Master Huang Chun-Ming was born in Lotung, Yilan. He is the eldest son. When he was 8 years old, his mother was very ill and no sign of recovery. One day, he played in square of a temple with his brother. An old man was eating longan and was spitting longan seed. He and his brother competed for the seeds spitting out of the old man¡¦s mouth and claimed to each other for the next one. Longan seed is hard enough and is good for substitute of marble ball. While they were scratching for the seed, their grand father walked toward the temple with stern face. People sitting by the gate of the temple asked, ¡¨How is your daughter in law? Getting better?¡¨ He did not reply but walked straight toward to the brothers who were scratching for the longan seeds and shouted: ¡§Everybody is looking for you and you are still here!!¡¨ ¡§Do you know what is happening?¡¨ ¡§¡¨Rush to home immediately, your mother is on her way!¡¨ It was served as answer to the questions of neighbors.

As soon as he reached home, he found that there are full of grownups in his mother¡¦s room. There were friends and relatives. The grownups said ¡§They are home. They are home¡¨ and then silent with the air freeze immediately. At this time their mother said feebly, ¡§ Be good, listen to whatever grand father and grand mother have to say.¡¨

Chun-Ming and his brother did not have clear idea what was happening. Death is nothing for an eight-year-old kid. He stepped forward to the bed, with sweating hand hold the longan seed he had fought for a while ago. He opened his palm and told his mother. ¡§ Look, I picked many longan seeds. These are for you¡¨ The grownups burst into tears. They were sad as the 8-years-old boy knew nothing and was going to lose his mother.¡¨
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As his mother died early, he doesn¡¦t remember at what time in a year she passed away, but he knows very well that was the time longan was producing in good volume. According to Ms. Huang (Lin Mei-Yin), this will be material of a long novel .

Teenage Huang Chun-Ming

As mother passed away early and was brought up by grand mother, the relationship with step mother made the restive Huang Chun-Ming even more self-esteem.

He was clever, smart in response and tricky. He could not bear unjust. In the conservative eastern Taiwan, such kid is almost equal to trouble student. In his schooling years, particularly during the adolescence period, he was even more rebellious. He felt that many of the systems were irrational. With so many ideas in mind, he was always at the opposite side of teachers. Making trouble and broiling with school mates were absolutely not acceptable with the school establishment.

In his crazy teenage years, Huang Chun-Ming thought about committing suicide frequently whenever he felt unhappy or unfairly treated, but when such thought emerge, he thought about people around him¡X¡§ I want to die in the way they will suffer so to get revenge, but then the face of grand father emerges, I could not go any further.

His high school went all the way from Lotung High School to Taipei Normal School, Tanan Normal School and finally graduated from Pintung Normal School in southern tip of Taiwan. This is only for minding other person¡¦s business, or could not stand injustice. Until principal of Pintung Normal School asked him a question¡XWhere is next after Pintung? Bashi Channel. The principal nodded with smile ¡V You got good sense of geography. Stay and graduate from Pintung Normal. There is no normal school in Bashi Channel.

In school, Abacus class, teacher went to the front of each student and gave the question. Normally, student would stare on abacus and act immediately after hearing the question, as they may miss one if they lift their head. When turned to Huang Chun-Ming, the teacher stood for a long while without giving a sound. Huang lifted his head, the teacher slapped him heavily. ¡§I was very angry, I could not hit back and as I was sitting by the window, I hit the window with my elbow. The blood jetted out and the teacher was terrified. Some classmates came forward and tried to help me to school medical room.¡¨ ¡§Holding my arm I said, tell me why I was slapped, or I won¡¦t go to the medical room. ¡§

It was that Huang Chun-Ming placed the abacus other side around, which got the teacher upset. Listening to his explanation, the teacher found that the calculation on the displaced abacus has correct answer and apologized and acknowledged the 1000 years long traditional mode of abacus calculation.

