Wealthy Taiwan to enrich the World
Written by Peter Li-Chang Kuo
(Chinese)
“Wealthy
On April 15, 2007, I
wrote in my preface: "To make
In November 1965, my
father, A-Kun, told me to throw away my schoolbag and accompany him to
Fortunately, I soon found
business at the Kuomin Market. I sold everything from tweezers for plucking
feathers, butcher knives and small oil lamps to rings, buckles, hinges and
other hardware. I earned NT$3,000–
The market was piled high
with mountains of bananas that had been rejected by
“Wealthy
Yet I was able to earn
that kind of money with ease inside a sugarcane-board factory occupying less
than 10 ping. This convinced me that manufacturing craftsmanship and industrial
technology could create far greater value than agriculture, and therefore that “industrialization” —not farming—was the path to
making
From the 36 pairs of the "Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch," which given to my father by a monk, Master Wei-Li, I discovered what I called the “U-shaped replication method.” I successfully developed a deep-drawing die capable of high-speed, continuous stamping, as shown in Fig 3.
This breakthrough
surpassed the capabilities of advanced competitors in the
At first, several
customers in
In fact, I had more than
a hundred customers in
Then
After using the money to repay the debts owed by my parents, I still had enough left to purchase a piece of land and build the first home for the Kuo family after 37 years of upheaval. It gave my younger brothers a proper environment in which to grow.
At the Kuomin Market, I
learned from the mainland scholar that through meditation one could let the
spirit travel beyond the physical world—“riding the
clouds and mounting the sun and moon”—and glimpse a future connected
with one’s own destiny. Under his guidance, I also read "Strategies of the
The theoretical support
of the mainland scholars Ma Cheng-Jiu and Professor Yao Jing-Bo also helped me
understand the rigorous "Approval Sheet"
required for PTH qualification. I therefore came to believe that Mainland China
possessed enormous resources and an abundance of talented people, while
I consequently established what I called my “Grand Strategy”: to develop new products for ATL completely free of charge.
Within six years, I helped ATL develop several hundred new products—products that, under normal circumstances, might have taken “50 years” to develop in the United States—as shown in Fig 5.
During meditation, I
heard a voice telling me: “Giving products to ATL is better than wasting your
life taking care of those 500 customers in
If one had to choose between a “pig’s head” and a “duck’s egg”—a choice between a major opportunity and an insignificant one—I would certainly choose the pig’s head.
ATL could take the products I gave them, sell them into NASA, and market them across 144 countries. At one point, products developed by me were reaching an estimated "85% of households" worldwide.
More importantly,
retaining ATL in
The grand strategy of “giving specially developed products to ATL free of charge”
created
A Japanese company had previously asked me to develop 250 new products without paying a single cent. It subsequently established a company in Sanxia together with Tatung Company and became my competitor.
Therefore, when Mr. Chikuta, of the Japanese company Kyowa Electronics, approached me to develop new products for him, I required him to pay development fees—as shown in Fig 6.
The several switches shown in the fig 5 alone generated NT$1.2 million in development fees. With that money, I purchased more than 10,000 ping (8.2 acres) of land in Yong Kang and eventually built three factories in 1972.
The "three stainless-steel sleeves" circled in red at the center of Fig 6 were products that I had originally developed and given to ATL free of charge to solve the Apollo 13 malfunction in one night.
Americans later told me that the development value of the specially engineered products I had given ATL was at least "US$10 million." Compared with the “NT$1.2 million” recovered from only a few switches, that valuation was not without basis. Yet I deliberately chose to give the Apollo-related products away for free.
My objective was larger
than immediate revenue: I wanted Avnet to become a pillar of "NASA’s aerospace supply chain," while also
enabling it to win "YORX orders in consumer
electronics." ATL eventually became
I recently heard that Mainland China produced 221,900 AI-generated animated dramas this year, many of them dealing with stories from the Cultural Revolution period (1965-1975).
