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| Republic of China calendar | |||||||||||||||||
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 A calendar with both Western andChinese calendar dates commemorating the first year of the Republic of China, as well as theelection ofSun Yat-sen as the provisionalPresident of the Republic of China | |||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中華民國曆 | ||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中华民国历 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 民國紀年 | ||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 民国纪年 | ||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Republic [of China] year numbering system | ||||||||||||||||
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| Gregorian full date | 2025年10月26日 |
|---|---|
| Gregorian all-numeric date | 2025-10-26 2025/10/26 |
| ROC calendar | 114-10-26 114.10.26 |
| National Standard Time of Taiwan | 14:05 下午 2:05 |
TheRepublic of China calendar, often shortened to theROC calendar or theMinguo calendar, is a calendar used inTaiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu. The calendar uses 1912, the year of the establishment of theRepublic of China (ROC) inNanjing, as the first year.
The ROC calendar follows the tradition of using the sovereign'sera name and year of reign, as did previousdynasties of China. Months and days are numbered according to theGregorian calendar. The ROC calendar has been in wide use in the ROC since 1912, including in early official documents.
The ROC calendar is the official calendar used inTaiwan since 1945, and also adopted byOverseas Chinese andTaiwanese communities.Chorographies and historical research published inmainland China covering the period between 1912 and 1949 also use the ROC calendar.[1]
TheGregorian calendar was adopted by the nascentRepublic of China effective 1 January 1912 for official business, but the general populace continued to use the traditionallunisolarChinese calendar. The status of the Gregorian calendar was unclear between 1916 and 1921 while China wascontrolled by several competing warlords each supported by foreign colonial powers. From about 1921 until 1928 warlords continued to fight over northern China, but theKuomintang-ledNationalist government controlled southern China and used the Gregorian calendar. After the Kuomintang reconstituted the Republic of China on 10 October 1928, the Gregorian calendar was officially adopted, effective 1 January 1929. The People's Republic of China has continued to use the Gregorian calendar since 1949.[2]
Despite theadoption of the Gregorian calendar, the numbering of the years was still an issue. The Chinese monarchical tradition was to use themonarch'sera name and year of reign. One alternative to this approach was to use the reign of the semi-legendaryYellow Emperor in the third millennium BC to number the years.[2] In the early 20th century, some Chinese republicans began to advocate such a system of continuously numbered years, so that year markings would be independent of the monarch's era name. (This was part of their attempt to de-legitimize theQing dynasty.)
WhenSun Yat-sen became the provisional president of the Republic of China, he sent telegrams to leaders of all provinces and announced the 13th day of 11th month of the 4609th year of the Yellow Emperor's reign (corresponding to 1 January 1912) to be the first year of the Republic of China.[2] The original intention of theMinguo calendar was to follow the monarchical practice of naming the years according to the number of years the monarch had reigned, which was a universally recognizable event in China. Following the establishment of the Republic, hence the lack of a monarch, it was then decided to use the year of the establishment of the current regime. This reduced the issue of frequent change in thecalendar, as noChinese emperor ruled more than 61 years in Chinese history – the longest being theKangxi Emperor, who ruled from 1662 to 1722 (Kangxi 61). (Qianlong Emperor abdicated in 1795, i.e. Qianlong 60, but the reign name of Qianlong is still used unofficially until his death in 1799 i.e. Qianlong 64.)
As most Chinese era names consisted of two Chinese characters,民國 (mínguó; 'republic') is employed as an abbreviation of 'Republic of China' (中華民國;Zhōnghuá mínguó). The first year, 1912, is calledMínguó yuánnián (民國元年) and 2025, the "114th year of the Republic" is民國一百一十四年,民國114年, or simply 114.
Based onNational Standards of the Republic of China CNS 7648: Data Elements and Interchange Formats—Information Interchange—Representation of Dates and Times (similar toISO 8601), year numbering may use the Gregorian system as well as the ROC era. For example, 26 October 2025 may be written 2025-10-26 or ROC 114-10-26.
The ROC epoch happens to be the same year as that of theNorth Korean calendar, as North Korean founderKim Il Sung was born in 1912. The first year of Japan'sTaishō era (30 July 1912 – 25 December 1926) also coincides with that of the ROC era.
In addition to the ROC calendar, Taiwanese people continue to use the lunarChinese calendar for certain functions such as the dates of many holidays, the calculation of people's ages, and religious functions.
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The use of the ROC era system extends beyond official documents. Misinterpretation is more likely in the cases when the prefix (ROC or民國) is omitted.
There have been legislative proposals by political parties of thePan-Green Coalition that supportTaiwanese independence, such as theDemocratic Progressive Party, to formally abolish the ROC calendar in favor of the Gregorian calendar.[3]
To convert anyGregorian calendar year (1912 and after) to the ROC calendar, subtract 1911. For example, last year (2024) was 113; this year (2025) is 114; and next year (2026) will be 115.
| ROC era | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AD | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | 1921 |
| ROC era | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| AD | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 |
| ROC era | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| AD | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 |
| ROC era | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 |
| AD | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 |
| ROC era | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 |
| AD | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 |
| ROC era | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 |
| AD | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 |
| ROC era | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 |
| AD | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 |
| ROC era | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 |
| AD | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 |
| ROC era | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 |
| AD | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
| ROC era | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 |
| AD | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
| ROC era | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 |
| AD | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| ROC era | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | 120 |
| AD | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 |
| ROC era | 121 | 122 | 123 | 124 | 125 | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 130 |
| AD | 2032 | 2033 | 2034 | 2035 | 2036 | 2037 | 2038 | 2039 | 2040 | 2041 |
| ROC era | 131 | 132 | 133 | 134 | 135 | 136 | 137 | 138 | 139 | 140 |
| AD | 2042 | 2043 | 2044 | 2045 | 2046 | 2047 | 2048 | 2049 | 2050 | 2051 |
| ROC era | 141 | 142 | 143 | 144 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 148 | 149 | 150 |
| AD | 2052 | 2053 | 2054 | 2055 | 2056 | 2057 | 2058 | 2059 | 2060 | 2061 |
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In limited use | |||||
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Displays and applications | |||||
Year naming and numbering |
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