Culturally, it is almost un-Chinese for anyone to talk publicly about himself or his achievements. The Confucian teachings about humility and moderation clearly discourage such self-indulgent behavior. Consequently, over the centuries very few autobiographies were written in China, meaning many historically important figures left little or nothing to posterity concerning their private lives and thoughts.
Dr. An Wang is a modern exception. But his autobiography falls more clearly in the Western cultural tradition than in China's. Particularly in the U.S., there is a lengthy autobiographical tradition extending from Benjamin Franklin and Henry Adams to Helen Keller and Eleanor Roosevelt. The popularity of the form continues. Witness the long tenure of Lee Iacocca's Autobiography as a top best seller in the U.S. By publishing this book, Wang reveals his own American cultural orientation.
On the other hand, his Chinese roots and upbringing are also clearly illustrated by the book's title. "Lessons" refers to the vast wealth of experience he acquired, from his early struggles as an immigrant in the U.S. to his international status as inventor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.
In telling his personal success story, Wang emphasizes that "there are no secrets to success." Instead, he believes that the essential ingredients of success are "communication, moderation and patience, adaptability, decisiveness, confidence, unconventional thinking, social responsibility and last, but by no means least, luck." As every Chinese reader of this book will recognize, these are in harmony with ideals found in the Confucian classics. Wang himself conceded as much when he wrote in the Introduction: "One thing I have discovered is that attitudes and values that I acquired in China long before I came to the U.S. have had a great bearing on the way I do business. These values have much in common with some of the virtues of Confucianism, the system of Chinese thought that stresses proper behavior and moderation."
Wang's autobiography reveals, therefore, a Chinese-American who has combined traditional cultural traits of both the East and the West, while making himself a great success in that most modern and competitive of arenas—computer technology.
The first quarter of Wang's narrative concerns the author's family background and education. The rest of the book deals with the rapid growth of Wang laboratories, the computer firm he founded in 1951 with a capital investment of merely $600 from his personal savings.
In the opening section, entitled "Preparation," Wang tells of his Shanghai birth, his family of two brothers and two sisters, and his father who was a teacher of English in a private school. There are many references to the family's difficult times in China during the 1930s and 1940s, which he calls "the Age of Confusion."
But there was mental order in social chaos. He discovered early on that he had an affinity for mathematics. "I found that the answers to math problems would come to me if I thought about them long and hard enough," he recalls. "While math was easy for me, I had some difficulty keeping up in history, geography, and other subjects."
He started to study English with his father when he was four, and his grandmother instructed him in Chinese literature and thought. "At first these sessions were like Sunday school—the texts went in one ear and out the other. I was more interested in the sweets I knew would come at the end of the lesson than I was in what the lesson taught." His grandmother was a patient and diligent tutor, however, and eventually information began to sink in. "It was during these hours with her," Wang says, "that I learned about Confucianism, the practical philosophy that has profoundly influenced Chinese character." More specifically, Wang elaborates, "Just as many of the attributes or principles that I feel are important to success in business—such as moderation, patience, balance, and simplicity—are Confucian in spirit, so is my belief that a sense of satisfaction comes from service to one's community."
Wang received his college education at Shanghai's Chiao Tung University, majoring in electrical engineering, during the Japanese occupation. After graduation he moved to China's interior and served briefly in Kweilin and Chungking as an engineer designing radio equipment for the Chinese military. In 1944-45, on the eve of Japanese surrender, Wang received a government scholarship to come to the U.S. and, with much "luck," was admitted to Harvard University although he lacked proper academic credentials. He soon excelled and earned his Ph.D. in applied physics.
As a result of his research work at Harvard's Computation Laboratory, Wang invented the magnetic "memory cores" which later brought a revolution in computer sciences. Beginning with that invention and a U.S. government patent, he founded his own company in 1951. In 35 years his Wang Laboratories developed into a $3 billion computer giant, first breaking into the Fortune 500 in 1964 with its now-famous word-processing system. In recognition of his success, Dr. Wang was chosen as one of the twelve "Distinguished Naturalized Americans" to receive the Medal of Liberty from President Ronald Reagan during last year's special Fourth of July "Liberty Weekend" celebrations.
Wang's engaging autobiography traces a phenomenal pattern of success in his adopted land. It serves as an inspiration for all who cherish an American dream. — (Dr. Chiang is a senior researcher-reporter with Time magazine, specializing in Asian affairs.)