Who remembers the good old days when everyone inside cinemas in Taiwan stood up to the playing of San Min Zhu Yi? I remember having to stand up like everyone else before the start of a movie while the anthem was blaring, and the movie screen showed images.
I forgot what images were shown, but I remembered seeing an enlarged image of Sun Yat-sen on the screen as the final notes of the anthem were winding down.
Sounds horrible. Thank God they donāt do that anymore.
For a few years after CSB became mayor of TPE, they had some nice montages of kids and puppies. Well, not puppies, but they did present a softer image. I donāt think people stood up for the anthem by that time.
But yeah, I was in Taiwan the year after martial law was lifted, and standing up was a must. I didnāt think it was so bad.
It at least made going to the movies a bit different.
I remember seeing Pulp Fiction with a Taiwanese friend and he refused to stand up and people heckled him.
Why does it sound horrible?
I used to quite like it, one was able to kind of pretend that there was such a thing as actual patriotism and love of oneās country hereā¦
Rather than the present partisan clusterfuck into which the entire nation has descended.
What, you donāt stand up at ballgames or hockey games??
I thought it was a bit of overkill especially since the theaters in those days were hardly the salubrious places they are today. I donāt remember people not standing. They had the same thing in Thailand, but I donāt know if they do now. Itās a good way to learn a countryās national song. I think the Thai one was written by the king. One of the advantages, I guess.
Thatās entirely different. Thatās sports! 
Donāt they still play the national anthem before performances in the National Concert Hall and the National Theater?
As of last week, at least, no.
The national anthem was good, but my favorite was still the āBe ready to fight the Commie aggressor at all timesā stenciled on the sides of the mailboxes during the martial law era.
Article in Taipei Times about the abolition of standing for the national anthem in movie theatres. I caught the tail end of that; they were still doing it when I got here.
Great piece by Han Cheung linked above by MikeN1.
As in many other cases, Yilan led the way in ending this practice.
Guy
This reminds me of that
Yeah, I lived through that. For a while they used to play the anthem before baseball games as well.
This article makes Taiwan under martial law sound like the GDR (East Germany under Soviet rule).
ā Shortly after being elected to his second term in 1986, he abolished the New Yearās Day flag-raising ceremony and later did away with the Human Resources Second Office (äŗŗäŗ室) that essentially served as the thought police in every public institution. He also destroyed āloyalty recordsā that kept tabs on all local government office and school staff.ā
Yikes.
CKS did model his rule in Taiwan after the Communist party
They kinda had to abolish the law in the end cos no one was standing. I remember seeing a movie on Linsen N.Rd and some old guy tried to stand and the entire audience booed him. It was glorious.
I also refused to stand for the anthem at the baseball games. More people were willing to stand at the games. Iād say about 60% of them did.
When I was a kid and I had to do the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag at my all-American school, I would substitute it with the lyrics to my favorite TV sitcoms at the time, like āCheersā or āCharles in Chargeāā¦ it was mumbled under my breath, so I donāt think anyone took notice. Standing or pledging allegiance for any kind of flag or anthem is a crock of shit and Iām proud I had that view even as a young kid.