Becoming Fit and Strong: A History of Physical Training in Taiwan
The practice of physical training is not only an issue of individual choice but has always been intertwined with the political economy of nation-building. A story of civilization, wartime mobilization, and nationalism, this article on physical training features as part of our special issue: Encountering Everyday Life: Taiwan in Museums.
By Lin Sheng-feng (林聖峰)
Translated by Justin Chun Yin Ng
Edited by Sabrina Teng-io Chung
This piece was originally published by the National Museum of Taiwan History. It was translated and published with the permission of the copyright owner.
In recent years, physical training is gaining popularity in Taiwan. Gyms open one after another, with famed gym owners rising into internet celebrities. People work out to lose weight, build a muscular physique, and improve physical attractiveness.
In retrospect of the history of physical training in Taiwan, we can however easily observe that working out for personal reasons is a very recent phenomenon. In earlier times, sports including weightlifting, baseball, gymnastics, and others were all imbricated with politics.
Did people in the past care about physical fitness? When did they become interested in building their own body? How did the perceptions of physical fitness and bodybuilding shift under different historical eras? This article will guide you through the history of physical training in Taiwan.
PHYSICAL TRAINING OF “HUNKS” IN THE PAST
Ideas about physical training existed in the ancient past. The stone kettlebell collection from the National Museum of Taiwan History is the best example. But why did people want to become “hunks”? Physical training in the past seemed to serve military purposes exclusively. It might not have been a popular practice.
Compared to modern equipment, stone kettlebells are similar to a combination of dumbbells and kettlebells. During training, many movements revolved around throwing and tossing, thus it was very demanding on the person’s grip, wrist, arm, hip, and leg strength. For example, this stone kettlebell from the museum collection is approximately ten kilograms and 25 by 16 centimeters in size. An inexperienced practitioner might not be able to handle the weight of such a kettlebell. Its origins could possibly be traced to ancient Chinese military camps. In the Tang dynasty’s martial arts recruitment system, exam subjects included not only archery and horseback spearing, but also weightlifting. For example, the candidate must be able to walk while carrying specific amount of weights. To prepare for the exams, soldiers invented these “fitness equipments” such as stone kettlebells and stone barbells to exercise. During the Daoguang (道光) period of the Qing dynasty, rock lifting became a major part of the martial arts exam. The use of stone kettlebells was at its peak, and the basic routine of it had taken shape. Afterwards, during the 1920-30s, Cha Rui-long (查瑞龍) from Fujian was known as “Hercules” for his skillful performances with stone kettlebells and barbells, and had led performance tours all over Southeast Asia.
A stone kettlebell (Source: National Museum of Taiwan History, collection number 2003.001.0971)
NOT STRONG ENOUGH: ATHLETICS IN JAPANESE COLONIAL TAIWAN
Japanese rule was one of the most significant periods in the history of Taiwanese sports development. The sports people were playing were no longer limited to martial arts. Their practices of physical training were more akin to the modern day sports that we are familiar with today. In the eyes of the Japanese colonizers, the Taiwanese people were characterized by their weak physique, opium consumption, and their privilege of civil matters over the martial arts. In a bid to strengthen the Taiwanese people’s physique, the Government-General attempted to promote sports and cultivate healthy citizens. This became one of the central policies of colonial governance.
Schools eventually became an important place for physical education. For example, in 1898, primary schools were required to teach 2 hours of gymnastics out of 28 hours of curriculum every week. Following the amendments of “The Principles of Gymnastics Training in Taiwanese Schools” (臺灣學校體操要目), gymnastics lessons were further subclassified into gymnastics, training (including foot work training), and games. Here, gymnastics refers to sport activities that could be done with simple equipment, such as dumbbells and bats. Hence, it was also known as light gymnastics. Games include three-legged races, tug-of-wars, and obstacle courses.
Textbook of gymnastics training (Source: National Museum of Taiwan History, collection number 2001.013.0061)
Obstacle race during the Fall Sports Day at the Taiwan Governor-General's National Language School (Source: National Museum of Taiwan History, collection number 2002.007.0962)
Modern sports were encouraged under early Japanese rule, and saw its golden age in Taiwan during the 1910s and 1920s. The Taiwan Athletics Association (臺灣體育協會), the official body responsible for sports activities, was established. Different sports activities were managed by a total of six designated departments, including that of tennis, baseball, track and field, and sumo wrestling, and others. Later, departments for ball games and swimming were added.
The Athletics Association was also responsible for hosting various events, such as the selection of Taiwanese athletes representatives in the Olympics Games, the Meiji Shrine Games (明治神宮競技大会), and other primaries. They also encouraged different kinds of sports, such as tennis, baseball, swimming, sumo wrestling, track and field, and others.
