National Revolutionary Martyrs Shrine
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A site in the north of Taipei, the holy of holies for dyed-in-the-wool KMT Nationalists, which mainly honours military personnel who died fighting the Japanese before and during WWII. It’s a bizarre sight, especially the changing of the guard ceremony in slow-motion goose-stepping and highly choreographed gun twirling.
>Combinations with other dark destinations
More background info: For general historical background please see the separate chapter History of Taiwan.
There are many “martyrs’ shrines” in Taiwan, but this is the “mother” of them all and the largest. It was built in the north of Taipei in 1969. Its purpose is to honour those of the KMT, but also including Chinese civilians, who lost their lives in the conflicts going back as far the 1911 revolution that ended imperial rule in China. However, the largest proportion of those inducted here died in the Sino-Japanese war of 1937-1945 and the Chinese Civil War, though there are also some from the 1958 conflict with the PRC over Kinmen. In total just under 400,000 names are listed at the shrine.
Since 1998 Taiwanese civilians have also been honoured at this shrine, including firefighters and police officers who died in the line of duty as well as healthcare workers from the 2003 SARS outbreak.
Some aspect of the design of the shrine complex resemble elements of the historic Forbidden City in Beijing, China. Similar stylistic elements, such as the arched gate and the glazed roof tiles, can also be found at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Another similarity is the changing of the guard ceremony – see below.
What there is to see: The first thing you see when you get to the site is the three-arched main gate. In the middle arch two honour guards stand motionless on wooden plinths, dressed in ceremonial uniforms and wearing white steel helmets and each holding a bayoneted rifle rested at their right foot. You have to enter the complex through the right arch and then you emerge on the other side in the large expanse of the square in front of the actual shrine. The square is lined with rows of flagpoles flying the Taiwanese national flag.
Just as I was arriving, the changing of the guard ceremony began, so I watched the whole thing. I’m not normally one for such military prancing about, but I must say that the synchronized movements and the whole elaborate choreography was quite impressive. First a group of five soldiers emerge from the main shrine building, four carrying bayoneted rifles on their shoulders, and one without a rifle (presumably the commanding officer or so). After they’ve marched the length of the square they face the two guards who are about to be taken off duty and replaced by two new ones. There’s lots of choreographed goose-stepping and saluting. Most spectacular, however, are all those rifle-swirling movements that turn into a kind of military ballet. Eventually, the new guards assume their position while the group with the relieved guards retreat to the side in yet more exaggerated slow-motion synchronized movements, white-gloved fists forward, until they disappear into a guard building to the side of the main gate while getting a big round of applause from visitors/bystanders.
After that spectacle I walked back across the square to explore the shrine itself. There are more honour guards here too and signs admonish visitors to remain respectfully silent, remove their hats and refrain from smoking.
Once you’re through the inner gate you see a smaller square in front of a large building designated the “Inner Sanctuary”. The shrine buildings, one for civilians to the right, one for the military to the left, have wide open red doors and inside the wooden tablets featuring the names of the “martyrs” are on display. They’re all in Chinese characters only, so I didn’t get much out of that.
However there are also large golden bas-relief depictions of specific battles. Some of these I found reminiscent of the OTT style I had encountered in North Korea. Little signs in Chinese and English indicate what is being depicted. In addition there are paintings of specific historical moments, such as one showing a scene with ROC “founding father” Dr. Sun Yat-sen initiating the revolutionary movement that would eventually lead to the end of imperial rule in China. Another painting depicts Chiang Kai-shek rescuing Sun from a mutinous ship, another one shows the Japanese surrender in 1945, and so on. There are furthermore lots and lots of battle charts from the early days of the revolution, the eight-year-long Sino-Japanese War, and the PCR’s attacks on the Kinmen and Matsu islands in 1949 and 1958.
Moreover there are rows of bronze busts of selected specific “martyrs” on white marble plinths with signs explaining what their particular sacrifice was. In addition there’s a scale model of the whole National Martyrs’ Shrine complex under a perspex canopy.
To the side of the inner gate building I peeked into what were some sort of waiting rooms, for use during ceremonies, I presume, featuring some very North-Korea-esque furniture and boxes of tissues on small tables. Very bizarre.
Back on the outer square you can also see the bell and drum towers to both sides of the paved expanse. At the bottom of those are yet more martyr busts. The grassy expanses to the side of the square are obviously off limits.
There weren’t many other Western tourists when I was there (December 2023) but a fair number of locals or domestic tourists, mostly wielding smartphones with which they captured everything (especially of course the changing of the guards). The sombre and solemn atmosphere that the site is so trying to exude thus couldn’t fully materialize for me.
Still, I’m glad I made my way out here to witness the ceremony and see this somewhat weird monument to the KMT’s conflict-rich history.
Location: in the Zhongshan District in the north of Taipei at 139 Beian Road, some 2.5 miles (4 km) north of Taipei Main Station but less than half a mile (750m) east of the Grand Hotel (see below).
Google Maps locator: [25.0786, 121.5331]
Access and costs: quite a way out from the city centre, but not too hard to get to; free.
Details: The nearest MRT station would be Yuanshan or Jintan on the Red Line, but both are quite a distance from the Shrine still.
Buses are more convenient. Numerous lines go along Beian Road and back into the city, including the fast Neihu Main Line bus that covers the distance from/to Taipei Main Station in less than 20 minutes. The bus stop you need is conveniently called “Martyrs’ Shrine”.
Opening times: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily (except on some special days).
Admission free.
Time required: I spent a bit over half an hour at this site, including watching almost the entire changing of the guard ceremony. Unless you have a keen interest in KMT and ROC history in the first half of the 20th century and want to read all the panels and study the battle charts etc., I doubt you’ll need significantly longer.
Combinations with other dark destinations: in general see under Taipei.
The nearest sites of some dark interest are the 823 Artillery Battle Memorial Park and the adjacent Grand Hotel with its underground air-raid-shelter tunnels (see under Taipei). To get there take a bus or walk west along Beian Road. To get up to the Grand Hotel from the Memorial Park, find the stairs in the wooded hillside to the west of the park. Otherwise you’d have to walk all around the foot of the hill and approach the Grand Hotel from the north-western side (past one of the tunnel exits).
The Martyrs’ Shrine sits within a large military-dominated area, with one military institution right next door to the west. To the east and north are/were also military museums. The Army Museum, however, closed in 2021 and is to be replaced by something new. To the north is supposed to be a Navy Command History Gallery, but whether that is still open or if it’s even accessible for civilians I don’t know. Photos I’ve seen suggest there’s no English at all. Hence I didn’t bother.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: nothing much in the immediate vicinity. Those interested in visiting Buddhist and Taoist temples can find a cluster of these in the hillside park area called Yuanshan Scenic Area behind (to the north of) the Grand Hotel. To the south, just across the river is the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (181 Zhongshan N Rd., Tue-Sun 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m, 30 NTD).
Otherwise see under Taipei in general.
