Taiwan Today

Photographs and pen sketches of 20 Chinese women appear on the following pages. Included are a Supreme Court judge, a music teacher, a writer, a bus conductor, a chemist, a newspaper publisher, an air hostess, a screen actress, an educator, a nursing director, a choreographer, a lawmaker, a radio personality, a banker, a taxi driver, an architect, a rural worker, a mayor, an industrialist and a prima donna. Not all of these ladies would appear in a Who's Who of Chinese women. If fame were the criterion, certainly Madame Chiang Kai-shek would be included. So would Dr. Wu Chien-shiung, one of the best women scientists in the world. The aim here is merely to show the great diversity of the fields in which Chinese women are making contributions in China today.

Supreme Court Judge

There is no other decoration in Miss Fan Hsing-hsiang's austere-looking study ex­cept a scale. It symbolizes impartiality and her profession.

Miss Fan—Mrs. Wang Too-yung outside the law courts—is one of the Supreme Court judges. She has sent shivers of fear among lawbreakers and given reassurance to the in­nocent for the past 18 years.

Judge Fan was named to the high court in 1956 to deal with civil cases. Before 1949, she was a judge in district criminal courts and then in high courts on the Chinese mainland.

Miss Fan was born into a judge's family in Hupeh where Dr. Sun Yat-sen started the 1911 Revolution. Her father, now a pro­secutor of the Supreme Court, has devoted more than 40 years to the judicial service. One of her two sisters is a judge of the Tai­wan High Court.

While in high school, Miss Fan majored in science, intending to become an electrical engineer. But the old man's influence was so great that she decided to study law.

"While in the National Central Univer­sity," she recalls, "I was one of the few girls in the department of law."

Upon graduation from college, she took the examination for judicial service and passed with flying colors. She received judge's training with two other women students. One of them became a justice of the Supreme Court on the same day she did. The other is a lawyer. Miss Fan donned the black robe at 23.

The Supreme Court's task is to review decisions of lower courts. Justice Fan han­dles about 20 cases a month and prefers com­plicated civil cases to criminal adjudication.

Soochow University, a school famed for comparative jurisprudence, invited her to give courses in civil and commercial codes in 1956. She enjoys teaching because, she says, theory helps her practical work.

She married a schoolmate, who is now an advisor to the Bank of Taiwan and concurrently a counselor of the Council for United States Aid.

Her only brother is a professor of agri­cultural economics at Nanyang University, Singapore.

Miss Fan has two sons and a daughter, all in high school. When asked if her children will also take up law, she says, "It's up to them to decide."

Her home life is quiet. She finds recreation in reading fiction and in gardening.

Music Teacher

Miss Grace Li would never have become a Miss China, let alone first runner-up at the 1961 Miss World pageant, but for the encouragement of one of her teachers.

It was the teacher who talked her into joining the Miss China contest which even­tually catapulted Miss Li into international fame in London.

Miss Li's enthusiastic backer was Miss Shen Hsueh-yung, China's first lady of song and head of the Music Department of the National Taiwan Academy of Arts. Her vocal talents have reaped her international praise.

"She possesses natural beauty ... and a voice which is both accurate and lively," said a critic after Miss Shen's Rome recital in 1953.

Another Italian critic commented that "she brings her voice out and sings from the soul. Not only is her voice sweet but her highly appropriate interpretation is expres­sive."

A native of Chien An, Szechwan, Miss Shen began her musical career at the Szechwan Provincial Academy of Arts. During her post-graduation recitals, critics marked her out for greatness.

Two years after marriage, she went to Tokyo with her husband, James C. Quo, and studied under an Italian vocalist, Madame Dino Nortargiacomo. Her Tokyo debut won the nod of Japanese critics and the applause of the imperial family.

Miss Shen did not stop there. She went to Rome to study opera. She was coached in opera by Madame Govanni, and in classic music and art songs by Manfredi Ponz de Leon.

Returning to Taiwan an established vo­calist, Miss Shen had the honor to present a recital before President and Madame Chiang Kai-shek.

She is very popular among the masses, too. She has made several tours of the island, singing both Oriental and Occidental songs.

Heard regularly on Taiwan radio pro­grams, she also has been soloist with the Taiwan Provincial Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Thor Johnson, the Ameri­can conductor.

Miss Shen occasionally goes abroad for performances. She gave recitals in Thailand in 1957 and in the United States and Japan in 1960.

