World Calendars
Minguo date today
Taiwan counts its years from 1912, when the Republic of China was founded, so 2026 is year 115. Months and days are the same as in the Gregorian calendar.
11 November, Minguo 115
民國115年11月11日
- In the Gregorian calendar
- Wednesday 11 November 2026
- This day began
- At midnight, as Wednesday 11 November 2026 begins
- This day ends
- At midnight, as Thursday 12 November 2026 begins
- Year 2026 began
- Thursday 1 January 2026
- Next new year
- Friday 1 January 2027 (in 51 days)
- This year has
- 365 days in 12 months
- Year 1 began
- 1 January 1912
- Who uses it
- Taiwan, where it has been the official calendar since 1945
- Years count from
- 1912, the founding of the Republic of China; subtract 1911
- How it works
- Gregorian months and days, with only the year number changed
- Unusual detail
- North Korea's former year count also started in 1912, Kim Il Sung's birth year
Next holidays in this calendar
51 days
1 January 2027 · Gregorian, Japanese era, Thai solar (Buddhist era), Republic of China (Minguo), Juche, Holocene (Human Era), Discordian, Revised Julian, Soviet work week
How the Minguo calendar works
Months and days are the Gregorian ones. Only the year number changes. Year 1 is 1912, the year the Republic of China was established in Nanjing, so for any year from 1912 on you subtract 1911 from the Gregorian year. 2026 is the 115th year of the Republic, written 民國115年 or just 115. The word 民國 (mínguó, "republic") before the number matters, because a bare 115 is easy to misread.
| Minguo year | Gregorian year | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1912 | Republic of China founded; the year count begins |
| 18 | 1929 | Nationalist government decrees use of the Gregorian calendar |
| 34 | 1945 | The calendar becomes official in Taiwan |
| 38 | 1949 | The People's Republic adopts Western year numbers |
| 100 | 2011 | First three-digit year |
In Taiwan the lunar Chinese calendar is still used for holidays, for calculating ages and for religious occasions. Overseas Chinese and Taiwanese communities have also used the Minguo count.
Variants and the method used here
The calendar has one rule, and this site applies it with the date library built into your browser. For days before 1 January 1912 the library counts backwards and labels the years B.R.O.C., before the Republic of China, written 民國前 in Chinese. 1911 is B.R.O.C. 1, and there is no year 0. Before 1912 China dated years by the ruler's era name and year of reign, so these earlier Minguo dates are a modern conversion.
Two other calendars share the 1912 starting point. The year count North Korea used from 1997 to 2024 also starts in 1912, the birth year of Kim Il Sung. The first year of Japan's Taishō era, which began on 30 July 1912, is also Minguo year 1.
A short history
In the 1900s, republican newspapers dated events from the birth of the Yellow Emperor, but writers disagreed on that date, and dating was inconsistent. On 1 January 1912 Sun Yat-sen was elected provisional president. He decreed a solar calendar whose first day, the 13th day of the 11th lunar month of year 4609 of the Yellow Emperor, was 1 January 1912. The new government abolished the lunisolar Chinese calendar and adopted the Gregorian one.
The public resisted and kept the traditional holidays, and President Yuan Shikai adopted a policy of two calendars. The Nationalist government decreed that the Gregorian calendar would be used from 1 January 1929. In 1949 the People's Republic of China kept the Gregorian calendar, took up Western year numbers and abolished the Republic's era count. Historians in mainland China still use Minguo years when they write about 1912 to 1949.
The calendar has been official in Taiwan since 1945. Parties of the Pan-Green Coalition, including the Democratic Progressive Party, have proposed replacing it with Gregorian years.
Sources
How this site calculates the date: Gregorian months and days with years counted from 1912, used in Taiwan.