But during 1965 to 1974,
through years of relentless, sleepless effort, I had already established the
foundation of
In 1975, I truly helped
Tainan Mayor Chang Li-Tang build a bridge connecting
By 1979, I had extended
the front line of my efforts to
Today, I watched a
mainland Chinese AI animated drama depicting a rebirth beginning in 1979. The
protagonist mentioned that per-capita income at the time was only “RMB 200,” and that the entire Northeast was
economically barren. Yet at that very time, I was already extending the
national industrial capabilities of the Republic of China (
Charles Wheeler, Mayor of
Kansas City, was discussing with me a plan to build a "10,000-hectare Cheng Kuang Precision New City"
in
If successful, the
American Midwest would become a global center of precision manufacturing, and
The Enemies of a Wealthy
According to an ancient Chinese legend, there was once a sage named "Shun" (舜), whose father was spiritually blind and was known as “Gu Sou” (瞽叟), the Heart-blind Old Man. Gu Sou enjoyed the fruits of Shun’s hard work, yet was said to take pleasure every day in trying to kill his own son—Shun.
A-Kun was called the “Modern Gu Sou.”
He had originally been
one of the most despised people in
The Cheng-Kuang Metal Works, which I had established at No. 16, Zhongxing Street, Lingya District, Kaohsiung, was later moved back to No. 45, Chongan Street, North District, Tainan—a house locally known as a “wealth-leaking house.”
In 1967, the factory nevertheless earned several hundred thousand New Taiwan dollars, which I turned over to A-Jin to spend as she pleased. She even brought another man into the household.
While I was carrying out my “Grand Strategy” of developing new products for ATL free of charge, following what I felt was spiritual inspiration, A-Kun and A-Jin constantly cursed and berated me.
They mocked me as the “four-legged animal” who could not make money and foolishly dreamed of doing business with Americans. They even used crude Taiwanese expressions to accuse me of being completely unrealistic and incapable of judging the situation.
Yet when I eventually made money, they were always eager to spend it.
To satisfy A-Kun’s wishes, in early 1969 I moved Cheng-Kuang into the house on Lane 451, Park Road, which I had personally built, and registered A-Kun as the factory owner.
In 1971, I helped Mr. Chen Yung-Tien of Yung Fu Electric Co. develop a "portable transistor radio-cassette recorder" (Lucky brand). The product successfully secured an order from a Jewish buyer. Mr. Chen soon made enough money to build a new factory covering more than 10,000 ping near the Yongkang Interchange.
At the celebration banquet, slightly intoxicated, he thanked A-Kun for having given birth to a son like me. Yet, astonishingly, from that point onward, A-Kun began treating me almost like an enemy.
His position as factory owner was subsequently usurped by A-Jin together with her companion. A-Kun then demanded, without contributing any capital, that I build a 2,300-ping company, "Baisheng Metal Industrial Co., Ltd.," and make A-Kun its president.
Through this process, I came to know Mr. Chang Li-Tang (—Elected Mayor of Tainan in 1973) of the neighboring Zhengyi Paper Factory. But A-Kun spent his days playing at home, while the chairmanship of Baisheng was eventually usurped by one of his questionable friends.
Later, I established two more joint-stock companies for him to serve as a director. Through public-relations efforts, he was eventually recognized as a “national representative for good deeds” and exemplary conduct.
Then A-Jin was beaten by members of her own family brought in by her companion. She demanded to move into the largest house among her relatives.
As a result, I personally financed the construction of “Cheng-Kuang Precision Industrial Co., Ltd.,” shown in Fig 8, completing it ahead of schedule in 1974. Once again, I made A-Kun its president, a position he retained until his death.
A-Kun never learned Mandarin throughout his life. After working 20 hours a day, I still had to attend night school. There were even classmates in my class who, like A-Kun, had been born in 1926. I encouraged him to read and learn as well, only to be condemned for being “unfilial.” As my academic and professional achievements continued to grow, his image of the “Modern Gu Sou” (現代瞽叟) became increasingly apparent.
For the survival and
future of Taiwan, on the very day the Jimmy Carter Administration severed
diplomatic relations with the Republic of China, I left nearly “NT$10 million as living and settlement funds” for
A-Kun and A-Jin. I then flew from
When I called them and told them that I was applying to the “Ph.D. program at New York University,” I intended to remain in the United States for five years—a country where I believed I had no natural enemies—in order to establish a firm foundation for the future.
Instead, I was
emotionally blackmailed by family ties into returning to
Only fifty-some days later, on May 4, 1980, the “Modern Gu Sou couple” (my parents), together with their “elephant herd” (my brothers), impatiently launched what I came to regard as a “new Xuanwumen Coup” — a family power struggle reminiscent of the Xuanwumen Incident in Chinese history.
