ABSTRACT

By socio-historical investigation of the governance, operation and promotion of the National Games in the early People's Republic of China (PRC), it is notable that nationalism was still a driving force behind the development of the mega-sports event in the early stage of the PRC. The plan to host a National Games in the PRC was first officially proposed by Deng Xiaoping's five pieces of instructions to Rong Gaotang in reply to Gaotang's report on the Chinese delegation's visit to the Soviet Union in 1952. The representative symbol of the first four National Games was made up of the emblems, posters, commemorative stamps, attendance of the state leadership and their delivered speeches. The Taiwan province delegation at the Third and Fourth National Games in the 1970s was dedicatedly utilized by the Chinese government under the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) leadership as propaganda to highlight its desire for sovereignty over Taiwan.