The square became Taipei's site of choice for mass gatherings as soon as it opened. The nature of many of those gatherings gave the site new public meanings. The hall and square became the hub of events in the 1980s and early 1990s that ushered Taiwan into its era of modern
democracy. Of the many pro-democracy demonstrations that took place at the square, the most influential were the
Wild Lily student movement rallies of 1990. The movement provided the impetus for the far-reaching political reforms of President
Lee Teng-hui. These culminated in the first
popular elections of national leaders in 1996. The site's importance in the development of Taiwan's
democracy led to the plaza's rededication as
Liberty Square by President
Chen Shui-bian in 2007. The Memorial Hall was also renamed in a dedication to democracy. The
announcement of the new names was greeted with hostility by Kuomintang officials. The original dedication to Chiang was subsequently restored to the hall by President
Ma Ying-jeou, while the name Liberty Square was eventually affirmed by officials across party lines. In 2017, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the
February 28 Incident and the 30th anniversary of the lifting of
martial law, Taiwan's Ministry of Culture announced plans to transform the hall into a national center for “facing history, recognizing agony, and respecting human rights.” Scholars and experts were invited to form an advisory group to help plan the hall's transformation. The Chinese inscription now over the main gate declares the plaza
Liberty Square. The calligraphic style recalls that of
Wang Xizhi in the
East Jin Dynasty (see
Chinese calligraphy). The style is noted for its sense of vitality, movement and freedom. The
characters in the inscription are placed in left-to-right sequence to follow modern practice in Taiwan. (The right-to-left order of ancient Chinese tradition had been observed at the site up until then.) In February 2017, during the administration of President
Tsai Ing-wen, then Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chun promoted
transitional justice reforms for the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. She invited experts and scholars to form an advisory committee on the memorial’s transformation, removed merchandise related to Chiang Kai-shek, stopped playing the “Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Song,” and renamed major exhibition and performance spaces—such as Zhongzheng Gallery, Jieshi Hall, Ruiyuan Hall, Zhiqing Hall, Meiling Gallery, Caiyu Gallery, and Zhongzheng Performance Hall—using numbers and floor designations instead. On February 27 of the same year, Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture announced that, in order to avoid social tensions during the February
28 Memorial activities, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall would be closed for one day each year on February 28 starting that year. In 2018,
pro-independence student activists stormed the hall and threw paint on the statue of Chiang Kai-Shek; two were arrested and penalized for NT$2,000. In 2019 the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall hosted an exhibition by the Chinese artist Ling Feng (靈峰). The 88 works exhibited were sharply critical of the
Chinese Communist Party and authoritarianism in general. On April 7, 2022, the former “Exhibition Room for Commemorating the Leader” was renamed the “Permanent Exhibition Hall,” and a new permanent exhibition titled “The Soul of Freedom vs. the Dictator – Taiwan’s Road to Freedom of Speech” was launched. This exhibition presents the struggles of non-Kuomintang democratic activists—such as Yang Kui,
Lei Chen, Fu Zheng, Yin Haiguang,
Peng Ming-min, Wei Ting-chao, Hsieh Tsung-min, Li Ao, Bo Yang,
Huang Hsin-chieh, Kang Ning-hsiang, Shih Ming-teh,
Cheng Nan-jung, Li Chen-yuan,
Chen Shui-bian, Hsu Shih-hsien,
Chen Chu, Irene, and Annette Lu—in their pursuit of freedom of speech under martial law. It is displayed alongside the existing permanent exhibition “President Chiang Kai-shek and the Republic of China,” presenting both achievements and controversies as a first step in the transformation. In 2024, the
Ministry of Culture announced the removal of military honor guards from the memorial as part of efforts to stop the promotion of a "
cult of personality" around Chiang Kai-shek and "authoritarianism". In July 2024, the Ministry of Culture required the honor guards stationed at the memorial to return to their primary duties of patrol training and maintaining site security, removing their previous role of standing guard in the statue hall. Starting July 15, the honor guard drill performances were moved to Democracy Boulevard in front of the main hall; the ceremony would be canceled in case of rain. On November 24, 2025, the permanent exhibition on the right side of the hall—formerly “The Soul of Freedom vs. the Dictator – Taiwan’s Road to Freedom of Speech”—was updated to a new exhibition titled “Flowers of Freedom.” Using the metaphor of freedom as a flower’s core, the exhibition presents the history of Taiwan’s pursuit of democracy and freedom from 1945 to the present. It also introduced a bilingual Chinese-English format, added a comparative timeline of major global events related to democracy and human rights after World War II alongside Taiwan’s democratic milestones, and enhanced audiovisual, interactive, and object displays to illustrate how Taiwan cultivated and developed its democratic “Flowers of freedom.” == Public transit ==