![]() | Empire of Infields: Baseball in Taiwan and Cultural Identity, 1895-1968 Subjects: Baseball -- Taiwan -- History; Baseball -- Taiwan -- Political aspects; Group identity -- Taiwan; Sports and globalization -- Taiwan; When the Empire of Japan defeated the Chinese Qing Dynasty in 1895 and won its first colony, Taiwan, it worked to establish it as a model colony. The Japanese brought Taiwan not only education and economic reform but also a new pastime made popular in Japan by American influence: baseball. But unlike in many other models, the introduction of baseball to Taiwan didn't lead to imperial indoctrination or nationalist resistance. Taiwan instead stands as a fascinating counterexample to an otherwise seemingly established norm in the cultural politics of modern imperialism. Taiwan's baseball culture evolved as a cultural hybrid between American, Japanese, and later Chinese influences. John J. Harney is an assistant professor of history at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. |
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