Taiwan, Baseball, Dreams

Chiayi is the origins of Taiwan's baseball sport. In 1918, during the Japanese Colonial Period, the Chiayi City Baseball Stadium was completed. It was the best baseball stadium in the nation; in September 1998, renovation of the stadium was completed and the stadium was open again to the public. The stadium was designed to represent the Coliseum of Rome, with fantastic viewing angles from the circular, descending audience seats.

At the left side of the gate are two bronze sculptures, "Seven Tigers of Jhuluo" and "Shaking Kosien", as well as a fountain, conveying the concept of baseball heritage and the spring of the never-ending stream of baseball history.

Bronze Sculpture Minipedia

Seven Tigers of Jhuluo Bronze

In 1968, Chiayi City won the championship of the National Peewee League Baseball Tournament. Enthusiastic sponsors from Taichung contributed funds and managed the team. In 1969, this team competed in the 23rd World Peewee League Baseball Tournament at Williamsport USA under the name of the Jinlong Youth Baseball Team. That year, the Jinlong Baseball Team took home the world championship and the nation fell into a craze of celebration. In 1970, the Chiayi City Youth Baseball Team won the national championship again and competed in the Far-Eastern Region Tournament under the name Qihu Youth Baseball Team (seven tigers). The team won the Far-Eastern Championship and entered as a representative to the world championship tournament. The whole island was swept into a craze for baseball. 

Shaking Koshien Bronze

The current National Chiayi University was the predecessor of the former National Chiayi Institute of Technology, which was originally the Tainan State Chiayi Institute of Agriculture or the Chiayi Institute.

In 1931, the baseball team of the Chiayi Institute competed in a tournament in Japan’s Koshien Stadium and took home second-place from the Nippon National Middle School Baseball Championship. Ever since, Chiayi’s baseball team been known to the nation and their fame has endured. This bronze sculpture, entitled Shaking Koshien, denotes the history of baseball development in Taiwan opened by Chiayi’s baseball teams.