About Time Zone in Asia/Taipei During World War 2
Hello, I'm Yu-Cheng Chuang, a Taiwanese, and also a programmer. I just studied some knowledge about the time zone, and found that there is a commonly-used database maintained by IANA, which is widely used in our UNIX-like OS as well as software systems. I'm a Rails developer, and the TZInfo library derived from the Time Zone Database helped me a lot when building a time-zone-aware feature. It's really very useful. Thank you for making it. When studying these knowledge, as a Taiwanese, I found that during the Japanese era (1895-1945), time zone in Taiwan was mostly UTC+8 (Western Standard Time). However, during the World War II, as a part of Japan, the Japanese emperor ordered that the whole country should adopt the Central Standard Time (UTC+9), including Taiwan as well as overseas territories occupied later during the war (e.g. Hong Kong, Singapore). In the Time Zone database, I found that such fact is recorded on the time zones of its occupied cities: * Hong Kong * Singapore * Rangoon in Myanmar * Dili in East Timor * Jakarta, Pontianak and Makassar in Indonesia * Kuala Lumpur and Kuching in Malaysia * Manila in Philippines However, here Taipei in Taiwan is missing, which during the World War II was still a territory of Japan, and switched to UTC+9 since Oct 1, 1937. In addition, I see that in the section of Japan, Hideyuki Suzuki mentioned Western Standard Time, which was declared in 1895, in the Meiji 19 year ordinance No. 167. I think its declaration might be due to the annexation of Taiwan. Here is a brief history from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_invasion_of_Taiwan_(1895)): * On April 17, 1895, the Qing Dynasty of China ceded Taiwan and Penghu Islands to Japan. * On May 27, 1895, the Japanese army landed Taiwan, the invasion began. * On Nov 18, 1895, the Taiwan General (from Japan) reported "the whole island is capitulated" to the Japan central government. Then, On Dec 28, 1895, the Meiji Emperor announced Ordinance No. 167 of Meiji Year 28 "The clause about standard time", mentioned that Taiwan and Penghu Islands, as well as Yaeyama and Miyako Islands (both in Okinawa) adopt the Western Standard Time which is based on 120E. The adoption began from Jan 1, 1896. (The original text can be found on Wikisource (http://ja.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%A8%99%E6%BA%96%E6%99%82%E3%83%8B%E9%97%9C%...)). However I don't know Japanese language very well; the only way I understand it is through Kanji and Google Translate.) This could be the first adoption of time zone in Taiwan, because during the Qing Dynasty, it seems that there was no time zone declared officially. Later, in the beginning of World War II, on Sep 25, 1937, the Showa Emperor announced Ordinance No. 529 of Showa Year 12 "The clause of revision in the ordinance No. 167 of Meiji year 28 about standard time", in which abolished the adoption of Western Standard Time in western islands (listed above), which means the whole Japan territory, including later occupations, adopt Japan Central Time (UTC+9). The adoption began on Oct 1, 1937. (The original text can be found on Wikisource (http://ja.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%98%8E%E6%B2%BB%E4%BA%8C%E5%8D%81%E5%85%AB%...).) That is, the time zone of Taipei switched to UTC+9 on Oct 1, 1937. Of course, after the surrender of Japan, time zone of Taiwan switched back to UTC+8. However I can't find enough evidence to tell when the switch happened. The only thing I know is that the official surrender ceremony is on Oct 25, 1945. From then, Taiwan and Penghu islands are territories of the Republic of China, until now. Again, I only know a little bit Japanese, and as a native Chinese speaker, the only words I can read are nouns written in Kanji (Chinese chars). Therefore, I may misunderstand the Japanese ordinances, but I believe I read them mostly correctly because in that time, most Japanese people write Chinese-like Japanese. I think it would be better to have someone who know Japanese read them directly. Please correct me if I misunderstood anything. I hope that the history above helps you improve the Time Zone database. Sincerely, Yu-Cheng Chuang p.s. References from Wikisource: * Ordinance No. 167 of Meiji Year 28: http://ja.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%A8%99%E6%BA%96%E6%99%82%E3%83%8B%E9%97%9C%...) * Ordinance No. 529 of Showa Year 12: http://ja.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%98%8E%E6%B2%BB%E4%BA%8C%E5%8D%81%E5%85%AB%...
