c\u4e8c\u6b21\u56fd\u5171\u5408\u4f5c d\u00ec \u00e8r c\u00ec gu\u00f3 g\u00f2ng h\u00e9 zu\u00f2).<\/p>\n

Once the Japanese were defeated, however, the CCP and KMT resumed their long and bloody civil war. While there are no official statistics, it’s estimated that around 2.5 million people died in the four-year period between 1945-49 alone. Some historians estimate that the total death toll for the civil war could be more than six million.<\/p>\n

With the victory of Mao and the CCP, Chiang and about 2 million fellow Nationalists retreated to the island of Taiwan<\/strong> (\u53f0\u6e7e t\u00e1i w\u0101n) and kept the name Republic of China<\/strong> (\u4e2d\u534e\u6c11\u56fd zh\u014dng hu\u00e1 m\u00edn gu\u00f3). As you’re probably well aware, the issue remains contentious to this very day. The ROC maintains that it is an independent nation, while the PRC claims Taiwan as a breakaway province.<\/p>\n

On National Day this year, China sent 38 fighter jets toward Taiwan in the largest show of force yet this year. Meanwhile in Taipei, protestors gathered calling for the independence of Hong Kong and Tibet. We’re not here to dive into the intricacies of geo-politics, though, so let’s continue with the history lesson for now…<\/p>\n

After over two decades of war, Chairman Mao stood in Tiananmen Square<\/strong> (\u5929\u5b89\u95e8\u5e7f\u573a ti\u0101n’\u0101n m\u00e9n gu\u01ceng ch\u01ceng) and led the founding ceremony<\/strong> (\u5f00\u56fd\u5927\u5178 k\u0101i gu\u00f3 d\u00e0 di\u01cen) of the new nation. The city once known as Beiping would be the new capital, with a new name – Beijing<\/strong> (\u5317\u4eac b\u011bi j\u012bng). Here’s what he said at exactly 3PM on that cool October afternoon:<\/p>\n

\u540c\u80de\u4eec\uff0c\u4e2d\u534e\u4eba\u6c11\u5171\u548c\u56fd\u4e2d\u592e\u4eba\u6c11\u653f\u5e9c\u4eca\u5929\u6210\u7acb\u4e86\uff01
\nt\u00f3ng b\u0101o men, zh\u014dng hu\u00e1 r\u00e9n m\u00edn g\u00f2ng h\u00e9 gu\u00f3 zh\u014dng y\u0101ng r\u00e9n m\u00edn zh\u00e8ng f\u01d4 j\u012bn ti\u0101n ch\u00e9ng l\u00ec le<\/p>\n

Dear comrades, I hereby declare the formal establishment of the People’s Republic of China and its Central People’s Government!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s been 72 years since the founding of the PRC. Incredibly, you can actually watch Mao’s speech from 1949 on YouTube. See if you can understand his very thick Hunan accent in this famous historical speech:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/yV1JgSPdq6w<\/a><\/p>\n

Celebrating National Day<\/h2>\n

As you may imagine, celebrating National Day is all about being a patriot<\/strong> (\u7231\u56fd\u8005 \u00c0i gu\u00f3 zh\u011b). The best way to do this is by attending the flag-raising ceremony<\/strong> (\u5347\u65d7\u4eea\u5f0f sh\u0113ng q\u00ed y\u00ed sh\u00ec) in Tiananmen Square. This is a big deal every day, but it’s especially important on October 1st. Thousands of people line up before sunrise just to witness this special occasion. Here are some highlights from the flag-raising ceremony this year:<\/p>\n