"If the family is at peace, all other things will prosper" is an old Chinese saying. Its meaning, simply stated, is that a happy, united household can weather any storm and achieve any goal. The fulfillment of this sentiment depends primarily on two people, the husband and wife, being mutually supportive and tolerant. From this kind of home come children who--even if not outstanding--are nonetheless stable individuals, are content to be who they are, and do not generally become problems for society.

Due to the policy of universal education and the individualistic attitudes found in industrial societies, there are often many highly educated people who, due to rigid and uncompromising viewpoints, allow their marriages to fall apart and thereby bring harm to their children. On the other hand, there are some couples whose educational levels are lower by comparison, yet whose level-headed, hard-working, and practical approach to their marriages allows them to pass their days working hard together and at peace with each other. This article will introduce three couples of the latter variety: the Chungs, the Tsais, and the Lins. Each of these couples started their married lives with nothing and have all tasted hardship; and although each constitutes a separate success story, they all retain to this day the memory of their poorer years as well as their simple and honest natures.

In Kaohsiung, there is no one who does not know of Chung Wen-liang, who sixteen years ago started selling papaya "milkshakes" from a humble stand and today owns sixteen chain stores marketing his famous drink. Chung experienced a great deal of suffering and many setbacks along the road to his current prosperity, yet the one thing in life which gives him the most delight is not his flourishing business, but his virtuous and intelligent wife.

Chung started life in a very poor household in the countryside outside of Kaohsiung. He started work after graduating from junior high school and applied himself so industriously to the task of making a living that he had no opportunity to meet eligible young ladies. One day, a cousin, sympathetic to his plight, introduced him to a Miss Huang Ming-chu, and after two months of courtship they married. In those early days Chung drove a taxicab for a living; but in 1967, after their eldest son was born, the family decided to take a chance and start their own business in Kaohsiung. But what kind of business should they undertake? Chung came up with the idea for the papaya milkshake, and the ball began to roll. The couple started with a small stand, having no idea at all whether Chung's nutritious and delicious beverage would sell. During those uncertain days, Chung continued to drive his taxi--his "fallback position" --and Mrs. Chung set about the work of managing the stand.

As Mrs. Chung recalls, "There were times when I would sell only one glass of our papaya drink in a whole day; I was also caring for my children, and when they would cry, I often could not help crying with them." Business was not very good; the Chungs were so strapped financially that they were on the verge of giving up the whole idea, but a close friend, recognizing the potential of Chung's product, urged them to hold on. The turning point for the almost destitute family came when a hotel was built across the street from their modest stand. The hotel guests began to frequent the stand, and Chung's papaya drink soon became known as a "local specialty" in Kaohsiung. As business improved, Chung added other flavors to his "milkshake" list and began to stay open twenty-four hours in order to serve the numerous military personnel in the port city.

Things were going smoothly for the Chungs when suddenly the rent on their stand was raised to a level they could not afford. The very same thing happened to them again and again, forcing them to relocate seven times in seven years. Yet, as Chung remembers it: "Every time we had to move, my wife would pack everything up, never once uttering even half a sentence of complaint." Chung finally decided that the only solution was to buy his own store, and once he was able to do so, the family was finally on the road to prosperity.

Now the owners of sixteen fruit-drink shops and married for eighteen years, Chung and his wife are still working side by side in the business they built together from the ground up. Despite their wealth, their tastes and habits remain quite simple. Chung gives all the credit for their domestic harmony to his wife: "When things on the job don't run smoothly, I often lose my patience and get very angry; yet my wife always stays silent and does not try to reason with me while I'm in that state. She waits until I've calmed down and then talks things over sensibly with me. In the early days, no matter how bad things got for us, she never spoke a word of complaint and always gave me support; this gave me the willpower to go on struggling for this family."

The experiences of the Tsais and the Lins echo those of the Chungs. The Tsais, married nearly twenty-five years, are the proprietors of a fruit juice business called "Blackfaced Tsai's Starfruit Company" (so known because of Tsai's complexion, weathered to a dark brown by years of hard labor in the sun). Tsai Chin-hua's family was a poor but honest one; Tsai started to work to supplement the family income at the age of fourteen, after he had completed elementary school. His marriage to Ch'en Hsin-o was an arranged one, as was frequently the case in those more conservative days, but it has withstood the test of time and travail as well as any marriage. There was a time when the couple was so poor that they could not afford medical treatment for their ailing son. Mrs. Tsai was forced to go from door to door to borrow the money, but these desperate measures were not in time to save the boy from permanent brain damage.