On 2013-07-11 Yu-Cheng Chuang wrote:
I hope that the history above helps you improve the Time Zone database.
It did, and thank you! Sorry about the late reply, but since this was about time stamps before 1946 there was no rush. I have installed the attached patch into the experimental tz database on github and I hope something like it will appear in the next release. One advantage of waiting so long is that in the meantime we switched to UTF-8 commentary in the database so it can now include URLs like <http://ja.wikisource.org/wiki/標準時ニ關スル件_(公布時)>.
It appears you have a typo in the NEWS entry created for this item. Also, since this information provides sources corroborating/refuting what were previously guesses for Asia/Tokyo, we should accordingly update the commentary there as well. -- Tim Parenti On 1 July 2014 21:33, Paul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu> wrote:
On 2013-07-11 Yu-Cheng Chuang wrote:
I hope that the history above helps you improve the Time Zone database.
It did, and thank you! Sorry about the late reply, but since this was about time stamps before 1946 there was no rush. I have installed the attached patch into the experimental tz database on github and I hope something like it will appear in the next release. One advantage of waiting so long is that in the meantime we switched to UTF-8 commentary in the database so it can now include URLs like <http://ja.wikisource.org/ wiki/標準時ニ關スル件_(公布時)>.
I also noticed a stray CJT in Asia/Sakhalin, and fixed it in a manner similar to the other recent patches. (grep assures me this is the last one.) Relative to bd3824ac6c0c31f5eff017e0dbe3e3ff9d74e9df -- Tim Parenti On 2 July 2014 01:45, Paul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu> wrote:
Thanks, I installed those corrections into the experimental version on github.
Glad to hear that! I also understand why it took so long to have this patch applied due to non-ASCII URL issue. Besides, after my first mail, I’ve found more evidences about when the time zone was switched from UTC+9 back to UTC+8 after WW2. I believe it was on Sep 21, 1945. In a document during Japanese era [1] in which the officer told the staffs to change time zone back to Western Standard Time (UTC+8) on Sep 21. And in another history page of National Cheng Kung University [2], on Sep 21 there is a note “from today, switch back to Western Standard Time”. From these two materials, I believe that the time zone change happened on Sep 21. And today I have found another monthly journal called “The Astronomical Herald” from The Astronomical Society of Japan [3] in which it mentioned the fact that: 1. Standard Time of the Country (Japan) was adopted on Jan 1, 1888, using the time at 135E (GMT+9) 2. Standard Time of the Country was renamed to Central Standard Time, on Jan 1, 1898, and on the same day, the new territories Taiwan and Penghu islands, as well as Yaeyama and Miyako islands, adopted a new time zone called Western Standard Time, which is in GMT+8. 3. Western Standard Time was deprecated on Sep 30, 1937. Form then all the territories of Japan adopted the same time zone, which is Central Standard Time. This journal article is also being quoted in an Wikipedia article about Japan Standard Time [4]. I believe it would also good to quite this article rather than my self research. Thanks for your kind response! Yu-Cheng Chuang [1] Academica Historica, Taiwan: http://163.29.208.22:8080/govsaleShowImage/connect_img.php?s=00101738900090036&e=00101738900090037 [2] Nat’l Cheng Kung University 70th Anniversary Special Site: http://www.ncku.edu.tw/~ncku70/menu/001/01_01.htm [3] Yukio Niimi, The Standard Time in Japan (1997), p.475: http://www.asj.or.jp/geppou/archive_open/1997/pdf/19971001c.pdf [4] http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E6%A8%99%E6%BA%96%E6%99%82 On 2014年7月2日Wednesday at 09:33, Paul Eggert wrote:
On 2013-07-11 Yu-Cheng Chuang wrote:
I hope that the history above helps you improve the Time Zone database.
It did, and thank you! Sorry about the late reply, but since this was about time stamps before 1946 there was no rush. I have installed the attached patch into the experimental tz database on github and I hope something like it will appear in the next release. One advantage of waiting so long is that in the meantime we switched to UTF-8 commentary in the database so it can now include URLs like <http://ja.wikisource.org/wiki/標準時ニ關スル件_(公布時) (http://ja.wikisource.org/wiki/
_( ))>.
