Hsieh Kun-shan is a household name in Taiwan. Many people on the island are familiar with his story, which has even been incorporated in middle school textbooks. Nevertheless, when people saw his life played out scene after scene, the impact was still great. "One night, Hsieh, who was learning to draw with his mouth after he lost his hands, ran out of sharpened pencils," said Ho Yi, a viewer, who was deeply moved by Hsieh's willpower and determination. "Because his family members were all asleep, he didn't want to bother them. So he held a knife in his mouth, and slowly, strenuously, one difficult stroke after another, learned to sharpen a pencil. When I saw that scene, tears ran uncontrollably down my cheeks."

It is hard not to be touched and inspired by Hsieh's unflagging perseverance in the face of adversity, never for one moment losing hope. One would expect a man who had suffered such misfortune to complain and to grumble about the unfairness in life; yet instead of showing a gloomy face, he always smiles.

A stimulating example

"We all have unlimited possibilities," says Hsieh. "As long as we're alive, there is always hope." His optimistic spirit has moved a lot of people, including Ms. Hsiao Chu-chen, director of A Good Hand. Hsiao had the chance to work with Hsieh during the shooting of the TV serial because Hsieh played himself in the serial from the point when his character turned 26.

"I'm impressed by Hsieh's ability to focus on the positive, to look on the bright side," said the director. "He says that he never mulls over what he has lost--he only cherishes what he still has. He lost both arms, one leg, and sight to one eye. In our eyes, he really lost a lot. Yet he says optimistically that he still has one leg, one eye, and a short stump of arm. Because he only focuses on what he still has, he constantly sees hope."

With his resilient life force and "never lose hope" attitude, Hsieh provides an excellent example for many to follow. That is why the Tzu Chi TV station decided to adapt his story into a serial. In today's society, many people have no idea what the meaning of life is, and suicide is on the rise. If people can look at Hsieh, they may be inspired to cherish what they have and not be defeated by failure and disappointments in life.

"The majority of us tend to look at things from a pessimistic point of view, so we often feel dissatisfied," said Hsiao reflectively. "'Why don't I have that? Why did I lose that? Why do other people have things that I don't have?' That's the reason we are often filled with despair. Yet when we look at Hsieh, we will come to realize that we really complain too much."

The storyline

The 30-segment TV serial begins with Hsieh's childhood. Coming from a financially deprived family, Hsieh had to quit school and started working after graduating from elementary school. At 16, he worked in a factory. One day while he was moving steel tubes, the tubes he held in his arms touched a high voltage wire. His body absorbed the force of the electricity through the tubes, and his limbs were seriously burnt. His mother pleaded with the doctors, "Please do your best to save my son. It will be enough if he can live and call me 'Mama' once more." To save his life, doctors amputated both of his arms and one leg. Hsieh was hard hit by the calamity, but he soon found the courage to live in the loving eyes of his mother. "Although I was the one who was injured, looking at my mom's sorrowful face, I knew that she was the one who felt all the pain. I told myself I must stick out my chest and rise above the misfortune."

After the accident, Hsieh stayed at home for seven years, but he did not idle away his time. He learned to write and draw with a pen in his mouth. He told himself that rather than always expecting others to help him, he should ask himself what he could do to help himself. If he could stimulate himself to make the best of his potential, then he would have no difficulties in overcoming whatever obstacles he encountered.

Later, he attended night school to finish his high school education. One day, when his sister was helping him bind his textbooks, which were worn and tattered through repeated use, his right eye was accidentally hurt by a staple. He subsequently lost sight to his right eye. With sight in one eye gone, his life was made even more inconvenient. However, he still tried to make the best of it. "Since I can only see with one eye, I will use my good eye to look at only the goodness of things."

He studied painting under the famous Taiwanese artist, Wu Ah-sun. During the process, he became acquainted with his future wife, Yeh-chen, who despite her parents' strong opposition married Hsieh and bore him two lovely daughters. With the support of his wife, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to painting. Over the years, he has held several solo exhibitions and won many painting awards. In 1996, he was named one of the Ten Outstanding Youths in Taiwan. He believes that he was able to conquer the difficulties in his life through the help of many people. Because of this, he has been working as a volunteer at Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital and has been giving speeches to encourage others in return. "What I do is stand in front of them and give them an example of how one can stand up again after falling down," said Hsieh.

