Taiwan Story: My Father and the Tainan Canal

Written by Peter Li-Chang Kuo

(Chinese)

My father, Kuo Kun-Cheng, was born in 1926. Next year, he’ll be turning one hundred years old—and so will the Tainan Canal.

Ever since I started my own business in 1966, my grandmother—whose leg had been broken by the police—lay beside my workspace so I could take care of her nearby. In 1969, I built the first house of the Kuo family in Lane 451, Park Road after the family had been completely confiscated by the Japanese army for 32 years. But because of a unfilial sister-in-law, my grandmother still had to live in a corner of my studio. Every time I came back from night school and was preparing materials for the next day, I would help her sit up next to me, and she would always tell stories of our family.

Grandmother would say, “Ah-Chang, your father was born in the 15th year of the Taisho era—the same year your grandfather helped the Japanese build the ‘Tainan Canal.’ The celebration banquet stretched from the canal all the way to the entrance of our Hemei Trading Company—” My grandfather, Kuo Biao, had to take over the company's operation when he was just 17 after both his father and grandfather passed away. He ran Hemei through the reigns of three Japanese emperors—Meiji, Taisho, and Showa. His maritime trade stretched from Japan and Tangshan (Mainland China) in the north to Indonesia and India in the south, and even exported spices to Paris, France. It sounded like an industrial empire.

A Corner of the Tainan Canal

Grandmother said, “Back then, whenever the Japanese government asked your grandfather to contribute to any major infrastructure project, he never said no—he would give money and labor to help them get it done.” In short, all the major infrastructure in southern Taiwan from 1910 to 1936 was funded by my grandfather Kuo Biao in cooperation with the Japanese.

I handed my grandmother a glass of water, and she continued, “At that time, your grandfather saw many vendors at the canal, exposed to the wind and rain, so he built a market called 'Sakariba' by the canal. Your eldest aunt’s Tianyuan Fabric Shop and Shoe Store were her dowry.” When I was little and didn’t have enough to eat at home, I’d sneak over to Tianyuan for a meal. My eldest aunt—also my godmother—would always slip fifty cents into my hand.

Later, my father became entangled in a long-standing espionage case. His lawyer, Li Mo (father of singer Li Jian-Fu), left for Harvard, and things went downhill. Each time my father received a court summons, he would collapse against the wall, curse, and then go out to find someone to take away the equipment we used to make a living. With no income at home, we relied on my grandmother's little scissors and her paper-cutting skills. My godmother would send over clothes so my grandmother could attach her cuttings to be wedding banner. Every time I delivered goods to Tianyuan, my godmother would slip me extra money to buy food for my grandmother. But she would always feed her grandchildren first and never eat a bite herself.

Whenever I went out with my father, I noticed his apprentices lived better than us, even though each had only mastered one of his skills. Seeing how hard my grandmother worked to support the family, I often thought, “If I could just learn one of my father's skills, would Grandmother suffer less?” Since he was good with the grinding machine, I started there. After six months of hard training, I was able to produce items from it. By 1963, I had my own earnings. After graduating from elementary school in 1965, I practically became the head of the household!

1966 was a turning point—my father was maliciously imprisoned, and my grandmother’s leg was broken. Thanks to the silent guidance of God, I never let anyone go hungry. From 1967 on, I hired a cook so everyone could eat well, wear new clothes and shoes, and have pocket money.

As the reputation of the metalworking factory I founded, “Cheng Kuang Metal Works,” grew, purchasing orders from American, Japanese, and European companies flooded in. Wealth followed. I finally let my grandmother live once again in her own house before she passed and heard more about my grandfather’s glorious past—only to learn that no amount of contribution could escape the cruelty of Japanese militarism.

My grandfather once refused a lucrative business from the Japanese government—transporting "comfort women" using his fleet. As a result, his properties were confiscated by Japanese military in 1937. My uncle, Kuo Kun-Yu, was conscripted into the army and died in New Guinea. My father was drafted into the navy, and by divine blessing, survived—otherwise, the Kuo family would have ended there.

When my father was released from prison, all his teeth were gone, and his digestive system was a mess. I arranged to have Fuji apples shipped regularly from Kaohsiung’s Juejiang Market and made juice for him daily. After years of care, his complexion recovered, and he started to get conceited. In 1974, I founded “Cheng Kuang Precision Industrial Co., Ltd.” near Taiping Bridge, fulfilling his dream to become an eternal chairman—his ego swelled even more.

Eventually, swayed by others, he joined hands with some people to seize the fame and fortune I had built for them. But the wisdom gifted by the heavens cannot be stolen by mere mortals. After I moved to Taipei, a new world opened for me. Ruth Handler from the U.S. Hall of Fame continuously thanked me for prolonging Barbie’s life. Students who attended my classes all found great paths in life.

Later, I invested massive resources to realize my wife’s invention—to create jobs and protect taxi drivers from being robbed. After we won the APEC e-commerce bill in 1998, I went to Silicon Valley to promote this groundbreaking e-commerce industry. I then traveled to Germany and France to inspect the progress of contactless TranSmart chip manufacturing. Under the bright moon in Toulouse, I remembered my father’s birthday. I flew back to Taipei and drove south, luckily finding him on November 22nd, taking him out for a meal and visiting former Chimei Vice Chairman Mr. Chang Yuan-Chang on Lake Mei Street.

My father, while chatting with the ailing Mr. Chang, proudly shared his health regimen: “Strong legs make a healthy body. I tap dance every day—often reaching 10,000 steps, sometimes even 100,000.” He told me he wanted to live to be 100 and use the power chip I invented to fulfill his dream of air planes.

When I dropped him off at Cheng Kuang, he held my hand and said, “Sigh, it’s all because of Kuo Shu-Ching’s talisman water—I’ve been unhappy while you were away. How’s giving Cheng Kuang back to you?”

By then, I was already an internationally renowned tech and economics expert. Friends from Wall Street—including Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs—were discussing NASDAQ IPO plans with me. Our planned factory in the U.S. spanned hundreds of acres. How could I look back at that broken little house?

On December 31st, 1998, my father called me and said, “Ah-Chang, I’m coming to Taipei on January 6th to talk about giving Cheng Kuang back to you—” But unexpectedly, he passed away on January 4th suddenly, leaving me with more than twenty years of heartache.

Today, someone mentioned the Tainan Canal’s 100th anniversary. In that instant, memories of Grandmother’s stories and the last time I saw my father flooded my mind—how reluctant he looked when I left for Taipei. If only I had taken him back to Taipei that night, maybe he’d still be alive today to celebrate his 100th birthday.

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Peter Lichang Kuo, the author created Taiwan's Precision Industry in his early years. Peter was a representative of the APEC CEO Summit and an expert in the third sector. He advocated "anti-corruption (AC)/cashless/e-commerce (E-Com)/ICT/IPR/IIA-TES / Micro-Business (MB)…and etc." to win the international bills and regulations.

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External Links:

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://khornhb.blogspot.com/2023/11/1110.html (K-Horn & APEC)

https://khornhb.blogspot.com/2023/12/1208.html (K-Horn’s SRI)

https://khornhb.blogspot.com/2024/01/105.html (K-Horn’s PCM)

https://khornhb.blogspot.com/2024/03/326.html (Tree's Whiskers)