An old Chinese saying which states that “a person’s life begins at 70” has been perfectly illustrated by Wu Tseng-huan (吳曾煥), a 85-year-old widow who found her calling after dedicating herself to the fields of art and philanthropy at the age of 70.
Born into a poor family in Hsinchu County, Wu’s life had always revolved around others and she had little time to pay attention to her own needs.
Because of her financially disadvantaged background, she was only able to graduate from elementary school, and married a man called Wu Hui-tsan (吳惠燦) at the age of 18.
Wu Tseng-huan’s lack of education was her biggest regret in life, prompting her to be the type of mother who would rather starve than deprive her children of an education.
She worked diligently to give her children the freedom to pursue their passions, something she was unable to do as a child.
From an early age, Wu Tseng-huan was interested in painting, but her hopes of becoming an artist were dashed after her parents were forced to refuse her request to frame one of her works that was ready to be exhibited.
“We can barely afford to feed ourselves, let alone frame a painting,” Wu Tseng-huan quoted her parents as saying.
Although her husband’s family made a decent living running a wholesale business, her life was no easier than before she got married because she had to raise her five children and attend to her parents-in-law.
Things took a turn for the worse when her husband’s family business hit rock-bottom, forcing her family to take what little they had left and relocate to Taipei.
In spite of the sudden change, Wu Tseng-huan’s husband and children remained at the center of her life and she helped raise her 10 grandchildren.
However, just when Wu Tseng-huan thought she could start living a more peaceful life after all her children and grandchildren were grown up, misfortune struck again.
She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had to have her pancreas, gallbladder and part of her stomach removed.
One year after her surgery, her husband died of colon cancer.
“My mother’s life revolved around her husband and she was devastated by his passing,” said Wu Ling-chiao (吳鈴嬌), one of Wu Tseng-huan’s daughters. “However, she persevered and dedicated herself to philanthropy by working with the [Buddhist Compassion Relief] Tzu Chi [Foundation.]”
Wu Tseng-huan became an honorary board member at the foundation after making a sizable donation, but she wanted to do more and joined a group of volunteers in collecting recyclable items thrown away on the streets as a way of giving back to society.
She also collected donations for people affected by the 921 Earthquake in 1999 and the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011.
Although her children were concerned because of her age, she was undeterred, saying that “there are a bunch of volunteers who are older than I am.”
She later found another purpose in life after she apprenticed to the calligraphy teacher of one of her grandchildren.
Starting with the basics, Wu Tseng-huan diligently practiced calligraphy and Chinese ink painting techniques on a daily basis.
Her determination to hone her skills, coupled with her arduous experiences early in life, made her work far more sophisticated than that of her younger counterparts.
Encouraged by her children, Wu Tseng-huan recently had her first exhibition at Taipei’s Zhongshan District Office.
Visitors at the exhibition were frequently amazed not only by Wu Tseng-huan’s skill, which some said was on a par with that of professional painters and calligraphers, but also by how she had put into practice the old saying that “It is never too late to learn.”
“My mother is a woman who lives her life to the fullest. Despite receiving little education, my mother was able to achieve what few people can: To be content with what one has and do things that matter,” Wu Ling-chiao said.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
RSS