Taichung Prefectural Taichung First Middle School

The Taichung Prefectural Taichung First Middle School (臺中州立臺中第一中學校) holds a unique place in Taiwan's colonial history as the first secondary school established through Taiwanese initiative during Japanese rule. In the early 1910s, Taiwan's colonial education system offered middle school education almost exclusively to Japanese residents, leaving Taiwanese students with extremely limited options for secondary schooling.

In 1913, prominent central Taiwan gentry including Lin Xiantang (林獻堂), Lin Lietang (林烈堂), Lin Xiongcheng (林熊徵), Tsai Lianfang (蔡蓮舫), and Koo Xianyong (辜顯榮) began petitioning the colonial government to establish a middle school for Taiwanese students. They raised over 240,000 yen through donations, with Lin Lietang personally contributing 15,000 tsubo of land. Despite bureaucratic resistance, the school was approved and opened on May 1, 1915. Construction of the school buildings was completed by December of that year. It was originally named the Taiwan Public Taichung Middle School (臺灣公立臺中中學校).

The school underwent several name changes reflecting shifts in colonial administration: in 1919, following the Taiwan Education Ordinance, it became the Taiwan Public Taichung Higher Common School (臺灣公立臺中高等普通學校); in 1921, after the administrative reorganization into prefectures, it was transferred to Taichung Prefecture as the Taichung Prefectural Taichung Higher Common School, and in 1922, under the revised Education Ordinance that introduced nominal Japanese–Taiwanese co-education, it was renamed Taichung Prefectural Taichung First Middle School (臺中州立臺中第一中學校). The newly founded Taichung Second Middle School served mainly Japanese students, and the principal successfully resisted a proposal to swap the two schools' numbers; as a "First Middle School" attended chiefly by Taiwanese, it became a powerful symbol of educational self-determination.

In 1927, a significant student protest took place, resulting in more than thirty expulsions and some sixty voluntary withdrawals — an early expression of Taiwanese resistance within the colonial education system. During the kōminka (皇民化, Japanization) period from 1937 to 1945, the school was subjected to intensified assimilation policies. Japanese language became the sole medium of instruction, students were encouraged to adopt Japanese names, and military training was incorporated into the curriculum. In the final years of World War II, students were mobilized to support the Japanese war effort through labor service and military preparation.

Following Japan's defeat in August 1945, the school was renamed Taiwan Provincial Taichung First High School. In 1948, it was selected as one of only 39 best high schools across the Republic of China. The school continued to evolve through subsequent name changes — National Taichung First Senior High School (2000) and finally Taichung Municipal Taichung First Senior High School (2017). The original colonial-era lecture hall (講堂) has been preserved and designated as a registered historical building by the Taichung City Cultural Heritage Office, now serving as the school's history museum. The school remains one of Taiwan's most prestigious secondary institutions, with its founding story celebrated as a landmark in Taiwanese educational and cultural self-determination.