Autobiography of Chang Tsung-mo: 1931-1964

Author: Chang Tsung-mao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-05-01
Features: Chang Tsung-mao was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang in 1931. In 1949, he went to the United States for studies. He has long served in the semiconductor industry and held positions as the Vice President and Senior Vice President at Texas Instruments. He was one of the earliest Chinese executives to enter the senior management of a major American company. In 1985, he was invited by Taiwan to serve as the Director of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), contributing significantly to the rise of Taiwan's semiconductor industry and industrial upgrading. The following year, he founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which quickly became a leader in Taiwan's semiconductor industry. For his outstanding contributions to the semiconductor industry, he was named one of the most influential figures in the 50-year history of the industry and one of the best managers in the world by American media. This book is an autobiography covering the author's life from birth to the age of 33. Excerpt: English as the Subject of Thought During my time at Harvard, my studies in mathematics, physics, and chemistry were more of "progressive learning," but my English studies saw breakthrough progress. In terms of reading, English classes exposed me to the field of modern literature, while humanities courses simultaneously introduced me to the realm of classical works. Extracurricular reading included many important books, newspapers, and magazines. Regarding writing, English classes required me to write a short essay every week and a long essay every semester, while humanities classes constantly assigned reports and papers. As for conversation, except for weekends spent at my third uncle's house where I spoke Chinese, all other speaking and listening was in English. Throughout that year, all forms of external expression—sight, sound, speech, and writing—were in the world of English, gradually replacing Chinese as the language of my inner thoughts. My experience learning English made me realize that the younger one is, the easier it is to learn a new language. I moved to Hong Kong at the age of 6 and began learning Cantonese, later speaking it as fluently as a Cantonese child. At 12, I moved to Chongqing and relearned Mandarin, which also seemed very easy. By the time I was 18 and moved to the United States, I was already too old to learn a new language easily and needed a particularly conducive environment and dedicated effort to excel. Harvard provided just such an environment, which in turn motivated me to work harder. After a year of training at Harvard, English had become my subject, and I could think in English and express in English. It wasn't until I came to work in Taiwan that there was a need to bring back