Huang Chun-Ming liked debate and is brilliant. In writing, in drama, in painting, in filming and in CF planning, he catches the knacks quickly and makes it like born to it. He is the one born to attract attention. He is arrogant in a way and self-abased on the other hand. When he finished military school and was to be dispatched to elementary school to serve his obligation. He chose a small school up in mountains in Hualian. He was afraid that if he were dispatched to a school in his hometown, parents might frown when they heard from their children that the teacher is Huang Chun-Ming. He was afraid that situation like that might happen to him, which prompted him to choose a small school in far away place. But God did not receive his message and he was announced to teach in Kwang Hsing Elementary School in Yilan.

As being given to teach children in his hometown, Huang Chun-Ming did his best to be a good teacher. This can be found in his works with stories of his relationship with students. Nevertheless, Huang Chun-Ming is one that challenge establishment. He worked hard to play the role of a teacher but he was just not compatible to the education system. After serving his 3-year term, he was ready to change track.

Colorful Career of Literature and Arts

It took him no difficulty to pass examination to work as reporter and editor of Yilan Broadcasting Corp of China (BBC), and he anchored a program in the title ¡§Check weather when rooster is crow¡¨. His talent in telling tales affected Yilan locals like narrator of a silent film. In BBC, he encountered a ¡§girl much competent than me¡¨¡XLin Mei-Ying, a beautiful and non-nonsense girl, the one who knows him and harbors him, Mrs. Huang.

Got married in 1966, Huang Chun-Ming and his wife removed to Taipei, and this is the peak period of his literature creation.

When he was serving military services, he wrote for Supplement of United Daily News and Ms. Lin Hai-Yin was the chief editor. She lost sleep frequently for she could not determine whether to publish the works of Huang Chun-Ming or not. She said, if she put on the Newspaper, it could mean trouble at that Curfew period, but she could not deny it, as the writings were so good. This is because his works are no lack of metaphor, such as two empty liquor bottles raised to the top of flag pole. In his ¡§Ah-Shing Dismount¡¨, he wrote about a pair of old woman and her grandson waiting for the aid from her mainlander son-in-law. Contents like these are quite sensitive at that time. Ms. Lin Yai-Yin felt that his novel was indeed good and opportunity should be given to this Youngman. This made her the first patron of Huang Chun-Ming.

¡§Literature Quarterly¡¨ was founded in 1966 and Huang Chun-Ming joined in the first year. This magazine converged new writers at that time, including Wang Jeng-Ho, Wei Tian-Chung, Cheng Yung-Shan (Ying Jeng), Wang To and others. At each issue, there was one article of Huang Chun-Ming. Later when Sang Ping-Zai was chief editor of China Times, Huang Chun-Ming increased his creation rapidly. He was worked in Advertising Agency, he used to write in the night and could not get off bed for work in the morning. Absent for 3 or 4 days, he could not help but to look for other job. While he was famed in advertisement industry with his creative idea, he was frequently invited with high courtesy, but for his writing, he switched from one to another.

People in the age of 35 or so would remember that when the Puppet Show of Huang Chun-Shiung was at heat in 1972, China Television Corp. presented a kid¡¦s show ¡§ Babe Theater¡¨, in which, leading role of Ha Ha Paradise, Silly Kid, Bump-Eye Snake and Jew¡¦s Ear Bug on the tree are the puppet show Huang Chun-Ming introduced into Taiwan, which had occupied the mind of many children. Soon after, Huang Chun-Ming made documentary in CTV ¡§Formosa Aroma¡¨ rewrote the language used in documentary film of Taiwan and which stirred up a trend of Reporting Literature in Supplementary of China Times.

By 1980s¡¦novels of Huang Chun-Ming joined with motion picture and opened a new era for the new motion pictures of Taiwan.

