Taipei’s memorial hall for the Generalissimo traces the career of the would-be leader of all China
Chiang Kai-Shek comes across as rather dour and humourless when you meet him at the National Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall - even though he’s smiling.
The facility in the heart of Taipei is the best place to study the life of this remarkable figure in history, with his cars, uniforms and a huge collection of paraphernalia from his early days on display.
But it’s true that not all Taiwanese love the man or his political party.
Generalissimo Chiang and two million of his followers fled to Taiwan in December 1949 after their defeat in China by the communists of Mao Zedong.
Chiang and his loyalists regarded the island merely as a brief haven, where they would rebuild their strength in preparation for an eventual return to mainland to oust the communists. That never happened, and one might wonder how Chiang coped psychologically with such utter defeat for the rest of his life on the island. He may have been the most powerful man on Formosa �" as Taiwan was then known �" but certainly not the happiest.
It was not until the 1980s that his Kuomintang party finally acknowledged that its dream of re-conquering China was no longer feasible.
In his time, the first president of Taiwan and his American-educated wife, known as Madame Chiang, lived a glamorous life, much of it documented in the memorial hall.
Set in a park, the building stands at the east end of the Gate of Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness and is framed to the north and south by the National Theatre and National Concert Hall.
The entire plaza is within sight of the Presidential Office Building.
The main white building has an octagonal roof 70 metres above the ground, covered with blue glazed tiles.
Their blue, the white of the building and the red of the flowers surrounding it echo the flag of the Republic of China. The octagon suggests the number eight, traditionally associated with abundance and good fortune.
Two white staircases, each with 89 steps - Chiang was 89 when he died - lead to the entrance, double doors 16 metres high and 75 tonnes in weight.
And just inside you meet Chiang Kai-shek: a large bronze statue, the figure seated in traditional Chinese robe, the face smiling.
Inscribed on the wall above and behind are the words “Ethics, Democracy and Science”, and to either side there are the inscriptions “The purpose of life is to improve the general life of humanity” and “The meaning of life is to create and sustain subsequent lives in the universe.”
The facility’s ground level has a library and museum documenting Chiang’s life and career and exhibits related to Taiwan’s history and development.
The walls are lined with photos - Chiang being named chairman of the National Government of China in 1943; with Mahatma Gandhi and Flying Tigers commander Clair Chennault in 1942; with Earl Mountbatten, Allied Supreme Commander in Southeast Asia, in 1943; with Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in Cairo in 1943.
There is also a replica of his office, adorned with wooden furniture, Chiang again greeting visitors with a smile.
Elsewhere his fleet of black Cadillacs still gleams, the official vehicles he used as president, arrayed next to a collection of sedan chairs.
A visit to the memorial hall can leave you amazed at Chiang’s belief that he might some day reclaim the mainland - or that he managed to lose China to Mao in the first place.
Regardless, this was a man who believed he held the mandate of Heaven to ensure the island a benevolent one-party dictatorship. And he did that with a smile.
The writer travelled to Taiwan courtesy of Taipei Economic & Cultural Office.