Behind the scenes

Hsieh's story is inspirational and provides much food for thought. As good as his story is, it was still a big challenge to adapt for television. First, there were many technical problems to attend to. For example, because Hsieh has no hands and only one leg, actor Huang Tsai-chin, who played the young Hsieh in A Good Hand, had to have his hands tied and hidden from view. "It was actually very complicated," said director Hsiao. "When we filmed Huang from the front, we hid his hands behind his back. When we filmed him from one side, we had to find another way to hide his hands. As for his right foot, we even dug holes in the ground to conceal it. Yet as careful as we were, during post-production we still found many shots in which his hands showed, so we had to use a computer to correct those."

Technical challenges like the one mentioned above were numerous. Hsiao gave another example. Hsieh has a short stump for his right arm (less than 20 centimeters). He uses this arm to do a lot of things, including answering phones, turning pages, etc. "So we had to make an arm like that and fit it onto Huang's right shoulder. Not only that, we had to make it move naturally." Three false arms were made in the end--one was plastic and immovable, one had a line attached to it so Huang could control it, and one was a remote-controlled arm, which technicians could manipulate from a distance. "It took us nearly two months to make the false arms work."

Yet the biggest challenge was yet to come: shooting the latter half of the TV serial in which Hsieh starred as himself. Hsieh had been added to the cast to make the TV drama more touching and convincing. However, because he is not a professional actor, it took him a while to learn the ropes of acting. During the first few days of shooting, he often had to redo his scenes. "He had to do more than 20 takes on his first scene. He became so frustrated that he suggested we find a professional actor to replace him," said Hsiao. "But after all he is Hsieh Kun-shan. Being optimistic and hard-working, he managed to conquer all the difficulties in the shortest time."

In working with Hsieh on the set, Hsiao learned how he performed daily chores such as folding sheets, mixing powdered milk for his daughters, etc. These things may be easy for able-bodied people, but not so for one who has no hands. "Do you know how he soothed his crying baby daughter?" asked Hsiao. Not having hands with which to pick his daughter up from her crib, Hsieh used his teeth to pick her up by her clothes, much as a cat carries its kittens. He would then cradle his daughter in the stump of his right arm. "We were all amazed when we saw him demonstrate how he did these things. Hsieh always says that it's inevitable for people to encounter problems, but what's important is to find ways to solve them. As long as one is willing to try, there is always a method."

As the shooting progressed, Hsieh's performance became more developed and smooth. One scene especially touched the director. It was when Hsieh was rushing to his father's house to take the sick old man to the hospital. Because his father was wearing underpants, Hsieh had to pick up trousers with his mouth for his father to put on. However, his father was too weak and lacked the strength to do it. And Hsieh, with no hands, could not give him a hand. "One is a dying, sick old man, the other a son without hands," said Hsiao. "Their helplessness at that moment was poignant... I was extremely moved when we filmed the scene. Later, I found that Hsieh had tears in his eyes too."

For Hsieh, the biggest challenge in playing himself came from having to relive the painful episodes of his past. Yet he was soon able to look beyond that. "I hope that after watching the TV serial," he explained, "young people can realize how blessed they are, and that as long as they don't give up on themselves, no one will give up on them."

After A Good Hand was broadcast, the Tzu Chi TV channel received a lot of feedback from viewers. Many said that they had encountered many frustrations in their lives and that they had even lost the courage to live on, yet Hsieh's smile had given them hope and strength. "That's exactly what we had hoped the TV serial would achieve," said Hsiao.

In looking at Hsieh, we can see that no matter how hard life has been, no matter how miserable we are, there are always people who suffer more than us. As long as we can hold a positive attitude, nothing can stand in our way. As Hsieh says: human beings are fragile, life is impermanent, and we have no power to stop bad things from happening to us; but on the other hand, we also have unlimited potential. "It all depends on whether one has the determination, willpower, and courage to brave all that happens to us in life. As for me, I choose to keep an open heart and to live in happiness with a clear conscience. I want to continue standing in the sunshine with a smiling face."