Care and education for next generation

Walked through the unrestrained years, Huang Chun-Ming became much refined and placed his mind and efforts in planning and nurturing his kid¡¦s troupe, spending time in community affair, extending care to and observing senior citizens. No matter he is doing, he invested all what he has. Gradually matured, the most he wants to do is writing good stories for children in Taiwan, program good theater for kids. He told his wife: The older you are, the better you can write kids¡¦ stories. You can make it light and easy for kids to understand, stead of law and moral codes¡¨. He is playing not only the role of literature creator, but also a social activist. He is not contended of literates standing yards away, but joining daily life of ordinary people and to find the wisdom from them and see the present Taiwan through retrospective view.

He had played a show called ¡§Junior Li is not a liar-New Arcadia Tale¡¨. It was originated from Tao Hua Yuan Tales (Tales of Arcadia). When it was presented, he had been warned by certain over-sensitive people. The fact is that he concerned about the migration wave of Taiwan and he wanted to tell the audience that ¡§It is not necessary to look for Arcadia, as long as you are not satisfied with the present society and want to migrate, it is a move of looking for Arcadia.¡¨

He noted that many of the outward migrants are not happy. When the parents visit their migrated son and or daughter on annually basis, neighbors would ask, how long you are going to stay? And the answer is always made happily ¡V one or two months or longer. But they returned in a couple of weeks. When they are asked ¡§How is it¡¨ the answers are normally vaguely ¡§ Not bad¡¨. Huang Chun-Ming said, if you could make yourself invisible and sneak into their home, you would know how unhappy they are. But for the pride, they sold their estate for the migration, they could not say it is bad. The sons / daughters are working in the daytime and the grand children are speaking English. ¡§They even called is Ox¡¦s ball (assonance of Grandpa to Taiwanese). Overall, migration to other country does not as good as it was imagined.

Taiwan is Arcadia

Huang Chun-Ming believes that Arcadia is the land where each of us set feet. The story of Arcadia in Chinese History is that a bunch of people fled to a hidden valley from the tyrant ruling of Chin Dynasty, and it took them 600 years to be found with such a beautiful and peaceful agriculture society. It means that Arcadia is not just popped out, it is accumulation through time. ¡§Yilan has been developed by Chinese for only 400 years, if we plan it and work it well, we could have our own Arcadia. He challenge the present Community Total Empowering Concept, but does his part in person to find lasting vision for the legacy of Yilan.

Standing on the soil of Yilan, Huang Chun-Ming realized that the fundamental problem of Taiwanese is Identification Crisis. The teaching materials compiled for students are deviating from the facts. In the text, it maintains ¡§There is a little river in front of my door¡¨ yet it is actually erected with high rise buildings. The songs taught in the school remains with ¡§Fighting back to mainland China¡¨. Grownups taught them the unreal things, how do we expect identification from them?

Therefore, Huang Chun-Ming devoted in ¡§Promotion of Local Language¡¨ for Yilan County for the education of children, and the audio tape was recorded with the voice of Lin Mei-Yin, his wife. As to the restoration of old name of place to recover the life wisdom of local people of the early days. In the Promotion of Community Sense of Yilan, his based on the modernized Arcadia philosophy. From all these endeavors he accumulated unlimited elements and materials for literature creation. He said, ¡§ The efforts and time I spent in the community works provide me with better achievement in my literature creation. As long as my breath continues, all the experience will be my experience and one can expect a huge novel from me some time later.
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Even in the period of economic difficulty, conservative social environment and harsh political atmosphere, Huang Chun-Ming kept on rolling out his famed and welcome novels and proses, and they have been translated into Japanese, Korean and English. Oct. 2006, ¡§Huang Chun-Ming Research¡¨ is the topic of workshop of Chinese Writers Association in Mainland China, and he was invited to attend the discussion. Yet, in Taiwan, we could not find the everlasting and meaningful works of Huang Chun-Ming.
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We all hope that Taiwan will become a new Arcadia eventually as predicted by Mr. Huang Chun-Ming. In such an Arcadia, there will be plenty of books bringing people with wisdoms and happiness.