What question did this study set out to answer?

The study aims to explore how baseball has evolved as a symbol of national identity in Taiwan throughout its history.

April 16, 2026

National Identity Formation and the Role of Sport－The Case of Taiwanese Baseball－

Key Points

The study aims to explore how baseball has evolved as a symbol of national identity in Taiwan throughout its history.
Analyzes Taiwanese history across three periods: Japanese colonial era, KMT regime, and post-democratization.
Utilizes theoretical frameworks like 'invention of tradition' and 'imagined communities'.
Examines the correlation between the evolution of baseball and the formation of national identity.
Baseball was initially a tool for colonial control but fostered local pride during the Japanese era.
Under the KMT regime, baseball transitioned from being marginalized to a symbol of national cohesion.
Post-democratization, baseball emerged as a core cultural asset representing Taiwanese identity and history.

Abstract

This study examines the historical evolution and significance of baseball as Taiwan’s “national sport(國球)” within the framework of national identity formation. It aims to elucidate the process by which baseball, originally an imported sport introduced during the Japanese colonial era, has been transformed into a preeminent national symbol for the contemporary Taiwanese community. To this end, the study categorizes modern Taiwanese history into three distinct periods — the Japanese colonial era, the KMT authoritarian regime, and the post-democratization era — to analyze the shifting roles and meanings of baseball. Utilizing theoretical frameworks such as Eric Hobsbawm’s “invention of tradition,” Michael Billig’s “banal nationalism,” and Benedict Anderson’s “imagined communities,” the research explores the dynamic correlation between sports and the construction of national identity. The findings of this study are as follows: First, during the Japanese colonial period, baseball was introduced as a governing tool to instill imperial modernity and cultivate loyal subjects; however, achievements in tournaments such as Koshien paradoxically served as a foundation for fostering collective pride among the Taiwanese people. Second, under the post-war KMT regime, baseball was initially marginalized as a remnant of colonial culture, but was later repurposed in the 1970s as a strategic resource to promote systemic superiority and national cohesion amidst intensifying international isolation. Third, following democratization, baseball has been solidified as a core cultural asset that visualizes “Taiwanization” and symbolizes the historical continuity and survival experiences of the Taiwanese community. In conclusion, Taiwan baseball serves as a prototypical case demonstrating how sports can be reinterpreted according to political contexts and collective memories. Furthermore, it suggests the operation of “pre-state statehood,” a unique mechanism through which sovereign reality is manifested and validated via sports, particularly for a community whose status as a sovereign state is constrained within the international community.

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