Chiang’s Illusive Birthday

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 17, 21 January 1937, Page 9

Chiang’s Illusive Birthday

SHANGHAI.—Few people have had so much trouble in determining their real birthday as has General Chiang Kai-shek, the “ta jen” or “great man” of China. It is because he is so prominent that his birthday became a matter of great consequence, as annual observance of the event is likely to remain the rule for some time. China now conducts its official affairs on a basis of the same calendar as that used in most parts of the world, despite a reluctance on the part of the common people to change from the old lunar calendar to the new solar style; General Chiang was born, according to the lunar calendar, on the fifteenth day of the ninth moon. This is a standard Chinese method of setting a date. But, just as the “Chinese New Year” varies from year to year on a basis of the “foreign calendar” calculation, so does the date of occurrence of the fifteenth day of the ninth moon. The problem was to determine what day this fell upon when General Chiang was born half a century ago. Dr. Chu Min-i, vice-chairman of the Central Party Cultural Affairs Planning Committee, announced that both October 29 and October 31 were correct, according to different ways of looking at the situation. This year, that is, the fifteenth day of the ninth moon .was October 29, but research showed that 50 years ago when General Chiang was born the day in question fell on October 31. So it was finally decided that henceforth the official birth-date will be October 31, no matter what day in any given year the fifteenth day of the ninth moon may occur, since now the lunar calendar has been officially outlawed in China. Hence all China celebrated his birthday last year on Octo- ‘ ber 31.