I left my entire fortune to them. Yet on August 13, they allegedly forged documents and unilaterally appropriated the equity of the companies I had founded. Astonishingly, by November they had already dissipated more than NT$10 million in cash, destroying the companies’ cash flow.
A-Kun then shamelessly approached the inexperienced young Linda, crying that he had been beaten by the “elephants.” Most strangely of all, I took back the money that I had projected to establish new companies and used it to rescue them.
My old friend Su Nan-Cheng, then Mayor of Tainan, had a municipal team planning the development of the city’s east-west and north-south road network. The project was expected to generate approximately 85 hectares of new developable land.
I guided Cheng-Kuang toward becoming a profitable enterprise, although 1982 was an extremely difficult year, and I were able to purchase only a little more than ten hectares of land. A-Jin registered the land as agricultural property under her name as a self-cultivating farmer.
Then, in June, the “Modern Gu Sou couple” once again joined forces with the “elephant herd” and launched another bloody coup. This time, I lost a child.
When I went to bid
farewell to Mayor Su Nan-Cheng, he believed that I should “clean up the
household” and put an end to the internal turmoil. Moreover, my proposed
10,000-hectare
Yet when I thought about
the large number of blood relatives who had no independent means of livelihood,
I ultimately decided to leave
The Incubator Program Gradually
Gained Recognition
Fortunately, the effort I
had invested in attending night school after working 20 hours a day, together
with my academic records from courses I took at New York University (NYU),
eventually gave me the opportunity to go to Taishan,
Unfortunately, during Chao
Yao-Tung’s tenure as Minister of Economic Affairs (MOEA),
Even Mattel, the American
company that had benefited from my assistance, eventually closed its
The who after being unemployed for six months and unable to find another job, became a taxi driver—but was robbed again. This experience led Linda Din to make a vow: “I want to invent a cashless system in which there is no cash inside the taxi, yet taxi drivers can still earn a safe livelihood.”
One day in February 1986, after a spiritual meditation, Linda suddenly leaned over a desk and drew a diagram of what she called the “The Electronic Store System,” abbreviated as TES.
After studying the
concept in depth, I realized that TES was a gift from Heaven to
I therefore submitted my recommendations to President Chiang Ching-Kuo, and was instructed to report the proposal to Chao Yao-Tung, then Chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development.
Chao told me that he could not understand the proposal and that the government had no money. He instructed me to go to the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and explain it to his junior alumnus there. After looking at the TPC shown in Fig 9, the junior simply replied: “What kind of chip is that? It would take 50 years to develop.”
We therefore decided to finance the effort ourselves as a form of “Social Responsibility Investment” (SRI).
In December 1989, both the "Economic Daily News" and the "Commercial Times" reported that "K-Horn was devoting itself to the development of a RF Transmitter" — the reading device at the heart of a cashless transaction system. This technology would eventually become a critical component of the infrastructure now deployed across more than five billion transaction nodes worldwide.
We soon realized that
merely producing R&D results was not enough. The government and businesses
remained largely unaware of what had been developed. That was not a viable
strategy. Therefore, beginning in 1990, we traveled throughout
Most importantly, the “Incubator Program” that I had introduced to
In 1996, when I held a
seminar at the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) in
A reporter had interviewed me, and I had described the bloody struggle over the family assets in a more diplomatic way: Li-Chang Kuo entrusted the enterprise he had built to his family to manage, while personally traveling throughout Taiwan to promote a project of hope for Taiwan—the ‘Incubator’ Program.”
A-Kun told me that A-Jin
and the “elephant herd” were extremely
dissatisfied. Nevertheless, my Incubator Program was eventually adopted by
President Lee Teng-Hui as "
After A-Kun died, A-Jin not only appropriated my property but also joined forces with the “elephant herd” that I had raised. Under the pretext of “dividing the inheritance,” they demanded important personal documents from me, including my seal certificate, household registration transcript, and other sensitive personal information, as shown in Fig 15.
I knew the old saying: “Give someone a bowl of rice, and they are grateful; give them a bushel, and they become your enemy.” I also knew how ruthless they (A-Jin and my brothers) could be. Nevertheless, I still handed over my important personal information to them. The King of Moab, meanwhile, brazenly taunted me: “Ha! Those younger fellows of yours will follow me for just NT$5,000. I guarantee that you will have nowhere left to go…” And indeed, they eventually sold my important personal information.