The family endured many years of hardship before Tsai was able, in 1976, to open a starfruit juice stand in Taipei. The juice became popular enough that he soon was able to give up the stand and rely completely on wholesale sales to a number of other stand owners. There are now some twenty establishments in the country which feature Tsai's name-brand starfruit juice. As with the Chungs, the Tsais attribute their present good fortune to the years of hard work and cooperative effort that held their family together and saw them through the difficult times.

The Lins have been married twenty-six years, and their long and fruitful association provides yet another inspiring example of a marriage that works. Lin Yin's business is taro-flavored ice cream, and it, too, was built from scratch. Lin believes that the turning point of his life was when he married Chang Shu, Mrs. Lin. As he remarks, "Without her, there would be no present." There were many dark days for the Lins when they were just starting out; the sentiment that kept them going when things got tough was "Everything for the children, not for ourselves!" Lin's big break in the ice cream business finally came when he designed a better machine for manufacturing ice cream.

The Lin's current life, though far removed from their poor beginnings, still reflects the simple and honest values of their background. Their business has now become a family one, with sons and daughters alike sharing the burdens and enjoying the material benefits. And the Lins, after twenty-six years of good times and bad, are closer than ever.

[Picture Caption]

1. Kaohsiung's nationally famous papaya milkshake. 2. The storefront of the Kaohsiung branch of Chung's enterprise; this was the first store in the franchise. 3. The open design of the work area in the milkshake shops allows viewing of the creative process from beginning to end. 4. The papaya milkshake is the country's most popular drink. 5. The Chungs established their business seventeen years ago with a small stand; here they are shown posing with friends at that time. 6. The Chungs are an unusually devoted couple, and their children are clever and obedient; the whole family is extremely happy.

1. Domestic harmony and continuous cooperation have brought the Tsais into prosperous times after years of great hardship. 2. The taste of the starfruit is even more palatable as a juice. 3. "Black-faced" Tsai's starfruit juice is both thirst-quenching and refreshing to the throat; those who drink it are very fond of it. 4. The addition of sugar-water and ice-cubes to pure starfruit extract creater the retail market's starfruit juice.

1. The Mei-fang Company produces "ice bricks" in many flavors, but the original taro variety is the most famous. 2. The fame of the Mei-fang Company extends far and wide; many people drive in from distant locales specifically to buy their products. 3. Mei-fang's owners, the Lins, are a devoted and loving couple. 4. The ice-cream manufacturing machine designed by Lin Yin himself.

Lin Yin explains the creation of his taro-flavored ice cream to President Chiang Ching-kuo.

2. The storefront of the Kaohsiung branch of Chung's enterprise; this was the first store in the franchise.

3. The open design of the work area in the milkshake shops allows viewing of the creative process from beginning to end.

4. The papaya milkshake is the country's most popular drink.

5. The Chungs established their business seventeen years ago with a small stand; here they are shown posing with friends at that time.

6. The Chungs are an unusually devoted couple, and their children are clever and obedient; the whole family is extremely happy.

1. Domestic harmony and continuous cooperation have brought the Tsais into prosperous times after years of great hardship.

2. The taste of the starfruit is even more palatable as a juice.

3. "Black-faced" Tsai's starfruit juice is both thirst-quenching and refreshing to the throat; those who drink it are very fond of it.

4. The addition of sugar-water and ice-cubes to pure starfruit extract creater the retail market's starfruit juice.

1. The Mei-fang Company produces "ice bricks" in many flavors, but the original taro variety is the most famous.

2. The fame of the Mei-fang Company extends far and wide; many people drive in from distant locales specifically to buy their products.

3. Mei-fang's owners, the Lins, are a devoted and loving couple.

4. The ice-cream manufacturing machine designed by Lin Yin himself.

Lin Yin explains the creation of his taro-flavored ice cream to President Chiang Ching-kuo.