A commemorative medallion of the swimming department of Taiwan Athletics Association (Source: National Museum of Taiwan History, collection number 2004.001.0248)
A champion trophy of Meiji Shrine Dedication Soft Tennis Championship (Source: National Museum of Taiwan History, collection number 2013.021.0001)
Certificate of appreciation to Chang Hsing-hsien (張星賢) for his participation in the 10th Olympic Games (Source: National Museum of Taiwan History, collection number 2013.022.0210)
During World War II, Taiwanese athletics went into a new age. In 1937, the Japanese government initiated a “Training for the Mind and Body” campaign, encouraging the Taiwanese people to strengthen their physical wellbeing with activities such as radio calisthenics, walking, dancing, or swimming, while also participating in collective labor activities. Events such as Health Week (健康週間) and Sports for Healthy Citizens (健民運動) were later promoted to improve public health conditions and cultivate bodies fit and strong. These physical training efforts were all tied to the needs of national defense and productivity in wartime Japan.
Youths were also required to participate in collective physical training events, such as military sports, salutes, marches, camping, hiking, and agricultural activities, to train their body and mind. Originally dubbed “Gymnastics lessons,” physical education lessons were renamed as “Physical Training lessons,” implying the increasing ties between physical training and wartime mobilization. Physical activities aiming at self-strengthening and entertainment were slowly replaced by physical training, martial arts, military sports, and other collective activities mobilized by war.
A poster that advertises Sports for Healthy Citizen movement, issued by the Government-General of Taiwan (Source: National Museum of Taiwan History, collection number 2018.011.0061)
A pamphlet of the Sport for Healthy Citizen movement (Source: National Museum of Taiwan History, collection number 2019.011.0487)
“HUNKS” – ONCE A SYMBOL OF THE ANTI-COMMUNIST AND ANTI-SOVIET ERA
The benefits of weight training were not known in Taiwan until modern sports were introduced by the Japanese colonizers. But it was only after the ROC (Republic of China) government relocated to Taiwan in the 1950s that weight training gained popularity.
“Anti-communist, anti-Soviet” barbell (Source: National Museum of Taiwan History, tentative number T2018.001.1901)
Before the 1930s, the development of weight training was well established in modern China. To enhance the effectiveness of training exercises such as bodybuilding and weightlifting, modern equipment, such as dumbbells, barbells, and kettlebells, were introduced. During the period when nationalist sentiments were stirred up, the physique of a bodybuilder was the best counterproof of the “Sick Man of East Asia” (東亞病夫) stereotype. Some of the post-war Taiwanese weightlifting athletes were military personnel and civilians who evacuated with the ROC government. For instance, Che Tiu-Kwai (謝鈞貴), the champion of the 1958 Taiwan Provincial Bodybuilding Competition, hailed from Szechuan.
The ROC government continued the Taiwan’s wartime policies and militarized imaginaries of the Government-General. For instance, in 1962, the government promulgated the “Curriculum Standards of Elementary and Secondary Schools” (國民學校課程標準), requiring students to “develop physical strength and resilience.” In addition, the China Youth Corps (救國團) would hold annual Teenager Combat Training Summer Camps to train high school students in various high intensity exercises, such as hiking at Yushan, swimming, cycling, paragliding, skydiving, and even military services. These activities aimed to cultivate a fit and strong body for teenagers, in turn preparing them to serve the nation.
Combat Summer Camp for young women in Penghu, held by China Youth Corps (Source: National Museum of Taiwan History, collection number 2019.011.0030)
Students in horse riding training, held by China Youth Corps (Source: National Museum of Taiwan History, collection number 2010.030.0098)
While promoting the Anti-Communists and Anti-Soviets campaign, the ROC government also sought diplomatic support from the overseas Chinese population. Hong Kong and Filipino Chinese made multiple trips to Taiwan to join weightlifting competitions which served obvious political and diplomatic purposes.
A more concrete example would include the Filipino Chinese Powerlifting Association (菲律賓華僑健力協會). Members visited Taiwan to provide entertainment relief to the military and also participate in the 1956 15th Health and Sports Day held in Taipei. In the September 9th celebration, the first program was the weightlifting show they performed.
Besides joining the annual Health and Sports Day, overseas Chinese from Hong Kong and the Philippines were also the main participants of the World Game pre-selection nominations, regularly visiting Taiwan to join these trials. In 1959 and 1960, the Taiwan Weightlifting Association (臺灣省舉重協會), the Hong Kong Weightlifting and Powerlifting Association (香港健身舉重協會), and the Filipino Chinese Powerlifting Association joined efforts in holding weightlifting competitions twice.