In March of 1961 she went to the Philip­pines to join in several concerts with the Manila Concert Orchestra. She was praised by President Carlos Garcia.

Miss Shen has written three books:

Modern Music in Italy, Miss Grace Lee and I, and My Musical Life.

Writer

Miss Nieh Hua-ling often feels lonely. But she overcomes that feeling by seeking the companionship of people she creates with her pen.

The successful young writer believes loneliness is "inherent in and coexistent with life." She writes to "drive away" the feeling of loneliness.

She says inspiration often comes when she is alone and her mind on the wing.

A graduate of the National Central Uni­versity in Nanking in 1948, Miss Nieh began her writing career while working for The Free China Fortnightly as an editor. She is now an established novelist.

Miss Nieh's success is partly due to her mother who liked to put her daughter on her lap and tell her stories.

Today, many of these stories enjoy a much larger audience.

Among her works are The Creepers, The Jade Cat, The Purse and The Lost Golden Bell.

The last is her favorite. The characters are those she came across in her youth. The writing led her back to old places and friends, she explains.

The Jade Cat, one of her most popular short stories, is modern and realistic. It tells of a young couple whose love is threatened by jealousy. The story has a happy ending when the misunderstanding is finally resolved and tears turn to laughter.

Miss Nieh is also a good translator. She has translated Madam de Mauves by Henry James, Selected American Short Stories and Eight Stories by Chinese Women. She was the author of one of the Chinese stories.

She is as popular with a pen as she is on the lectern. She teaches English prose at the National Taiwan University and English literature at Tunghai University.

Miss Nieh lives with her daughters, aged 11 and 12. Her husband is studying at Chi­cago University's Institute of International Relations.

Bus Conductor

Taiwan's bus conductors are girls. Miss Ma Ai-chen, a late-comer, is easily the most beautiful and talented among the lot.

A stewardess on Kin Ma (Golden Horse) busses, the 5'5", 127-pound girl is a recent graduate of high school.

She was quite a girl at the Yangmei Middle School in Taoyuan county. She ex­celled in basketball, volleyball, and track and field. She broke the javelin and discus records at the Taoyuan county meet.

Other talents led her into Chinese opera and other singing and dancing roles. She is also a linguist, speaking half a dozen Chinese dialects flawlessly. Her silver tongue won her the championship in a countywide oratorical contest.

Last year Miss Ma was recommended by her school for advanced training in physical education. But she decided to take a job to help out her family.

She applied for a position with Kin Ma and was one of eight successful candidates in a field of 400.

The Kin Ma service covers nine routes of more than 1,300 kilometers, linking all major cities and towns on the island. The Taiwan Highway Bureau runs the service with 65 buses and 90 stewardesses. Their work is different from that of an ordinary conductor. The girls not only punch tickets but make announcements on the public address system, sing songs, tell anecdotes, distribute material, serve tea and hot towels, and otherwise make the trip a pleasant experience.

Miss Ma is tailor-made for the job. When the highway bureau pioneered service on an air-conditioned deluxe tourist bus, she was the natural choice for the trial run.

Born in Changsha in 1942, Miss Ma is the only child of an army officer and his wife. She visits her parents at Hsinchu once every three days.

Miss Ma says she will stay with the bureau two years, then go into accounting which she studied at school.

Any marriage plan? She has literally bus-loads of suitors. But she says she is too young to think of the marital altar. Some day, maybe.

Chemist

Miss Grace Lin did not like chemistry particularly. But she did love her mother a great deal.

A widow without sons, the old woman often wished she had one. This wish decided Miss Lin's career.

"I wanted to do the work of a boy. When I started study, chemistry was considered a boys' course," she recalls.

She was the only girl student in her class.

Today she is a leading chemist in free China and serves as head of the Chemistry Department of the Taiwan Christian College.

After graduating from the University of Shanghai, she did research work at the Univer­sity of Dresden in Germany.

Back in China, Miss Lin became a chemist at the Chen Hwa paint factory in Shanghai. She stayed there only briefly. She liked young people and decided to teach.

Her first teaching post was at the Na­tional Mukden Medical College in Man­churia. She was associate professor, then professor of organic chemistry.

After coming to Taiwan in 1948, she taught at the National Taiwan University. In 1955, she was invited to teach at the Taiwan Christian College which was established the year before.

Her teaching experience has convinced her that girls are as good as boys in chemistry. She herself is the best proof of this.

