National Chengchi University (NCCU) yesterday passed a motion at a school affairs meeting to amend the lyrics of its school anthem, removing words and phrases that reflect strong ties to the party-state under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
The university was founded in 1927 by the KMT in Nanjing to foster academics in law, management and politics.
Former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) was the university’s first dean and the anthem was written by then-Central Political University director of education Chen Guofu (陳果夫).
Today, faculty and students feel that phrases such as “our party,” the “Three Principles of the People” and “to build up the Republic of China,” are not only anachronistic, but hearken back to an era when the party and state were one, the university said.
The song came under criticism starting in 2004, leading the university to hold nine meetings to discuss the issue, with each meeting failing to pass a resolution to change the lyrics, it said.
However, the issue was brought up again in 2015 after the NCCU Wildfire Front student group launched a petition to abolish the anthem.
The petition was backed by colleges and departments that refused to sing the anthem, it said, adding that the debate was officially handed to a committee, which held many meetings and online polls this year.
After a word-by-word voting process at yesterday’s meeting, the lyrics were changed from “building up the Republic of China” to “safeguarding freedom and human rights,” and from “our party” to “we.”
The changes were passed, but considering that some people prefer the old lyrics, both versions would be played simultaneously, allowing faculty and students to choose which one they prefer to sing along with, the school said.
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