Words from the Wise:

World-renowned chef Fu Pei-mei (1931–2004) “After a woman has gotten married, it’s good to have a successful career, to be sure, but maintaining a happy home is what matters most.” When Fu Pei-mei first learned to cook back in the day, it was to keep her husband satisfied. Now she’s a professional chef who has built herself a career but still puts family first. —“Fu Pei-mei, a Celebrated Chef” (February 1980)photo by Chang Ching

Liu Hsia (1942–2003), founder of Eden Social Welfare Foundation “If life is like a big, messy school, hardships are excellent courses that teach us confidence and patience. Fortunately, I have ended up enrolled in these courses, and they have made me understand many valuable truths. I now know that the best way to deal with hardships is not to avoid them, but to defeat them.” —“Triumph over Despair” (June 1980)photo by Hua Tai

Taiwanese Opera superstar Yang Li-hua “I don’t understand all those ponderous things people say about how we’re supposed to behave. I just feel that a person should take their work seriously. Whatever you do, you have get everything just right, down to the finest details.” —“Taiwanese Opera—Anatomy of a Star” (November 1981)photo by Hua Tai

Ambassador Yang Hsi-kun (1910–2000), a.k.a. “Mr. Africa” “The most important characteristic of our agricultural missions is that our technical personnel don’t just sit in offices all day writing up reports; they also get out in the fields, put on demonstrations, and work right alongside the local farmers. This hardworking spirit yields excellent results, and wins the friendship and respect of the African people. Members of our agricultural missions dedicate years of their youth to this work, and some have even sacrificed their lives.” —“Forging Links with Africa” (September 1982)photo by Ouyang Chihting

Stanley Yen, founder of the Alliance Cultural Foundation “I used to feel quite bothered about two things in particular. One was my level of academic achievement. The other was my name, Chang-shou, which means ‘long life’ in English. I felt the name Chang-shou was totally lacking in imagination, and for a time I thought about changing it to ‘Yong-ling,’ which would have been a less ham-fisted way of expressing the desire for a long life.” But a successful career has enabled Stanley to find a self-confidence based on his strong capabilities. No longer is he bothered by those external trappings. —“From Office Help to General Manager—Stanley Yen’s Rise to the Top” (July 1984)photo by Jimmy Lin

Wu Ta-you (1907–2000), “father of physics,” president of Academia Sinica “Simply stated, if our science is to set down roots, we absolutely must be able to rely on ourselves to cultivate talent, and we have be capable of utilizing that talent ourselves.” —“The Unique Insights of Wu Ta-you” (September 1984)photo by Chung Yung-ho

Chiung Yao (1938–2024), most popular Chinese-language romance novelist “I never carefully think out dialogues in my novels. Lovers just wax poetic on their own. For example, there was this one famous line in Errant Love: ‘I wasn’t here in time to be a part of your past, but your future has got to be mine!’ Later they turned the novel into a movie and that line sort of made my skin crawl when I heard it delivered by the actor, but I’m still proud to have written it.” —“Chiung Yao: Truth and Dreams” (October 1986)photo by Chien Yung-pin

TSMC founder Morris Chang TSMC is a manufacturing services company. It only accepts fabrication orders from customers, without designing or selling its own branded products, thus avoiding head-to-head competition with integrated device manufacturers in Japan and South Korea. —“The Foundation for Taiwan’s IC Manufacturing Industry” (June 1987)photo by Chiu Sheng-wang

Stan Shih, founder of Acer Inc. “Taiwan’s land area occupies less than one percent of the world’s surface and our main markets are overseas, so how can we effectively interaznationalize our industries? In today’s strong protectionist climate, being ‘global citizens’ can give us the best results.” Taiwan Panorama has interviewed Stan Shih at least five times. This quote comes from “Speaking for Taiwan’s Information Industry: An Interview with Stan Shih” (May 1989).photo by Wang Wei-chang

Lin Hwai-min, founder of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre “I hope that thirty years from now everyone will still be talking about Cloud Gate. I’ve eaten I Mei cookies ever since I was a kid, and there should be old established brands like Kuo Yuan Ye and Hsin Tung Yang in our cultural world, too. A place with a solid foundation is a place that lasts.” Taiwan Panorama has published over ten articles about Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. This quote comes from “Lin Huai-min’s Dream for Cloud Gate” (October 1991).photo by Vincent Chang

Oscar-winning director Ang Lee The success or failure of a new film—whether or not it sells and wins awards—is beyond our control. We can only ask ourselves to make a film that is in some respects an advance on the one that preceded it, to try something new. Taiwan Panorama has published over ten articles about Ang Lee. This quote comes from the first of these, “Where Lies the Future of Chinese Films? An Interview with Ang Lee” (April 1994).photo by Diago Chiu