Attachments: - 0001-Correct-times-for-Asia-Taipei-before-1945-10-25.patch
I finally have found the real official gazette about changing back to Western Standard Time on Sep 21 in Taiwan. It’s Taiwan Governor-General Bulletin No. 386 in Showa 20 years (1945), published on Sep 19, 1945. [1]. I can read some Japanese now, and I’ve also checked this with my friends who speak Japanese, so I believe can get the idea. The Bulletin No. 386 abolishes Bulletin No. 207 in Showa 12 years (1937), which is a local bulletin in Taiwan for that Ordinance No. 529. It also mentioned that 1am on Sep 21, 1945 will be 12am on Sep 21. I think this bulletin is much more official than the one I mentioned in my first mail, because it’s from the top-level government in Taiwan. If you’re going to quote any resource, this would be a good one. In addition, to avoid any mis-translation, I put the original text in this mail too. [1] Taiwan Governor-General Gazette, No. 1018, Sep 19, 1945: http://db2.th.gov.tw/db2/view/viewImg.php?imgcode=0072031018a&num=19&bgn=019&end=019&otherImg=&type=gener [2] 告示第三百八十六號 昭和十二年告示第二百七號(臺灣ノ標準時ニ關スル件)ハ之ヲ廢止シ昭和二十年九月二十一日午前一時ヲ以テ昭和二十年九月二十一日午前零時トス 昭和二十年九月十九日 臺灣總督 安藤 利吉 --- Yu-Cheng Chuang -- Yu-Cheng Chuang On 2014年7月2日Wednesday at 21:39, Yu-Cheng Chuang wrote:
Glad to hear that! I also understand why it took so long to have this patch applied due to non-ASCII URL issue.
Besides, after my first mail, I’ve found more evidences about when the time zone was switched from UTC+9 back to UTC+8 after WW2. I believe it was on Sep 21, 1945. In a document during Japanese era [1] in which the officer told the staffs to change time zone back to Western Standard Time (UTC+8) on Sep 21. And in another history page of National Cheng Kung University [2], on Sep 21 there is a note “from today, switch back to Western Standard Time”. From these two materials, I believe that the time zone change happened on Sep 21.
And today I have found another monthly journal called “The Astronomical Herald” from The Astronomical Society of Japan [3] in which it mentioned the fact that:
1. Standard Time of the Country (Japan) was adopted on Jan 1, 1888, using the time at 135E (GMT+9) 2. Standard Time of the Country was renamed to Central Standard Time, on Jan 1, 1898, and on the same day, the new territories Taiwan and Penghu islands, as well as Yaeyama and Miyako islands, adopted a new time zone called Western Standard Time, which is in GMT+8. 3. Western Standard Time was deprecated on Sep 30, 1937. Form then all the territories of Japan adopted the same time zone, which is Central Standard Time.
This journal article is also being quoted in an Wikipedia article about Japan Standard Time [4]. I believe it would also good to quite this article rather than my self research.
Thanks for your kind response!
Yu-Cheng Chuang
[1] Academica Historica, Taiwan: http://163.29.208.22:8080/govsaleShowImage/connect_img.php?s=00101738900090036&e=00101738900090037 [2] Nat’l Cheng Kung University 70th Anniversary Special Site: http://www.ncku.edu.tw/~ncku70/menu/001/01_01.htm [3] Yukio Niimi, The Standard Time in Japan (1997), p.475: http://www.asj.or.jp/geppou/archive_open/1997/pdf/19971001c.pdf
[4] http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E6%A8%99%E6%BA%96%E6%99%82
On 2014年7月2日Wednesday at 09:33, Paul Eggert wrote:
On 2013-07-11 Yu-Cheng Chuang wrote:
I hope that the history above helps you improve the Time Zone database.
It did, and thank you! Sorry about the late reply, but since this was about time stamps before 1946 there was no rush. I have installed the attached patch into the experimental tz database on github and I hope something like it will appear in the next release. One advantage of waiting so long is that in the meantime we switched to UTF-8 commentary in the database so it can now include URLs like <http://ja.wikisource.org/wiki/標準時ニ關スル件_(公布時) (http://ja.wikisource.org/wiki/
_( ))>.
Attachments: - 0001-Correct-times-for-Asia-Taipei-before-1945-10-25.patch
Thanks, I applied your earlier patch to the experimental version on github, with a different changelog, along with the attached followup patch.
participants (3)
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Paul Eggert
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Tim Parenti
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Yu-Cheng Chuang