Miss Lin notes that the number of chemistry students has increased in recent years. She has confidence in the younger generation. With better laboratory equipment, she foresees rapid scientific progress for China.

A kind-hearted woman as well as an outstanding teacher, she always throws her doors open, especially to the many overseas Chinese students who have no homes in Taiwan. She says she loves them as if they were her own children.

Her greatest reward is the knowledge that her students are doing well in society.

Miss Lin was married in 1935 to a mechanical engineer, Hsiang Chun, who was a school-mate at the University of Dresden. They have a daughter and two sons.

The daughter is majoring in music at Columbia University in New York. The elder son is a senior in mechanical engineering at the National Taiwan University. The younger son is a freshman in chemistry at Tunghai University.

As if chemistry and home were not enough to keep her busy, Miss Lin engages enthusiastically in social welfare activities. She often visits patients in hospitals. A faithful Christian, she says her life is dominated by love of God.

Newspaper Publisher

Mrs. Nancy Yu Huang is the only wom­an newspaper publisher in free China—and an English-language paper at that.

When she interviews visiting VIPs, the chances are she herself is interviewed. And they consider her a remarkable woman­—which she is.

The former Miss Yu was graduated from Yenching University where she majored in journalism. She received a master's degree from the School of Journalism at Columbia University.

Before and after her graduation from Columbia, she worked as a reporter and editor. But her ambition was to run a news­paper of her own.

In 1952 her dream came true when she and her journalist husband raised enough money to found the China Post of Taipei. It was a two-page affair with a working staff of 23. It had a daily circulation of 2,000 to start with.

Through Mrs. Huang's aggressiveness and business acumen, the paper grew rapidly. Today, it has become a six-page paper boasting a daily circulation of 15,000 and 136 employees.

As director, Mrs. Huang makes policy and supervises the daily routine. A Jack-of-all-trades in journalism, she is able to fill any temporary staff vacancy. Recently she has been her own city editor.

Mrs. Huang says Chinese journalism is progressing, but needs more rapid improvement.

Noting that trade and industry have grown by leaps and bounds, she maintains that advertising lags far behind. She thinks increased advertising would help both busi­ness and the press.

As for relations between the government and the press, she says they must be close in China's present situation.

But China Post can at times be pretty critical of the government. It's all what Mrs. Huang calls responsible and constructive criticism.

Mrs. Huang, the mother of two adolescent sons, is a good mother, though she modestly says, "I fear I neglect my husband and children for my newspaper work."

Mrs. Huang makes it a point not to discuss business at home and stays away from office on Sundays.

She is against young women on her staff working after midnight. Later hours at a newspaper, she says, should belong to men.

Educator

There are more than 250 high schools on Taiwan with a combined enrollment of nearly 300,000 students and some 20,000 teachers.

These are formidable figures, consider­ing the total population of Taiwan is only 11.5 million.

But to Miss Wang Ya-chuan, director of the Secondary School Department of the Ministry of Education, they are not enough. Her plans call for more and better schools to provide better education for more people.

Miss Wang is eminently suited for her tough job. A graduate of the National Normal University for Women, she received a master's degree from Washington Univer­sity in the United States.

A devoted educator, she taught at the National Normal University and the National Nanking University, then became principal of the Second Municipal High School in Peiping and later of the Second Provincial Girls' High School in Taipei.

She has traveled extensively and attended a great number of international education conferences. This has enabled her to study various school systems abroad and she is con­vinced there cannot be too many excellent high schools in Taiwan if free China is to catch up with advanced countries in the West. She insists on replenishing school laboratories with the latest equipment, updating science curricula and adopting audio­-visual aids.

Miss Wang puts eight solid hours a day into her official duties. Often she complains the day is not long enough. For she has to formulate policy for all the secondary schools both in Taiwan and in overseas Chinese com­munities.

Miss Wang is married to General Shao Kwang-ming, a graduate of the Virginia Mili­tary Institute. They have a daughter, Shirley, attending the First Provincial Girls' High School in Taipei.

Visitors to Taiwan interested in educa­tion are impressed by the scope of her work and few have left without praising her accomplishments. But she is not satisfied with the status quo. Her motto is always "more and better." She looks forward to the day when compulsory education in Taiwan will be extended to junior high schools.

Nursing Director

Miss Chow Mei-yu is a major general in the Chinese Army, the only woman to have risen to that rank.

