National Tsing Hua University - Tradition

Tradition

Meichu Tournament

Meichu Tournament, held in March annually, is a sport competition between National Tsing Hua University and National Chiao Tung University. Since its establishment in 1969, Meichu Games has become a tradition, and is considered as one of the most important activities between these two prestigious universities in Taiwan.

We could trace the history of the Meichu Games to the 1960s. After the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, National Tsing Hua University and National Chiao Tung University were both relocated in Hsin Chu, Taiwan and became neighbors. The geographic and academic closeness prompted many intellectual and social exchanges between two universities.

In 1966, an informal tournament was held. The arrangement of the formal event, however, was not institutionalized until 1968, when Mr. Chian Feng, an executive officer of NTHU student activity center, received the permission from the university authority to plan sport events for NTHU and NCTU students modeling after the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.

While both side agreed on the plan to hold such an annual event, there was a disagreement on the naming of the Game. At last, Prof. Zhang Zhi-Yi solved this problem by proposing the conventional coin tossing. “If the head-side is up, the game would be called Mei-Chu; otherwise, the game would be called Chu-Mei.” As the head-side of the coin went up, the tournament was thereby named Meichu to commemorate the two founding presidents of NTHU and NCTU, Dr. Mei Yi-Chi, and Dr. Ling Chu-Ming.