Interview > Older brother

Since Teacher Huang's passion for folk culture was largely based on familial influenes, we hoped to understand him better through his older brother. We originally planned to interview both of his older brothers, but Teacher Hsing-wen Huang's schedule was too busy. In the end, we only interviewed his oldest brother Hsing-pin Huang.

1. Do you have a similar personality with your younger brothers? Were there disagreements because of differences in opinion?
We had similar personalities. Older siblings would help a lot in bringing up younger children in villages. We were quite similar in personalities, and even sounded similar and spoke in the same accent. Of course, though personalities couldn't be a perfect match, they were largely the same. For example, we share the same interests in culture.

2. Is there any thing that you disagreed on before?
That hardly happened. We would communicate as brothers in something that resembles a meeting. Of course, I would be the chair since I am the oldest. We would propose any opinions and discuss it together. In the end, we were always able to come up with a harmonious conclusion that everybody's happy with. Issues caused by differences in opinion have yet to happen.

3. Can you describe the hardships and work you endured together?
Life back then was quite difficult. I am 11 years older than my brother. Village life wasn't like living in the cities. You had to help with farm work and these could be difficult. And the older you get, the more tiring your tasks would be. We had telephones at home when Hsing-Wu Huang was growing up, and that made life easier.

4. Were there any special achievement or things that you brothers did together?
Hsing-Wu Huang and I shared similar academic careers. I, my father, my younger brother and youngest brothers also did our military service in the Pescadares, Taiwan, Kinmen and Matsu.

5. Did Teacher Huang say anything about his dreams when he was young?
For his dreams, I would lead him along with my ideas and experiences. These would have given him some sense of direction For example, I would teach him the simplified methods to complete a complicated task. I would teach him easier and more relaxing ways to complete farm work and other errands.

6. What are the areas that you promote?
Children's toys and kneaded dough figurines.

(The text and pictures on these pages were based on interview transcriptions, photographs and writing taken by the project team)