General Chow, a registered nurse, was graduated from the Peking Union Medical College of Peiping in 1930. She received further training (1946-49) in the United States, where she obtained a master's degree in public health from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.A. in nursing education from Columbia University.

The outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war in 1937 saw her become a member of the Chinese Red Cross, serving in field hospitals at the front.

In 1938 the Chinese government set up the Emergency Medical Service Training School to train army corpsmen. Miss Chow was appointed head of the nursing department with the rank of colonel.

The school was renamed the National Defense Medical Center after its removal to Taiwan in 1949. Miss Chow has been its dean of nursing ever since.

Courses include college-level training. Several hundred registered nurses have been graduated. Most have stayed in the Army Medical Service.

General Chow gives lectures eight hours a week on Nursing History, Nursing Ethics, Professional Problems and Orientation.

The nursing department has around 400 students and 20 instructors, of whom 19 are women.

Lacking funds, the medical center oc­cupied old quonsets until two years ago. New buildings were finally erected and new equipment obtained with the help of such agencies as the China Medical Board and the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China, both in New York.

"Money has always been the biggest problem for Chinese medical workers," General Chow says. "I can still remember the difficulties during the war with Japan, when dirty bandages had to be washed and reused. Even now, many instruments and materials which are disposable in American hospitals have to be sterilized and used again. But for this, Chinese doctors and nurses can equal their foreign counterparts in every respect."

General Chow is the only Chinese mem­ber of the Expert Committee on Nursing of the World Health Organization. She is wide­ly travelled. Besides having visited all parts of China, she has been to the Americas, Eu­rope and Australia. She represented China at the International Council of Nurses held in Australia 1961.

Unmarried, the general lives with her 80-year-old mother. For recreation she reads medical books and novels.

Choreographer

Whenever the subject of dancing in modern China crops up, Miss Tsai Jui-yueh commands attention. Her influence in this art is felt everywhere in Taiwan.

Miss Tsai established the first dancing studio in Taiwan 15 years ago. Many of the pupils have become noted dancers. Some have their own schools.

Today Miss Tsai has three studios, one of them in Tainan in southern Taiwan. There are elementary and advanced classes for children and special classes for foreign students. She also has had a class for overseas Chinese students studying in local universities.

A born choreographer, Miss Tsai started creating her own style when she was only five. The surprised parents agreed that her talent should be developed.

Professional training takes a long time and should begin early, Miss Tsai says.

Dancing is good for amateurs, too. It helps a woman walk correctly and carry herself gracefully, Miss Tsai says.

She has three assistants, all ex-pupils, helping her teach both classical Chinese dance and ballet to her 100 students, of whom only 10 are boys.

"It is difficult to provide the girls with partners," she says.

As a choreographer, Miss Tsai has been acclaimed for Death and the Girl and Three Orange Doves. As a dancer, she and her students have made frequent Taipei ap­pearances, often on TV. Swan Lake and the Nutcracker Suite are part of her company's "repertoire.

Recently she has been busy writing. She has translated First Steps in Ballet by Thalia Mara. She is looking forward to writing a series of articles on Chinese folk dances.

Lawmaker

Chinese women are having sweet vengeance. The law once deprived them of many privileges. Today many of them can kill any law not to their liking.

There are 61 woman lawmakers in free China. One of them is Miss Helen Hsieh­-ching Yeh, a member of the foreign relations committee of the Legislative Yuan and a well-known figure in Taipei's diplomatic circles.

Many of the woman legislators have sponsored important bills and lashed out at government agencies for failure to give the public maximum service. Male counterparts have been heard to observe that they much preferred the good old days when women were barred from politics.

The women have come to stay, however. As time goes on, they have less and less trouble getting elected to office at any level.

At high school Miss Yeh developed a liking for politics. After graduating from the National Tsinghua University as a political science major, she did postgraduate work in preparation for her future roles.

After teaching in several colleges and universities on the Chinese mainland, she became secretary of a regional air force headquarters with the rank of major. Later she served in the Hupeh provincial government and was secretary general of the Hupeh branch of the National Women's Advisory Commission headed by Madame Chiang Kai-shek.

Apart from making law, she is on the board of the Sino-American Cultural and Economic Association and teaches at the National Chengchi University.

Miss Yeh is also a writer. Her works include one on scientific reasoning and methods, a treatise on sovereignty and an examination of the political thought of Confucius.

