The founder of Huatai Electronics and Silicon Integrated Systems Corporation, Dr. Duh Chun-yuan was a pioneer in the semi-conductor industry of Taiwan. His name, however, had not been as widely recognized as those of many of his peers because he deliberately kept a low profile. He felt uneasy about the public attention when his philanthropic deeds were reported in the newspaper. If Master Cheng Yen, the founder of the Tzu Chi Foundation, had not enlightened him with the idea that good deeds should be made known to the public, he would not have wanted to be interviewed by the media at all.

Back in 1989, Dr. Duh declared to his sons and daughter, "You received more wealth from your grandfather than Bill Gates bequeathed to his children [Bill Gates willed US$10 million to each of his children]. I have therefore decided to donate all the money I earn in the future to charity." A business magazine estimated the worth of Dr. Duh's assets and declared him the greatest philanthropist in the history of Taiwan.

Reading Dr. Duh's profile, my curiosity started to rise: he was an entrepreneur in Taiwan's semi-conductor industry, a rich man alleged to be the greatest philanthropist in the history of Taiwan, yet he shied from publicity and his private life appeared somewhat obscure. What kind of a person could he be?

With this query in my mind, I arrived on March 1 at the venue of Dr. Duh's lecture at National Chengchi University. The College of Business at the university, in cooperation with the Tzu Chi Foundation, offered a new course, "Humanities and Enterprises--The Study and Practice of the Tzu Chi Spirit." Every week, a Tzu Chi member who was outstanding in his or her particular field would talk about their personal practice, experiences and understanding of the Tzu Chi spirit. Dr. Duh was one of these speakers, and he was going to talk about how he maintained a balance between his career and his commitment to charity work. The lecture was to begin at 2 pm. I arrived at the lecture hall five minutes early and saw a thin-looking, grey-haired gentleman surrounded by a circle of reporters outside the lecture hall. Without any introduction, I knew by instinct that this gentleman must be Dr. Duh Chun-yuan. He was inundated by questions from the reporters, yet he looked calm and attentive with an unassuming smile on his face. When he spoke, his tone was gentle but firm. The little press conference lasted briefly as it was time for Dr. Duh's lecture to commence. He apologized courteously and took his leave.

Coincidentally, on this day Silicon Integrated Systems Corporation was holding a reception to celebrate the success of its new wafer production plant. Although Dr. Duh was the chairman of the corporation, he was absent from the party. Why was giving a lecture to an audience of two hundred students and members of the public more important to Dr. Duh than celebrating the success of his own enterprise? What did it take to become possibly the greatest philanthropist in Taiwan?

Dr. Duh was born in 1938 to a rice mill owner in Hualien. His parents had hoped that he would take over the family business, but ever since his youth Dr. Duh had aspired to become an engineer. After graduating from National Taiwan University, he went to the United States to continue his education in electronic engineering. He received his doctorate at Stanford University in the 1960s, after which he worked in the research department of IBM for three years.

Dr. Duh returned to Taiwan when his father fell ill in 1968. He continued to work for IBM at its Taiwan branch and also taught at a local university.

In 1971, less than three years after his return and at a time when the electronics industry in Taiwan was still in its infancy, Dr. Duh set up Huatai Electronics Co., the first privately owned semi-conductor company in Taiwan. The outstanding performance of Huatai made him the leading candidate when the Ministry of Economic Affairs was hunting for leaders for its new semi-conductor manufacturing plant in 1979.

In 1987, Dr. Duh set up his second company, the Silicon Integrated Systems Corporation, an integrated circuit design company. In the same year, a sudden heart attack during a trip to Hawaii nearly took his life. The diagnosis was coronary occlusion. Looking through medical books, Dr. Duh realized that ninety-nine percent of coronary occlusion patients are killed by an attack. He felt that the remaining time of his life was indeed a gift from heaven. His narrow escape from the threshold of death opened up a new perception of life. He became conscious of how insignificant power and wealth were to him.

Three years later, Dr. Duh became a member of Tzu Chi under the influence of his wife, Yang Mei-tso, who had first met Master Cheng Yen in 1988 during a visit to the Abode of Still Thoughts and had become a devoted member of Tzu Chi.

In the beginning, Dr. Duh only made donations to the foundation, but he did not involve himself in Tzu Chi activities. That changed after he went to the first "Still Thoughts Life Workshop" organized for entrepreneurs. During the workshop, he was impressed at how a Buddhist nun led a following of over four million people around the globe to help others in need, having started from a humble beginning of a mere thirty followers, mostly housewives, who saved fifty cents every day for charity. He also observed the Tzu Chi spirit of humanitarianism in helping the needy with gratitude toward those helped.