Nevertheless, I continued my work. At the 2006 APEC CEO Summit, I presented “Global Channel-TES” as an APEC best practice and used it to support Australia’s advocacy of the “Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific” (FTAAP). TES thus became part of the toolkit for advancing the broader agenda of Regional Economic Integration (REI). In 2009, APEC implemented “satellite support.” In 2010, the Yokohama APEC Leaders’ Meeting endorsed the concept of using APEC as an “Incubator” for FTAAP, providing leadership and intellectual support while continuing to deepen sectoral work in areas including e-commerce, rules of origin, standards and conformity assessment, trade facilitation, environmental goods, investment, and services; which helped open a window of prosperity for Taiwan that lasted for approximately 16 years.
Yet under the dominance
of powerful cartels,
Conclusion
"The Story of a Wealthy Taiwan" is not merely a personal memoir; it is a sixty-year odyssey demonstrating how technology, socially responsible investment, the incubation of innovative industries, and international cooperation (APEC) can transform a society.
From a teenager compelled to support my family, through creating precision manufacturing, satellite receivers, and personal computers, to the eventual development of the "TES Electronic Store System," my long march has always revolved around one question: How can science and technology create productive opportunities for ordinary people, make the entire nation more prosperous, and render the world a better place?
Had I not, in 1966, retained ATL (Avnet Taiwan Ltd.) by offering then "the world's only one technology" free of charge, the Taiwanese authorities would have had little to boast of; and had I not, in 1986, witnessing the incompetence of CERD Chairman Chao Yao-Tung, resolved to complete TES through social responsibility investment (SRI), the world of 2026 would likewise have little to boast of.
In those years, many of
my friends around me shouldered their bundles and embarked on life's journey
immediately after graduating from elementary school. Eventually,
Peter Li-Chang
Kuo, the author created
【Copyrights reserved by Li-Chang Kuo & K-Horn Science Inc. (khorninc@gmail.com)】
External Links:
The Inventions of “Linda Din”:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US6304796 (VAM)
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20030197061
(Shopping System)
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20030107468
(Entry Security Device)
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20040054595A1 (ETC)
https://ldinventions.blogspot.com/2022/01/127.html (A Universal Cashless System)
https://khornhb.blogspot.com/2023/10/1011.html
(K-Horn Science Inc.)
https://klcapec.blogspot.com/2024/05/515.html
(The Best Practice)
https://klcapec.blogspot.com/2024/06/609.html
(
https://khornhb.blogspot.com/2024/07/721.html
(Paving the Way for AI)
https://lckstory.blogspot.com/2024/08/818.html
(Disney Intelligent System)
https://ksibusiness.blogspot.com/2024/10/1028.html (SRI & Global
Channel-TES)
https://plckai.blogspot.com/2024/11/1115.html
(TPC Investment & Its Markets)
https://pklctrips.blogspot.com/2024/12/1231.html
(Kuo’s Journey for 6 Decades)
https://pklctrips.blogspot.com/2025/01/121.html
(Einstein’s Enlightenment)
https://ksibusiness.blogspot.com/2025/04/413.html
(Top Secret)
https://lckstory.blogspot.com/2025/04/428.html
(The Inventions of Linda Din)
https://lckstory.blogspot.com/2025/06/622.html
(Crystal Soap & Precision Manufacturing)
https://pklctrips.blogspot.com/2025/07/716.html
(Brain Mine Lasts Forever)
https://pkproclaims.blogspot.com/2025/07/725.html
(Intelligent Industry)
https://plcpolitics.blogspot.com/2025/08/801.html
(Managing A Great Taiwan)
https://ksibusiness.blogspot.com/2025/08/0.html
(Tiny Energy Site)
https://pktesrtn.blogspot.com/2025/08/812.html
(TSCM Information System)
https://ldljourney.blogspot.com/2025/08/818.html
(Revelation of the Red Washer)