A pennant commemorating the military entertainment relief journey of overseas Chinese from the Philippines (Source: National Museum of Taiwan History, collection number 2006.006.1110)
Under the national policies of physical strengthening, the influx of post-war Chinese migrants to Taiwan, as well as the assistance of overseas Chinese, Taiwan weightlifting and bodybuilding underwent huge development during the 1950s. Besides competitions held in various places, nationwide competitions were also organized.
The first national bodybuilding competition was held in 1958. From 1959 to 1972, the Weightlifting Association also organized the Taiwan Provincial Weightlifting Championships and Bodybuilding Competition (臺灣省舉重錦標賽暨健美比賽). Moreover, the annual Health and Sports Day and incessant overseas exchanges, such as the 1959 weightlifting competition hosted by three anti-Communist base Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Philippines, also greatly contributed to the growing popularity of weightlifting and bodybuilding in Taiwan.
A poster of a boxing, rings, and bodybuilding exhibition match in 1952 (Source: National Museum of Taiwan History, collection number 2006.002.1499)
In addition to these competitions, many gyms were established. Built in 1953, Cheng-kung Gym (成功健身院) was renowned for hosting the first bodybuilding competition in Taiwan.
On October 3rd, 1954, the Ke-lan Gym (克難健身館) run by the Equipment Exercise Association of the Provincial Sports Association (省體育會器械操協會) was opened at Shanghai Road (now known as Linsen South Road). It claimed to provide the latest horizonal and parallel bars, floor exercise equipment, dumbbells, power racks, and more. They also held regular lessons, lectures, self-training groups, and wrestling lessons, and recruited a considerable number of students and members.
YOUR BODY IS NOT YOURS: MODERN STATE GOVERNANCE AND THE EVERYDAY LIFE
Through the collections of the National Museum of Taiwan History, readers can now understand that in modern times, sports and physical training are not only individual practices or personal habits. They are often entangled with political issues such as civilization, wartime mobilization, and nationalism.
Today, sports have already been regarded as a leisurely activity, becoming a heated discussion topic at times. However, this does not indicate that politics is no longer imbricated with sports. For Taiwanese, the political nature of sports is all the more pronounced. During international events, controversies erupted frequently due to the awkward political status of Taiwan. Oftentimes, representing Taiwan under a certain banner or title could be read as a political statement.
From these perspectives, the everydayness of sports can also be political. And it seems that the Taiwanese people are enjoying it. The phrase frequently chanted by Taiwanese sports fans, “I want to beat South Korea so bad!” is exactly a powerful call that expresses this sort of nationalist sentiments.
Relevant museum collections:
Liao Han-shui (廖漢水) in the tenth Meiji Shrine National Games (Source: National Museum of Taiwan History, collection number 2010.006.0323.0007)
A visit to an air base or a maintenance plant organized by the China Youth Corp (Source: National Museum of Taiwan History, collection number 2010.030.0068)
“Photos on the Greater East Asia War and Taiwan Youth” edited and published by Asahi Shinbun (Source: National Museum of Taiwan History, collection number 2001.008.0020)
Reference:
Dou, Yanli. “Stone Kettlebells and Their Transformation.” Sports Culture Guide, vol.9, (September 2012).
Wang, Chao-Ching. “Odd and Ideal Body: a Sociological Study of Bodybuilding in Taiwan (1958-2003).” M.A. Thesis. Taipei: Department of Sociology, National Taiwan University, 2004.
Lin, Ting kuo. “Concept, Organization and Practice: The Development of Sports in Taiwan During the Japanese Occupation Period (1895-1937)”. Diss. Taipei: Department of History, National Chengchi University, 2009.
Li, Tai-han. “Mobilization, Organization, and Training of China Anti-Communist National Salvation Corps: Centering on Winter and Summer Youth Training Events, 1953-1960.” Diss. Taipei: Department of History, National Taiwan Normal University, 2014.
Chiang, Chung-wen, “Physical Education Course in Primary and Secondary Education of Taiwan under Japanese Colonial Rule.” M.A. Thesis. Taipei: Graduate Institute of Taiwan History, National Taiwan Normal University, 2015.
Hu, Chong-wei. “Sport, Emotions and Figurational Sociology: The Process of Female Weightlifting in Taiwan.” Diss. Taipei: Graduate Institute of Physical Education, National Taiwan Sports University, 2017.
Chen, Yi-jung. ““Taii-Koujou (Physique Improvement)”: Body Practice and Governance of Taiwan during Late Japanese Colonial Period (1937-1945).” Diss. Taipei: Graduate Institute of Physical Education, National Taiwan Normal University, 2017.
Cheng, Kuo-ming. “Taiwan Athletic Association.” (Viewed on August 23, 2020)
Hsu, Pei-xian. “Physical Education at Modern Schools in Taiwan” (Viewed on August 23, 2020)
