National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine－Learning Sheet for School-based Curriculum Development of Dazhi High School
National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine is located on Bei-an Road in Dazhi District, resting among Grand Hotel and numerous military institutions. Former Martyrs' Shrine was Taiwan Huguo Jinja during Japanese Occupation. Martyrs' Shrine enshrines brave patriotic martyrs who died for our nation in battles or wars. The architecture shares the same palatial style with Beijing's Tai-he Palace. The grand architecture and the fabulous Guard Mounting performance together make Martyrs' Shrine a military institution with historical and cultural value. How much do you know Martyrs' Shrine? Visit Martyrs' Shrine by yourself and take a look at the following reference. Finish this learning sheet and hand it in to your instructor. (1)Archway Entrance:
Three-door concrete structure covered with indigo glazed ceramic roof tiles. It is the entrance of National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine.
(2)Bell Tower and (3) Drum Tower:
An octagonal pagoda, covered with indigo glazed ceramic roof tiles. There is a bronze statue of a martyr inside each tower. There is a bell on the second floor of the Bell Tower and a drum in the Drum Tower. The second floor of Bell Tower and Drum Tower are not open to the public. During national memorial, only related personnel are allowed to enter.
(4) The Main Gate:
The Main Gate is a concrete structure, covered with yellow glazed ceramic roof tile. Among the beams and pillars are painted with dragons pattern. The door head identifies ancient royal style. Four hexagon objects on the door head are called the “door viewer,” which signifies the pedigree of the architecture in ancient China. In front of the Main Gate are a pair of stone lions carved with marble. Each stone lion weighs eight tons. The one that holds a ball is the male lion, while the one with a baby lion is the female lion.
(5)Main Hall:
The Main Hall is a concrete northern-palace style architecture. The roof style of the Main Hall is called Wu-Dian. This one is covered with yellow glazed ceramic roof tiles, which symbolizes the highest social ranking in Ancient China. The roof ridge is decorated with a celestial and several mythical animals. Both dou-gongs (brackets) and dragons patterns among the beams and pillars follow the exact style of Liang Sicheng's Construction manual of Qing. It is built mainly for worshipping martyrs who helped founding our country. The martyrs' tablets are placed in the shrine in the Main Hall. On the left hand side of the shrine is the tablet of Chinese people's ancestor, Yellow Emperor, while on the right is the portrait of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, our nation's founding father.
According to the enactment of the National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine Management Section, Reserve Command, two national memorials are held in Martyrs' Shrine each year, spring national memorial and autumn national memorial. Spring national memorial takes place on March 29th, Youth Day, in combination with memorial service of Tomb Sweeping Day(April 5th) each year. Autumn national memorial is held on September 3rd, Armed Forces Day. President would officiate the national memorial with premiers of Executive Yuan, Legislation Yuan, Judicial Yuan, Examination Yuan and Control Yuan, inviting families of enshrined martyrs and relevant officials to pay their highest respect to the martyrs.
(6) Literati Martyrs:
The roof of Literati Martyrs' Shrine is covered with yellow glazed ceramic roof tiles. Among its beams and pillars are painted with dragons pattern. Literati Martyrs' Shrine enshrine martyrs or intellectuals who died for founding the nation, denouncing President Yuan Shi-Kai for his treason, guarding the Constitution, fighting in War of Resistance Against Japan, and suppressing rebellions. Martyrs like Lu Haou-Dong, Lin Chio-Min, Soong Jaou-Ren, Chu Zhi-Hsin, Lo Fu-Hsin, and the 72 Huanghuagang Revolutionary Martyrs as well as Taiyuan Five Hundred Perfect Men are enshrined here.
(7) Military Martyrs:
The Military Martyrs' Shrine enshrines soldiers and military officers who died in the Eastern Expeditions, the Northern Expeditions, Anti-communist Campaigns, and suppressing rebellions. Generals are enshrined with an individual tablet, field officers are listed on hundred-person tablet, while privates are en masse in patriot rosters in storage.
You can appreciate the beauty of northern-palace style architecture without crossing the strait to Mainland China because there is already one in Dazhi. Be sure to pay attention to observe the delicate structural details in Martyrs' Shrine. Generally, architecture of northern-palace style emphasizes more on its momentum. Therefore the architecture's roof decoration has an important function of symbolizing the social ranking and the degree of auspice. Even if you don't know much about historic monuments, you can still understand and appreciate the delicate roof a little through the following introductions.
Roof Ridge:
Zhengwen is the intersect of the main ridge and diagonal ridge gripped by two mythical animals. Usually the mythical animals can be an owl, a fish, or a hornless dragon, which according to Chinese mythology has super power to suppress the fire god. A sword is on each of these mythical animals' back to prevent the end of the ridge from fire.
Roof Tiles:
The roof of Forbidden City is composed of glazed ceramic tiles. Yellow ceramic roof tiles are reserved for the emperor. It is of the highest status, and can only be used in imperial palaces and temples. The following colors of galzed ceramic roof tiles according to its social rank are green, blue, red, purple, and black.
Roof Decoration:
The celestial being and several mythical animals on the roof ridge indicate the royal status of the resident. Traditionally, its order on the roof the celestial, the dragon, the phoenix, the lion, the heavenly horse, the sea horse, the legendary beast of prey, wind-and-storm-summoning fish, a legendary unicorn-beast, the bull and the monkey. The numbers of animals represent the rank of the palace. The higher the number is, the higher the status of the building is, and vice versa.

Please count how many mythical animals are on the roof? Ancient eaves tile(Wa-tang) is placed at the end of round tiles. Do you know what pattern is on wa-tang? Drip tiles are fixed between two wa-tangs, also known as rain tiles, because rain falls from here. Go to Martyrs' Shrine and check the shape of the drip tiles.

Army Uniform	Summer Navy Uniform	Winter Navy Uniform	Air Force Uniform

Every four months, Guard Mounting is performed alternately among National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall by the honor guards of Army, Navy and Air Force. This performance often attracts numerous tourists. Different forces wear different uniform with particular gun handling style. Which one do you see? The honor guards change every hour from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you want to watch Guard Mounting performance, be sure to be on time!
Last but not least, remain silent when you enter the Main Hall, the Literati Martyrs' Shrine and the Military Martyrs' Shrine in order to express your respect to the martyrs.
Source: http://www.dcsh.tp.edu.tw/shrine
An Introduction to Traditional Taiwanese Southern-Min Style Architecture: http://www.course.cs.tku.edu.tw/~cbrpk87u/trad/trad.htm

Website Translated by Ou Yang Pei-ting( Top )