The Republic of China began in 1912. It is not only the most important turning point in modern Chinese history, but also the intensest period of time of unrest and changes in all aspects of lives in Chinese society.

After the overthrow of the feudal monarchy, ideas of independence, republic, freedom and equality began to be accepted by common people. The rush of cutting plaits arose everywhere. Modern schools rapidly developed, replacing the old-style private school gradually; modern national industry prospered briefly; groups of workers began to rise, developing and growing gradually, but the self-sufficient economy is still dominant.

The period of Republic of China had domestic troubles and foreign invasions. The wars are frequent, such as warlords fighting, Japan’s invasion and the civil war between Kuomintang and Communist Party. What’s more, as natural disasters and famine continued, people lived in misery. Many homes were destroyed and people became homeless. Despite many hardships of life, people’s basic necessities, weddings and funerals, holiday festivals etc. had already been mixed in the time vortex between Chinese culture and western culture during the period of Republic of China, sometimes conflicted, and sometimes mingled. Tradition and modern, local and foreign, retains and changes all coexisted. Some very concrete contents of culture and lives at that time were continued down to the present day.