Monday is National Day in Taiwan, also known as “Double Ten” day — Oct. 10. It's a commemoration that stretches back more than a century — and has a direct link to Hawaiʻi.
National Day is the anniversary of a 1911 rebellion in what is now the city of Wuhan — marking the beginning of the end of China’s imperial rule.
By the end of the year, the Qing dynasty had been overthrown and the Republic of China was established on Jan. 1, 1912.
The tie to Hawaiʻi is through Sun Yat Sen — a revolutionary leader who played a crucial role in the movement against the Qing dynasty.
Sun spent several formative years in Hawaiʻi and later returned to build support and financing for his ideas and plans.
Sun is unusual because he’s still held in high regard in both Taiwan and mainland China.
The overthrow of the Qing dynasty is marked in mainland China — although it's not a national holiday.
The Beijing government puts a much bigger emphasis on Oct. 1 — celebrating the 1949 founding of the People’s Republic of China.
Another important event for this October: China’s Communist Party Congress. It’s held once every five years. The meeting that gets underway Sunday is widely expected to result in an unprecedented third five-year term for President Xi Jinping.