She was recently married to Lt. Gen. Li Li-po, deputy commander of the Taiwan Garrison Command.

Radio Personality

One does not have to be a movie-star to get fan mail. Miss Pai Chien-ju has re­ceived 200,000 letters in four years—as a radio announcer.

Though short in stature, she stands high in broadcasting circles.

Since joining the Broadcasting Corpora­tion of China in 1955 as one of three suc­cessful candidates in a field of 500, Miss Pai has won countless hearts at home and abroad by dint of her sweet voice.

However, it was not until the Communists began saturation shelling of the Kinmen (Quemoy) islands in August of 1958 that she realized how powerful her voice was. As it turned out, it was louder than the deafen­ing blasts of half a million Red shells.

Since the beginning of the artillery duel across the Taiwan Straits, Miss Pai has been in charge of a program known as the Chiu San Club. Chiu San refers to the Armed Forces Day on September 3. It became a milestone in her life and in free China's broadcasting history.

With a passionate devotion to stimulating the morale of the armed forces, she has gone outside broadcasting to promote troop-cheering activities. Her selfless work has earned her the nickname of "big sister" among servicemen.

Miss Pai's popularity was dramatically revealed when she was injured in a traffic accident. A record 3,600 letters of sym­pathy poured into BCC in a single day. Some came from behind the Bamboo Curtain.

In 1962, Miss Pai began handling a 40-minute new program called "Our' Homes." The daily afternoon show deals with domestic life through stories, conversations between husband and wife, and replies to questions of listeners. Coverage ranges from interior decoration to child care.

Initial response indicates "Our Homes" will be as successful with housewives as the Chiu San Club was with servicemen.

Miss Pai herself has a happy home. Her husband, a college classmate, is an engineer and a sharpshooter who competed in the Rome Olympics in 1960. They have a son and a daughter.

Banker

Counting money and catching thieves are matters poles apart. In Miss Yang Pei-so, however, they have found happy co-existence.

Miss Yang is an assistant manager of the First Commercial Bank. But her ability to catch thieves nearly cost her promotion to this executive level.

She was originally a teller. While she was at the counter, not a cent was stolen. She could instinctively spot a thief. None dared to practice when she was about.

Then she was promoted. In no time, the bank was robbed of US$2,500. Back to the teller's cage went Miss Yang, and bank thieves moved elsewhere for their operations.

However, her knack for keeping cus­tomers happy was highly valued at the higher level. So she was returned to the assistant manager's desk—with an occasional trip out front to size up the customers.

Miss Yang is a native of Changhwa City in central Taiwan. She received primary and secondary education there, then earned a col­lege degree in Home Economics.

Back in Changhwa, she went newspapering for nearly a year before realizing she was not destined to be a news hen.

Starting with the First Commercial's Changhwa branch in 1950, she was a teller for two years and worked in the loan department for a similar period. After that came a year and a half as savings deposit clerk and six months in the accounting department.

At 24, Miss Yang was looked up to as Changhwa's "lady banker." This seemed a valuable asset for a political candidate. She ran for the City Council but lost by a narrow margin.

Transferred to the bank's Taipei branch the following year, she worked as loan depart­ment clerk for a year and then was promoted to be a public relations specialist.

"That is the work I like best," Miss Yang says. Understandably so, because it led to an assistant manager's post in three years.

Miss Yang supervises the work of eight cashiers and two accountants, prepares effi­ciency reports on their work, authenticates documents, and pacifies dissatisfied customers.

Colleagues maintain Miss Yang is more capable than a man in soothing ruffled feel­ings. Always pleasant and polite, she ends up with the customers on her side.

Miss Yang has no time for suitors. Bent upon a career in banking, she is preparing to go to the United States to study business ad­ministration.

Taxi Driver

Driving taxis has traditionally been in man's bailiwick. No longer so on Tai­wan. There are seven lip-sticked cabbies in Taipei alone.

Why in the world should a girl become a taxi driver?

"I like going places," explains Miss Chang Hsui-mei, one of the seven trail-blazers.

The 24-year-old girl from Taoyuan was graduated from high school four years ago. Her liking for travel landed her a job with the Taiwan Highway Bureau as a bus con­ductor on the Taipei-Hsinchu line.

However, she liked the seat behind the steering wheel better than punching tickets. So, when the number of taxis operating in Taipei began to soar sharply in 1960, she decided to switch.

