History

In 2016, the Tsai Ing-wen government removed seven public holidays. The holidays were removed due to a political compromise arising from a campaign promise Tsai made while running for president that committed her government to providing two days off per week for all workers.¹

When implementing the change, the government faced opposition from various interests including businesses, and a compromise was reached to provide two days off per week and remove seven paid public holidays.²

The removed public holidays were:

• January 2, the day after New Year's Day
• March 29, Youth Day (commemorating the Huanghuagang Uprising)³
• September 28, Confucius' Birthday
• October 25, Retrocession Day (commemorating the end of Japanese rule of Taiwan and Penghu and the return of Taiwan to the Republic of China)
• October 31, Chiang Kai-shek’s birthday
• November 12, Sun Yat-sen's birthday
• December 25, Constitution Day

Attempted Reinstatement of Removed Holidays in 2025

A longstanding⁴ political debate over reinstating the removed public holidays was reignited during the second session of the Legislative Yuan in February, 2025. Kuomintang legislators said they would seek to reinstate the holidays by amending labor regulations. The proposal received support from a Taiwan People's Party legislator who said their party would support the change. The Democratic Progressive Party caucus suggested the proposal was populist.⁵

On May 9, 2025, the Legislative Yuan passed the third reading of the Memorial Days and Holidays Implementation Act, upgrading the prior administrative-level regulations to legal status. The reform introduces four new national holidays: Lunar New Year's Eve, Confucius' Birthday (September 28), Taiwan Retrocession and Battle of Guningtou Memorial Day (October 25), and Constitution Day (December 25). Additionally, Labor Day (May 1), previously a holiday only for laborers, is now a national holiday for all citizens. The revised law also guarantees that the Lunar New Year break will span at least seven days, potentially extending to ten. Further adjustments include allowing Indigenous peoples to choose three holidays based on their specific traditional ceremonies. New commemorative days such as Freedom of Speech Day (April 7), Indigenous Resistance Day (June 16), and Human Rights Day (December 10) were also added.⁶

Table of Taiwan holidays

Public holidays

Unofficial holidays

The following holidays are also observed on Taiwan but are not official holidays observed by civil servants of the central government. Some sectors of the workforce may have time off on some of the following holidays, such as Labor Day, Armed Forces Day, and Teachers' Day.

Before 1949, a number of public holidays were celebrated by certain ethnic minorities in regions within the ROC, which were decided by local governments and entities. Since 1949, these holidays continued to be celebrated by ethnic groups as such in Taiwan Area only.

See also

• Traditional Chinese holidays
• Public holidays in China
• Public holidays in Japan

External links

• Holidays and Festivals in Taiwan
• Official Work Calendar in Taiwan by the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration (DGPA)

References

1. "Is Taiwan Out of Kilter with Reality?｜Politics & Society｜2017-02-17｜CommonWealth Magazine". CommonWealth Magazine (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved February 10, 2025. http://web.archive.org/web/20240915115825/https://english.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?id=1557 ↩

2. "Is Taiwan Out of Kilter with Reality?｜Politics & Society｜2017-02-17｜CommonWealth Magazine". CommonWealth Magazine (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved February 10, 2025. http://web.archive.org/web/20240915115825/https://english.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?id=1557 ↩

3. "An Introduction to the National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine of R.O.C". February 10, 2025. Archived from the original on May 21, 2024. Retrieved February 10, 2025. https://afrc.mnd.gov.tw/faith_martyr_en/Content.aspx?ID=&MenuID=453&MP=2#:~:text=On%20March%2029%20(Youth%20Day,by%20bowing%20and%20offering%20incense. ↩

4. staff, Asia Times (September 27, 2017). "Taiwan workers say 7 public holidays should be restored". Asia Times. Retrieved February 10, 2025. https://asiatimes.com/2017/09/taiwan-workers-say-7-public-holidays-restored/ ↩

5. Thomson, Jono (February 2, 2025). "Taiwan opposition lawmakers propose restoring 7 public holidays". Taiwan News. Retrieved February 2, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6033631 ↩

6. Wang, Cheng-chung (May 9, 2025). "立院三讀增「4+1」放假日 今年教師節光復節全民放假" (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Central News Agency (Taiwan). Archived from the original on May 16, 2025. Retrieved May 16, 2025. https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202405090140.aspx ↩

7. Camaron Kao (May 14, 2012), "Thousands of believers mark Buddha's birthday", China Post, archived from the original on June 16, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130616030705/http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2012/05/14/341025/Thousands-of.htm ↩

8. Ko Shu-Ling (May 9, 2011), "Sakyamuni Buddha birthday celebrated", Taipei Times, The legislature approved a proposal in 1999 to designate the birthday of Sakyamuni Buddha — which falls on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar — a national holiday and to celebrate the special occasion concurrently with International Mother's Day, which is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2011/05/09/2003502765 ↩

9. A Retrospective of Major News Media Events for the Republic of China’s Centennial Archived 3 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, United Daily News Online http://100news.udn.com/roc100app/newsEn.jsp?by=G8 ↩