Lee Yuan-tseh,
Nobel Chemistry laureate, president of Academia Sinica “Taiwan is becoming internationalized at an extremely rapid pace. This is because of the internationalization of the economy. You can see, many of our entrepreneurs are investing in the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. In every place all over the world they are very active. They are all citizens of the Republic of China, but in terms of their fundamental nature they are actually citizens of the world.” —“‘Casting a Long Line to Catch a Big Fish’—An Interview with Lee Yuan-tseh” (September 1994) photo by Huang Li-li

Martial arts novelist Jin Yong “Study as the need arises” is his motto. “People who don’t know me think that I have a high degree of scholarship and a broad range of knowledge. In fact, my method is, if I need to know something, I immediately go research it, moving from not understanding to slightly understanding, and transforming myself from an outsider to a half-insider,” he says. In writing fiction, one can write down what one understands and leave out what one doesn’t. Every­thing is controlled by the author. —“Swashbuckler Extraordinaire—A Profile of Jin Yong” (December 1998)photo by Diago Chiu

Sculptor Ju Ming (1938–2023) “The third phase of Ju’s artistic career had begun. The first phase was best symbolized by the water buffalo of In One Heart. The focus was very downhome, very Taiwanese. The second phase was his Taichi Series, and embraced all of Chinese culture. Now he had moved on to the international stage. It was a natural progression.” —“Goatherd in New York—Ju Ming’s Incredible Journey” (September 2000)photo by Pu Hua-chih

Huang Hai-tai (1901–2007), godfather of glove puppetry “When puppets punch, they must do so with strength; when they shoot an arrow, it has to fly far; they should even sew and do calligraphy. Male and female characters must be distinguished from one another. Males move roughly, while females move with grace. The roles have to be clear.” Huang picks up a puppet and enthusiastically demonstrates.” —“Huang Hai-tai—Glove Puppetry Maestro and Founder of the Wuchou School” (September 2002)photo by Jimmy Lin

Master Sheng Yen (1931–2009), founder of the Dharma Drum Lineage of Chan Buddhism, and the Dharma Drum Chan Meditation System “Though nothing happens, we’ve grown old in our busy lives. We cry and laugh, all in emptiness. There is originally no self, so both life and death can be cast aside.” —“The Universe May Perish, Yet My Vows Are Eternal—Master Sheng Yen Dies at Age 80” (March 2009)photo by Jimmy Lin

Lo Ta-yu, godfather of Mandarin pop music Lo Ta-yu explains: “I went through a lot between 1999 and 2010 and was unable to write even a single love song in that time. Since time carries us all along, we can instead, from the perspectives gained in those years, look forward to the future.” —“Rebel Without a Pause: Singer-­Songwriter Lo Ta-yu” (September 2011)photo by Diago Chiu

Liu Kuo-sung, father of modern ink painting “I believe in rescuing Chinese painting from the living death of rote copying. I want to drag Chinese painting into the modern world. Situated as we are at the intersection of 5,000 years of Chinese culture and history with modern Western civilization, we should be engaging, not retreating.” Taiwan Panorama has interviewed Liu Kuo-sung at least three times over the years. One of these was published in July 2017: “At War with Tradition—Liu Kuo-sung, the Father of Modern Ink Painting”photo by Kent Chuang

Filmmaker Chi Po-lin (1964–2017) “I’ve no background in environmentalism or ecology, so in the past, my photographs were a means to discover and record beauty. But after those unappealing pictures were chosen, I realized that all of them were the result of large-scale economic expansion in Taiwan, that this was the burden we had inflicted on the environment.” —“Bird’s-Eye View” (January 2013)photo by Kent Chuang

Hou Hsiao-hsien, star of Taiwan’s New Wave Cinema “My films are actually an extension of my life. They’re a part of me. You know what I notice when I’m out and about? It’s people.” —September 2015: “Hou Hsiao-hsien—Freedom Amidst Constraints” (September 2015)photo by Kent Chuang

Wang Chi-lin and Lee Yang, 2021 and 2024 Olympic gold medalists in badminton “However slim the hope, all we could do was to get our heads in the right place and not give up,” said Lee. “If a problem comes up for one of us, he will definitely raise it with the other. Friction is an inevitable part of the process, but is not an issue because we always work together to find ways to improve,” said Wang. —“One Plus One Equals Infinity—Wang Chi-lin and Lee Yang’s Road to Olympic Gold” (November 2021)photo by Kent Chuang