Lin Ji-Xing's Perspective: Kao Ji-Hwang, the Scholarly Paragon Who Achieves Self-Realization by Enabling Others

"I'll buy two hundred copies," Professor Kao Ji-Hwang confidently told the National Tsing Hua University Press in support of his classmate and close friend. Fourteen years ago, the author was invited to write 'The Biography of Chang Li-Keng.' The subject's wife, Chang Hsiang-Jung, was a classmate of Kao Ji-Hwang at Provincial Agricultural College (now National Chung Hsing University). Therefore, during the book launch event at Tsing Hua University, Kao came to visit Chang Hsiang-Jung, whom he hadn't seen in many years. Witnessing the warm friendship between the two elders deeply moved the author. Kao stated that the book was highly inspiring and wanted to share it with press staff and others, so he purchased 200 copies outright.

The following year, the author published 'The Beauty and Sorrows of Genetic Modification' through Visionary World Company, chaired by Kao Ji-Hwang, and was subsequently invited to attend the company's authors' celebration event, where he personally heard Kao express his ideal of "scholars serving the nation through intellect."

This year, 'Kao Ji-Hwang: A Memoir' states: "Reading can save a person; ideas can change a nation." The two aforementioned incidents reflect his lifelong mission. Chang Li-Keng, a five-time academician in the U.S. and other countries, was deeply respected by President Chen of Tsing Hua University; his vision and perseverance serve as exemplary models for peers and friends. The founding of Visionary World Company embodies Kao's philosophy of "reading first-rate books to build a first-rate society."

His memoir further notes, "Reading saved me and changed the course of my life; spreading progressive ideas through books is my mission." The author strongly resonates with this sentiment. For example, the public widely misunderstands genetically modified (GM) foods—legislators have even amended laws to ban them from school campuses—resulting in increasingly negative social sentiment and heightened public anxiety. The author has participated in the nonprofit 'Scientific Monthly' and written op-eds to promote science education and improve national physical and mental well-being. Earlier this year, one of several Nobel laureates invited to Taiwan to promote science was Richard Roberts, whose lecture topic was 'Why You Should Love Genetically Modified Foods.' The author assisted him in writing letters to the President of the Legislative Yuan and the President of Taiwan, hoping to "turn the tide."

The author reflects: when Kao Ji-Hwang observed Taiwan's backward conditions and public mindset, he vigorously promoted the idea that "there's no such thing as a free lunch," attempting to "save the country and its people." He succeeded—the phrase continues to resonate in both political and public spheres.

Like-minded heroes include Lu Xun, who abandoned medicine for literature, believing that while doctors heal one body at a time, words can awaken countless souls and even transform an entire nation's spirit.

Kao Ji-Hwang grew up in poverty and wartime turmoil, cultivating deep empathy and compassion, especially knowing precisely when to extend a helping hand. He has supported and uplifted numerous young individuals. He is also committed to cross-strait peace, advocating "turning enemies into friends," reinforced by former U.S. President Eisenhower's powerful statement: "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, represents... a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, who are cold and are not clothed... This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."

Kao was once a member of the U.S.-based Committee of 100, actively facilitating cross-strait exchanges. Though usually cheerful, the recent deterioration of cross-strait relations—marked by mutual criticism and even military threats—has deeply troubled him. For several years now, he has been taking anti-anxiety medication. His ethos of "worrying before the world worries" appears to have taken a toll on his longevity.

The first volume of 'The Autobiography of Morris Chang,' proposed and published under Kao's initiative, recounts how Chang long delayed writing his memoir. By chance, he read Hemingway's novel 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro,' in which the protagonist, dying at the foot of the mountain, laments, "Now I will never write." These words jolted Chang awake—he realized that procrastination would leave his final chapter unwritten—and thus agreed to begin his autobiography immediately.

Just two months ago, Kao Ji-Hwang celebrated his ninetieth birthday with vigor through the publication of his memoir. It is hard to believe he has already passed away. Amid grief, perhaps we can take solace in the fact that he left behind his autobiography, ensuring his teachings endure? As General MacArthur famously said, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away." Today, might we say, "Scholars never die, they just fade away?"

*Author is a university professor