Training lasted three months. First came theory, then practice—not only at the wheel but also with a wrench, jack and other tools.

Having obtained a driving license, Miss Chang had no trouble getting a job. For two years she has piloted her metered steed through crowded streets and into the oxcart-dominated suburbs.

The pay? A monthly income of more than NT$1,000 (US$25) is not bad for a girl of high school background. Teaching in a primary school offers much less.

Working 24 hours every other day does not tire her. She has plenty of rest on her days off.

Miss Chang has no boy friend. She will get one, she says, when the right one comes along. Driving is fun but a family life is more important, she says.

Before marrying, however, Miss Chang would like to try bus driving, sit at the controls of a locomotive or even fly a plane.

Kind and gentle, she is one of the most popular of the women drivers. When through driving, she enjoys music and folk dancing.

A safe driver? Her employers and cus­tomers say she is. In taxi-crowded Taiwan, where speed means extra fares, that is really something.

Architect

Most women love children of blood and flesh. Miss Hsiu Tse-lan's children are made of steel and cement.

She is one of the seven women archi­tects on Taiwan. And she has given birth to more buildings than most of her male counterparts.

Following traditional concepts slavishly does not make an architect great. Miss Hsiu is outstanding because she has her own ideas on what makes a good building.

"Comfort, beauty, safety and economy—these are the most important aspects of a modern building," she says.

"The shape of a building is important. Uniformity and monotony spoil even the most beautiful site.

"Buildings include the values of both music and painting. To those visiting a coun­try, the architecture necessarily makes a deep impression. In the short run, this may be stronger than the impact of the people. Both culture and economic development are revealed. China has an improving record in its architectural impact."

Miss Hsiu did not become an architect without opposition. In her youth, architec­ture was respectable enough—but for men, not women.

In 1943, when she graduated from senior middle school, Miss Hsiu talked her parents into letting her go to an architectural school.

At the National Central University boys were swamping the Department of Architecture with more applications than could be accepted. Miss Hsiu's enthusiasm was not to be denied. She was admitted.

In four years of professional training, she developed her own philosophy of archi­tecture. She decided to keep her style eclec­tic, utilizing some of the best to be found in each of the many approaches to building.

The mark of her genius can be found in each of the ISO-odd buildings to her credit. The teachers' hostels at Sun Moon Lake and Taichung are "concrete" proof of the sound­ness of her ideas.

In 1953, Miss Hsiu was married to C. K. Fu, an engineer of the Taiwan Railway Administration, for which she then worked. Two years later, with the help of her husband, she opened her own office. Today, she has more contracts than she can handle.

Rural Worker

There is nothing glamorous about work­ing among farmers. But Miss Wu Chiao has earned quite a bit glory doing just that.

At 25 she has helped revolutionize rural life in Taiwan. And her achievements have won plaudits from visiting kings and presi­dents.

Miss Wu is one of 22 hsien (county) supervisors charged with carrying out agricultural extension activities on the island. She has done a man-sized job with remark­able success.

Visiting rural homes six days a week, rain or shine, she gives down-to-earth lessons on improvement of rural living conditions, including home beautification.

She has 11 professional men working under her full time. Once a month she summons them to a meeting to discuss the achieve­ments and failures of the previous month and outline the work for the next.

The rural workers receive assistance from volunteers who lead community clubs formed for discussion and learning.

Miss Wu relies heaving on profusely illustrated books and pamphlets in teaching the rural people who are ordinarily resistant to new ideas.

"Whether it is kitchen arrangement or toymaking, the illustrations show them pos­sibilities and methods," says Miss Wu, adding, "I have used the same methods to teach my own parents to improve their living conditions. "

Miss Wu pledges to devote her life to the welfare of the rural people because, she explains, ''I'm one of them."

Miss Wu's family lives in Chiayi. Her parents and six younger brothers and sisters work the land.

Commenting on her work, she says, "We are on our way to success."

She is not boasting. Taoyuan, where she is the only supervisor, has become a model county. The houses, large or small, are whitewashed. Stoves have been improved. The health of the villagers is excellent. With a good life within reach, the villagers look ahead with confidence.

Miss Wu was graduated from the Chiayi Home Economics School at the age of 19. Home improvement was not very popular with the country folks then, she recalls. Today, she can look on her job with satisfaction. Dedication and missionary zeal are the key to her success.

