Republic of China calendar
Calendar used in Taiwan
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Through Epoch, Gregorian calendar and Solar calendar
The ROC calendar is similar to the tradition of using the sovereign's era name and year of reign during the previous dynasties of China. Months and days are numbered according to the Gregorian calendar. The ROC calendar has been commonly used in the ROC since 1912, including in early official documents.
The ROC calendar has been the official calendar used in Taiwan since 1945, and also adopted by overseas Chinese and Taiwanese communities. Chorographies and historical research published in mainland China covering the period between 1912 and 1949 also use the ROC calendar.
History
Before the Republic of China, the Chinese dating system had used the monarch's era name and year of reign. In the 1900s, republican newspapers started using the birth of the semi-legendary Yellow Emperor in the third millennium BC as the bases for the dating system. However, disagreements over his birth date resulted in inconsistent dating in the publications.
On 1 January 1912, Sun Yat-sen was elected the provisional president of the Republic of China. He decreed that a solar calendar would be adopted with its epoch at the 13th day of 11th lunar month of the 4609th year of the Yellow Emperor, corresponding to 1 January 1912.
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Structure
The epoch of the calendar corresponds to the founding of the Republic of China on 1 January 1912. The year is usually expressed with 'republic' (民國; mínguó) – employed as an abbreviation of 'Republic of China' (中華民國; Zhōnghuá mínguó) – prepended before. For example, the first year, 1912, is called Mínguó yuánnián (民國元年), and 2026, the "115th year of the Republic" is 民國一百一十五年, 民國115年, or simply 115.
The ROC epoch happens to start on the same year as that of the former North Korean calendar used from 1997 through 2024, as North Korean founder Kim Il Sung was born in 1912. The first year of Japan's Taishō era (30 July 1912 – 25 December 1926) also coincides with that of the ROC era.
In addition to the ROC calendar, Taiwanese people continue to use the lunar Chinese calendar for certain functions such as the dates of many holidays, the calculation of people's ages, and religious functions.
Criticisms
The use of the ROC era system extends beyond official documents. Misinterpretation is more likely in the cases when the prefix (ROC or 民國) is omitted.
There have been legislative proposals by political parties of the Pan-Green Coalition, such as the Democratic Progressive Party, to formally abolish the ROC calendar in favor of the Gregorian calendar.
Relation to the Gregorian calendar
To convert any Gregorian calendar year (1912 and after) to the ROC calendar, subtract 1911. For example, last year (2025) was 114; this year (2026) is 115; and next year (2027) will be 116.