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Liang, Youwen (梁友文) April 24, 1925

Biography

Mr. Youwen Liang is an author, an athlete, a musician and an educator. He is a native of Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, was born in Yokohama, Japan in 1925. His father Mr. Fuchu Liang (1897-1968, known as the "father of Chinese baseball") named him after Mr. Yat-sen Sun's (The Republic of China’s first provincial president Yat-sen Sun) given name--“Wen” out of respect.

Mr. Youwen Liang returned to China at the age of seven. He became a die-hard baseball and softball fan due to his father’s influence. In 1939, Youwen and his brothers, along with other four teammates, founded the original Panda Baseball Team in Shanghai, and Mr. Fuchu Liang served as their head coach. Youwen played third base serving a key player on the "Panda" baseball team. The "Panda" team won many championships competing with both domestic and foreign competitive teams. In 1948, Youwen earned the MVP (Most Valuable Player) award due to his tremendous performance in games that year.

Since 1949, Mr. Youwen Liang had been a member of the Shanghai Baseball Team. In response to his father Mr. Fuchu Liang's initiative, all of his teammates from the original Panda Baseball Team dispersed to different cities and districts to volunteer to coach the baseball and softball in Shanghai's middle schools and universities. From there, the Panda Baseball Team incubated 49 Pandas Baseball Teams. At that time, Mr. Youwen Liang had coached the following teams which include: Shanghai Baseball Team II, Xuhui District Baseball Team, 59th Middle School Baseball Team, and White Bear C Team.

At the beginning of 1981, Liang Youwen moved to the United States. In 1987, he created the Panda Little Bats for the Chinese children of San Francisco. He used his leisure time to continue teaching baseball and music. He won several championships San Francisco Chinese baseball and softball competitions, and led the team for competitions and exhibitions in China four times, greatly promoting the continued development of American-Chinese baseball and softball. In 2000, the San Francisco City Council honored Liang Youwen for his selfless dedication and awarded him a certificate of recognition. From 1943 to 2000, Liang Youwen participated in numerous competitions as a player and coach.