Miss Wu continues studying through in­ service courses taken on the job. Her train­ing has included three months of work with farmers and villagers in Japan.

Lady Mayor

Pollsters rarely agree with each other. But they did agree that Miss Lin Hsueh-mei had as much a chance to defeat her op­ponent at the polls as to become a football quarterback.

That was before the mayoral election at Sanhsia, a farm town of 35,000 population 22 miles southwest of Taipei, in May of 1960.

Miss Lin was young and inexperienced. She was also the first woman in Taiwan to enter a mayoral race. Besides, the man who opposed her was a veteran politician—with a fat campaign chest to boot.

But Miss Lin was undaunted by the apparent odds against her. She only fought harder. Biking up hill and down dale, she carried the battle into every nook and corner of Sanhsia's 190 square miles. She shook hands with three-fourths of the citizens and spoke to them as if she were already their mayor.

The result of the balloting dumbfounded the pollsters but did not astonish Miss Lin. She won by a landslide.

Miss Lin lost no time in getting to work. With occasional advice from her father, a former mayor of Sanhsia, she soon made up for her lack of experience. Under her administration, rutted roads and rickety bridges have been repaired. Efforts have been made to boost production of tea and oranges, the town's main crops, and to seek outside investment that would provide work for the unem­ployed.

Mayor Lin gets up at 6:30 every morning to help her mother with household chores. An hour later she arrives at her office.

She presides over meetings, reads and signs hundreds of documents and talks to scores of townsfolk who bring every sort of problem to her.

Despite the heavy load, Miss Lin succeeded in finding a man who "loves her as a woman, not as a mayor."

They were married in April of 1962. Her husband is a 35-year-old army officer, Lt. Col. Yen Kiang, a graduate of Meiji University in Japan.

Some of the people thought Miss Lin's marriage might interfere with her mayoral duties. She has proven, however, that she can divide her time between her home and the mayoral office without neglecting either.

Despite popular demand, Miss Lin probably will not seek re-election after her present term expires.

If she does decide to quit, it is not im­probably that her successor will also be a woman. Several other women have ex­pressed their interest in candidacy—and more than half of the voters are women.

Industrialist

Miss Vivien Wu's hero is Henry Ford. She admires him so much that she follows his example in dealing with workers. And she is married to China's Henry Ford.

When eight industrialists were cited last year for enlightened management-labor relations, Miss Wu (Mrs. Yen Tjing-ling), board chairman of the Tai Yuan Textile Mill Company, was one of them.

Mrs. Yen is an ardent supporter of the eight-hour day, the year-end bonus and many other benefits to promote employee welfare.

A free clinic is available for her workers. She also sees they have time for recreation. Basketball is their most popular game.

Understandably, she champions equal opportunity for women in her factory. However, she says promotion is based on merit.

On Sundays she invites workers to her home for dinner and hears both their per­sonal and occupational problems. She feels a relaxed atmosphere helps bridge the gap between labor and management.

Once a month Mrs. Yen inspects working conditions at her factory in Hsinchu.

"The workers consider the factory their second home," she said. "The eight-hour day has made them happy and they are in better health than ever before."

Back in the winter of 1948, when Shanghai was threatened by the Communist insurgents, Mrs. Yen and her husband sought their future in Taiwan. They built their factory at Hsinchu with 20,000 spindles shipped from Shanghai. Today the number of spindles has increased to 34,000, operated by 2,100 workers.

Mrs. Yen was graduated from St. John's University in Shanghai and received a master's degree at Columbia University. She visited Europe and South America to study industrial management with her husband, a pioneer in Free China's auto industry.

A public-spirited citizen, she has con­tributed much to social welfare work, especi­ally for women and children. In 1961, she was elected chairman of the Taipei International Women's Club, the first Chinese thus honored.

She was invited by the U.S. State Department in 1960 to a seminar on the civic responsibilities of women. She compared notes on social work with representatives from 11 other nations and visited many places in the United States.

A woman of serious purpose, Mrs. Yen devotes to her spare time to Soochow University, where she teaches European history.

Prima Donna

Soochow, known as the milk and honey land of China, is also famed for its beauties. Miss Hsu Lu, first lady of Chinese opera on Taiwan, is one of them.

Large, expressive eyes sparkling in an oval face, her loveliness is further enhanced by the strong makeup of Chinese opera.

