Before entering the CKS Memorial Hall, there is a large archway standing in front of the square. This is one of the characteristics of Chinese buildings.
Do you know why the Archway has 5 holes?
Watch carefully~
Actually, you would find out there’re 5 entryways, 6 pillars and 11 roofs.
This kind 5-6-11 configuration is the highest rank archway which only can be used on the emperor’s mausoleum in China.
There is a archway in National Palace Museum, too. But the rank of the configuration of this archway is 5(entryways)-6(oillars)-5(roofs) which is lower then 5-6-11 of the CKS Memorial Hall.
So….the CKS Memorial Hall is an emperor’s mausoleum?
No, the CKS Memorial Hall isn’t an emperor’s mausoleum.
It is a special memorial to commemorate Chiang Kai-shek.
Chiang Kai-shek is the first president of the Republic of China( Taiwan). He is regarded as a controversial figure. (External Link Chiang Kai-shek Wiki )
But the government considered him to be a great president in those years. So the memorial was built according to the specifications of the Imperial Tomb and royal palace. Such as…
(Picture of Baidu：http://bit.ly/1l4Gu3z)
Many years later, some of Taiwanese were very angry with this design and they mocked the memorial as a temple.
Even so, the designers of the CKS Memorial Hall had hidden a lot of ingenuity. The highest rank Archway is only part of it. Overall, it’s design level and ingenuity are worth visiting.
