📖 Reading the newspaper in the morning with Bach, reading biographies in the afternoon with Beethoven, and listening to Mozart before bed while reading literary essays…
This is a wise person who maintains a rich inner life in a complex world, designing every moment of life so exquisitely.
Flipping through “The Autobiography of Zhang Zhongmou”, I was captivated by the preface written by Yu Qiuyu. Here are some excerpts I particularly liked, along with my reflections:
🟡 Jung said, not everyone living in modern times can be called a “modern person”.
There are very few true modern people; they neither stand in yesterday nor tomorrow, but rather stand on the bridge from yesterday to tomorrow.
This full awareness of the transitional state makes them simultaneously feel loneliness, as the vast majority of people are subconsciously shrouded in the mists of history, some even wearing a false modern mask outside the essence of their retrogression.
Only true modern people know they are products of tradition, yet also disloyal subjects of tradition, deeply aware of the absence of tradition, and day and night they wish to compensate with marginal creativity, but they also understand that today’s creations will soon be surpassed, thus they cannot help but fall into fear and anxiety.
✍🏻 Most people either live in the comfort zone of the past or are swept away by the anxieties of the future.Standing in yesterday is to cling to tradition, while standing in tomorrow is to blindly chase trends.
True wisdom lies in being able to stand at this very moment, neither bound by tradition nor shackled by trends; they have a deep sense of history and foresight for the future—this “bridging” existence allows them to respond to changes with composure while maintaining independent thought.
🟡 Being modern does not necessarily mean being young.
Young people naturally adapt to modernity, which is their enviable advantage, but not all young people can effectively leverage this advantage.
Some young people, due to their ignorance of the trajectory of historical development, often challenge modernity from outdated positions; even the Cultural Revolution in China was initiated by a group of young people under the slogan of “breaking the old and establishing the new”, which in reality was a tragedy that completely reversed the old and new.
This situation is more likely to occur in groups with a heavy tradition and a combative nature.
The value of Mr. Zhang Zhongmou lies in his completion of a cultural transformation in the most solemn and prudent manner, thus early on he became a modern creator.
🟡 Cultural transformation must be accomplished through the power of culture.
Many Chinese students studying abroad are familiar with Western languages, accustomed to Western lifestyles, and have mastered professional skills. At first glance, it seems they have completed a cultural transformation, but this is not necessarily the case, as they only grasp the “technique” and not the “principle”, and technique can never replace the confrontation and dialogue between principles.
✍🏻 Many people talk about “practical content”, “skills”, and “methodologies”, but few discuss “values” and “worldviews”.
Skills may become outdated, but philosophy does not. Zhang Zhongmou reads Shakespeare and listens to Bach; these seemingly unrelated pursuits to semiconductors actually shape his thinking patterns and aesthetic tastes, ultimately leading to the success of his business empire. Should we also reconsider those “useless studies”?
🟡 During his year at Harvard, he immersed himself in Western civilization from Homer, Milton, Shakespeare, Hemingway, Austen, Shaw, to Churchill’s World War II memoirs and speeches from various U.S. presidents, while subscribing to major American newspapers, listening to music, watching plays, visiting museums, attending sports events and dances, and making American friends;
This broad and eager coverage certainly affected the time and energy devoted to professional studies, but from the perspective of life as a whole, it can truly be said that “sharpening the axe does not delay the work of cutting wood”; he fundamentally reshaped himself.
Mr. Zhang Zhongmou later led the world’s largest semiconductor industry and upon returning to Taiwan, founded high-tech enterprises. This momentum is indeed not something ordinary Chinese students can maintain for long; his fundamental secret lies in that transformation that began at Harvard.
He likes to quote Hemingway, describing his gains at Harvard as a “movable feast”, believing that this feast nourished him throughout his life, including those technological works that seem unrelated to the humanities, even to this day.
✍🏻 True efficiency is not about being busy, but about depth. A year of cultural immersion nourished Zhang Zhongmou’s creativity for a lifetime. In contrast, we today are often eager for quick success and immediate returns, neglecting those “soft powers” that require slow accumulation.