https://pklctrips.blogspot.com/2025/10/1023.html
(A Chronicle of Sixty Years)
https://plcpolitics.blogspot.com/2025/11/1116.html
(60 Years of the KEPZ)
https://plcpolitics.blogspot.com/2025/12/1207.html
(Failures)
https://plcpolitics.blogspot.com/2026/01/107.html
(USD 10 Trillion)
https://pktesrtn.blogspot.com/2026/01/123.html
( TES Invented by Linda Din)
https://tesfund.blogspot.com/2026/02/208.html
(TES Digital Archiving Sponsorship Program)
https://lckstory.blogspot.com/2026/02/210.html
(Barbie’s Legs)
https://lckstory.blogspot.com/2026/02/220.html
(The Great Robbery)
https://plcpolitics.blogspot.com/2026/03/303.html
(Prophetic Report)
https://lckstory.blogspot.com/2026/03/307.html
(The Origins of MJW Association)
https://plcfact.blogspot.com/2026/03/308.html
(“Mother of E-Com” was besieged)
https://plcfact.blogspot.com/2026/03/315.html
(Who Killed the $750 Billion IPO)
https://pklctrips.blogspot.com/2026/03/326.html
(The History of Taiwan’s Industry)
https://plckai.blogspot.com/2026/04/401.html
(When Peter Meets William)
https://ksibusiness.blogspot.com/2026/04/404.html
(Return on Investment)
https://plcori.blogspot.com/2026/04/408.html
(The Origin of E-Commerce)
https://plckai.blogspot.com/2026/04/409.html (AI Barbie)
https://plcori.blogspot.com/2026/04/414.html
(The Origin of 0.002 Seconds)
https://plcori.blogspot.com/2026/04/417.html
(The Origin of “to” Becoming “two”)
https://plcfact.blogspot.com/2026/04/419.html
(The Redemption of Japan)
https://plcori.blogspot.com/2026/04/423.html
(TES Invented by Linda Din)
https://plcori.blogspot.com/2026/04/430.html
(Who is attacking ‘TES’ and why?)
https://plcktrend.blogspot.com/2026/05/501.html
(The Catastrophe of Bronze Screws)
https://plcfact.blogspot.com/2026/05/507.html
(Linda Din's Econophysics)
https://plcori.blogspot.com/2026/05/510.html
(Linda Din’s ICT Initiative)
https://plcfact.blogspot.com/2026/05/512.html
(Buying NVIDIA Stock at US$2.60)
https://plcfact.blogspot.com/2026/05/517.html
(Linda Din’s Linhorn Indicator)
https://plcfact.blogspot.com/2026/05/520.html
(Linda Din’s Universal Concern)
https://ldestore.blogspot.com/2026/05/524.html
(A Broad Perspective)
https://ldestore.blogspot.com/2026/05/530.html
(New Era of 2V)
https://tesoperation.blogspot.com/2026/06/604.html
(The Charm of Zero Marginal Cost)
https://ldtes.blogspot.com/2026/06/612.html
(APEC Best Practice: Global Channel-TES)
https://pklctrips.blogspot.com/2026/06/613.html
(The Father of Taiwan's Precision Industry)
https://ldestore.blogspot.com/2026/06/616.html
(Linda Din from “Women in Charge”)
https://plcori.blogspot.com/2026/06/619.html
(TES-Da Vinci Code Recovery Memo)
https://ldestore.blogspot.com/2026/06/621.html
(
https://ldestore.blogspot.com/2026/06/627.html
(Linda Din, A Lady of Rich Taiwn)
https://plckai.blogspot.com/2026/07/703.html
(AICT Club)
https://plckai.blogspot.com/2026/07/714.html
(AICT Achieves National Development)
https://plcfact.blogspot.com/2026/07/720.html
(Prosperous Nation Designer and AR)
https://plckai.blogspot.com/2026/07/727.html
(TPC and AICT Investment Initiative)
https://plckai.blogspot.com/2026/07/729.html
(AICT Deliver Mankind from Abyss)
https://tesfund.blogspot.com/2026/07/731.html
(The Benefits of SRI)
https://tesoperation.blogspot.com/2026/08/801.html
(Benefits of Participating iClub)
https://pklctrips.blogspot.com/2026/08/808.html
(Li-Chang Kuo, the Dr. Blacksmith)
https://lckstory.blogspot.com/2026/08/810.html
(Master Hsing Yun on the Monkey)
https://lckstory.blogspot.com/2026/08/812.html
(The Critical 90 Days to Save the Nation)
https://plcfact.blogspot.com/2026/08/815.html
(As long as one is alive, there is hope)
https://ksibusiness.blogspot.com/2026/08/819.html
(The
https://pklctrips.blogspot.com/2026/09/901.html
(Li-Chang Kuo’s SRI for 6 Decades)
https://ksibusiness.blogspot.com/2026/09/908.html
(The Investment Plan of iClub)
https://ko-fi.com/ndart2025 (Donate the
NDART)


















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