In 1991, the central and eastern regions of China were ravaged by the worst floods in decades. From a speech by Master Cheng Yen, Dr. Duh learned that the Master was greatly concerned for the flood victims and had decided to launch a relief mission to help them. Coincidentally, on a trip to mainland China, Dr. Duh discovered that Henan was no less devastated by the flooding than Anhui and Jiangsu, but the situation there was not covered as extensively in the media and outside help was scarce. When he returned from China, he went to the Abode of Still Thoughts to report the situation to the Master, thinking that Tzu Chi should be able to help the flood victims in Henan. The relief mission in Anhui and Jiangsu needed NT$330 million, but at that time, fund-raising had only procured NT$80 million. Some Tzu Chi members were pessimistic about the idea of doing relief work in Henan, for it would mean increasing the already enormous burden on the Master's shoulders. Dr. Duh could do nothing further besides leaving a video recording of the disaster area in Henan before he left.

A few days later, much to his surprise, he read the news that a Tzu Chi fact-finding team was heading for the disaster area in Henan. At that moment, his heart was filled with respect and admiration for the Master. He knew that Tzu Chi could not have raised the funds needed within such a short period of time. But because of her compassion for all suffering lives, the Master had proceeded with preparations for relief work there, knowing that the victims desperately needed help and not waiting until funds were fully available.

The next year, Dr. Duh participated in Tzu Chi relief missions in China and Cambodia. The tasks were arduous. Whether surveying the situation in the disaster areas or distributing relief supplies to victims, volunteers worked diligently from dawn till dusk. When they returned to their lodgings in the evening Dr. Duh thought they could finally rest, but then he found out that there were discussion sessions where the volunteers exchanged experiences and made appraisals of their work so that they could further improve their relief efforts.

Dr. Duh was deeply moved. He had thought about setting up a foundation as a means of contributing to society. Looking at the comprehensiveness of the Tzu Chi missions and the professionalism and devotion of its members, he reckoned there was no way he could do better than what Tzu Chi had been doing. He decided that he would do the best he could to help the Master shoulder her load. The donation of land in 1998 and company shares in 1999 were the actualization of the vow that he had made in his heart.

During his talk at Chengchi University, Dr. Duh shared with the business students how the Tzu Chi spirit of understanding and accommodation had changed his style of hard-line management. Dr. Duh had worked under the Nobel Prize winner William B. Shockley when he was in the United States. Shockley's stringent style had trained Dr. Duh to make high expectations of himself as well as his employees, which created a lot of stress on both parties. Ever since he came into contact with Tzu Chi, Dr. Duh has never reprimanded any of his subordinates or employees.

"I used to demand that my employees work as hard as I did, but that wasn't right," said the boss of two corporations. "If they have to work so hard, they might as well work for their own businesses. They will only find it worthwhile if the achievements of the company belong to them." Now, he thinks that what is most important about corporate management is to create a sense of belonging for the employees. Slowly, he has delegated authority to his management team and let them take charge, and the outcome has been more than satisfying. Though he has yet to retire from the electronics industry, he sees his duties solely as helping young people fulfill their dreams and bringing more people together to do things for society.

Dr. Duh also urged the students to give careful consideration to the purpose of their lives. "It is good to resolve to pursue one's career. Yet the happiness of personal achievement is transitory, and you will always feel distress if you only cling to your self-interest." Speaking from experience, he pointed out that it was only through helping others without asking for anything in return that one could attain eternal happiness.

Contrary to the common acclamation of his generous donations, Dr. Duh thought that donating money was the least that he could do while it was more difficult and valuable to contribute time and effort. He has vowed to do that on a daily basis.

In the winter of 1995, Dr. Duh underwent an artery bypass operation. After the operation, there was a hundred-day recuperation period during which he was supposed to take a long walk every day. During his morning walks, he discovered that the neighborhood street cleaner was gone and no one had come to fill the position. So, he started sweeping the street every morning. Gradually, he could see that his daily street sweeping activity was indeed a form of cultivation. In the beginning, he avoided sweeping the dung of cats and dogs, but after he had been sweeping the street for a while he felt uncomfortable if the street were just a little unclean. He tried to get over his psychological aversion to sweeping dung, and when he had succeeded in this he realized that there was nothing that he could not make himself do. Neighborhood residents gradually became aware that an old man, the director of two corporations, was sweeping their neighborhood. Feeling embarrassed, they tried their best to keep the neighborhood clean and some also began sweeping the areas in front of their residences.

Dr. Duh's daily routine now begins at 6:30 with sweeping the neighborhood streets. After that, he practices a session of tai chi and then chants sutras. He prepares breakfast for his family, after which he sits down and eats with his wife and daughter. After sixty-two years of life, he can proudly claim, "Volunteer work is my first priority now and I have never felt so happy and contented."

There is no doubt that Dr. Duh has given generously without asking for anything in return, but what life has bestowed on him in return is indeed more than any wealth can buy.