🟡 Mr. Zhang Zhongmou lists many Chinese classics he read in his early years in his autobiography, and later lists many Western classics he read at American universities. The combination of these two types of classics not only did not weigh down his writing but rather made it light and airy.
It turns out that when Homer meets Sima Qian, and when Cao Xueqin meets Shakespeare, it only adds joy and not sorrow.
Knowledge is like rammed earth; various materials are filled in to build a more convenient platform for activity, rather than a congested warehouse where a slight shift results in a loss of space.
✍🏻 What a brilliant discussion! “When Homer meets Sima Qian”, the fusion of cultures is not a simple splicing, but a chemical reaction at a higher level. Just like a top chef cooking, it is not about piling all the good ingredients together, but about having the right timing, proportions, and creativity.
Each of us can become such a “cultural hybrid”, finding our unique combination within different knowledge systems, values, and lifestyles, after all, differentiation often comes from “mixing”.
🟡 Although Mr. Zhang Zhongmou is not specialized in literature and history, his ability to return to the essence and move in and out deeply grasps the mysteries of scholarship.
Any modern creator needs to carve out an ethereal realm for themselves, and this ethereality must be the result of rich accumulation. We have seen many etherealities without accumulation, and many accumulations without ethereality, but rarely do we see someone like Mr. Zhang Zhongmou, who is both astonishingly knowledgeable in the eyes of international peers and, as Jung said, stands on the edge, facing the wilderness, deeply aware of his ignorance.
✍🏻 Most people are either “knowledgeable without ethereality” (academic types lacking innovation) or “ethereal without knowledge” (superficial internet celebrities); true experts possess both a solid foundation and flexibility.
Today, innovation is no longer a slight tolerance from an old house to its descendants, but the only lifeline that sustains overall life, thus Mr. Zhang Zhongmou also pours more energy into this.
Recently, I was fortunate to read one of his recent speeches, where he systematically studied the innovation capabilities of major peers in the industry. He carefully analyzed why the once-promising Japanese semiconductor industry is now significantly lagging behind its American counterparts, attributing it to low rewards for innovation and high sensitivity to failure, a tendency he believes is quite common worldwide.
✍🏻 In today’s era, innovation is not a reward but a necessity for survival; it is not for the sake of being different but to sustain life.
🟡 He stepped into that black Buick with a pipe in his mouth, traveling from Taipei to Hsinchu, or from Hsinchu back to Taipei. Upon arrival, he often locked himself in his room for deep contemplation, with Western classical music playing in the background.
He often listens to Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, but his favorite is Bach.
He rarely socializes, prefers solitude, leading a bustling career while living a tranquil life.
His eyes capture any hint of innovation related to his work, while his ears are cleansed daily by the purest religious music.
Career, life, culture—these three are so harmonious yet so fragmented, resulting in a harmony within fragmentation, achieving a multi-dimensional balance.
✍🏻 This is truly the best description of life philosophy I have ever seen; it turns out that an entrepreneur fighting in the business world can simultaneously maintain inner peace, listening to Bach and contemplating philosophy…
Some Taiwanese media have summarized Mr. Zhang Zhongmou’s health secrets, one of which is continuous exercise and a light diet, walking briskly for 40 to 45 minutes at least six days a week; another is reading intellectually stimulating materials and using music to relieve stress, reading newspapers in the morning with Bach, reading biographies of famous people in the afternoon with Beethoven or Puccini operas, and reading literary essays before bed with Mozart or Chopin.
He designs every moment so exquisitely that life itself becomes a work of art—business success and spiritual wealth are not contradictory but rather mutually fulfilling.
Mr. Zhang Zhongmou said, “Even in the leaden dusk, I still strive to polish it to emit its unique brilliance.”
In this fast-paced, high-anxiety era, do you still have your own “Bach moment”?
Related Reading:
I Found the Two Most Important Things in Life at 30
Lee Kuan Yew’s 10 Life Wisdoms Are More Useful Than Reading 1000 Self-Help Books
Dissecting the Wealth, Habits, and Systems of Top Global Entrepreneurs and Creators: 3 Minutes to Read the Core Essence of 3 Hours