But she has more than physical charm to command a large following. At 22, her resilience on the stage puts an acrobat to shame. A superbly trained falsetto voice and natural gracefulness add to the magic of her performance.

Miss Hsu fell in love with the fascinating make believe world at the age of seven when a traveling troupe performed in Soochow. Five years later she joined the Ta Peng Capital Opera Troupe.

By the time she was 16, critics marked her out for greatness.

The critics were right. Miss Hsu won accolades when she toured seven European countries with her troupe shortly afterward. On one occasion a titled European was so captivated that he proposed to her—unsuc­cessfully.

In subsequent years Miss Hsu appeared in the Philippines, Thailand, Viet Nam, Korea and Okinawa. Wherever she went, she was the center of attraction.

"It was during my performances abroad that I learned the happiness to be found in my profession," she said. "We worked very hard, but success gave us full satisfaction."

To be a Chinese opera singer requires hard work over a long period. To learn a single opera—and there are 300 of them—takes three to four months. Students must learn the lines. Songs and music must be mastered. Finally comes the greatest challenge of all: performing the stylized ac­tions in accordance with usage and tradition. Somewhere along the line, makeup and costuming must be fitted in. When the pieces are welded into a whole, the theater must give its supreme test—performance be­fore an often critical audience.

Miss Hsu has a repertoire of more than 60 operas. Her roles range from the heroine to athletic young men.

Her ambition is to continue improving her art because she observes, "there is always room for improvement."

Screen Actress

Miss Yu Chuan, one of five staff actresses of the Central Motion Picture Cor­poration, is a rising movie star.

Four years after her first appearance in the "Three Girls in a Vain World," a film in Taiwanese (Amoy) dialect, she becomes a veteran of more than two dozen motion pic­tures. She is now moving into mandarin films, and already has had three roles.

In her latest melodrama, "Under One Roof," she plays the role of a local girl who, by wit and perseverance, persuades her stubborn island-born father to let her marry a mainland-born engineer.

Her films are widely shown abroad, especially in the Philippines, Malaya, Hong­kong and Macao. Her popularity in South­east Asia increased rapidly after her ap­pearance at the 1961 Asian Film Festival held in Manila. She receives about 2,000 letters a month from overseas admirers.

Miss Yu is better known as Miss Charming Eyes among her fans. It was given her during a troop-cheering visit to Kinmen (Quemoy) by her many fans in the armed forces.

Her love of classical and popular music has led to another career. She is also an announcer of the Cheng Sheng Broadcasting Corporation. Every weekday afternoon from one to three, she appears on the radio program "I Sing for you." She receives 1,000 fan letters a month for this program.

Before beginning her screen career, she was a student at Taipei Municipal Girls' High School. A newspaper advertisement for ac­tresses gave her the thought, "why not try to entertain others?" Among 3,000 candidates, she was one of four finalists.

Miss Yu was born to a Taiwanese merchant in Shanghai, and was brought to Taiwan when she was six months old. She lives in Shulin, a suburb of Taipei, with her family of nine.

She leads a quiet life, and likes to stay home reading fiction or listening to classical music. She plays the violin and piano.

Air Hostess

Helen Han has always liked to travel. So it's no surprise that she has become a stewardess for Civil Air Transport.

"Most people think stewardesses merely look decorative and get paid handsomely for it," Miss Han said. "Few realize that my job is busy and exhausting."

Logging an average of 80 air hours a month, Helen makes regular trips to such Far Eastern cities as Bangkok, Manila, Hong­kong, Naha, Tokyo, Osaka and Seoul.

While passengers in the luxurious CAT Mandarin Jet lie back in their reclining seats and enjoy the trip, she and three other stewardesses distribute reading materials, serve snacks and meals, mix drinks and take care of ladies traveling alone. About the only thing they don't do is fly the airplane.

Helen had first aid training and courses in other subjects that a hostess must know. She first flew in intra-island C-46s, then was graduated to international flights. Some trainees drop out because of airsickness.

"Right from the beginning, you find you have to be strong to take up this vigorous life," says Helen.

A basketball star in school, Helen was graduated from the National Taiwan University in 1958. She majored in English language and literature. She speaks English fluently.

Helen chose her job because of personal interest and not money. She comes from a well-to-do family. Her father was governor of Kiangsu province in 1949 and now works in the Presidential Office. Helen lives with her parents, a brother and a sister in suburban Taipei.

She has little time with her family. She has stayed in Tokyo for as long as a week at a time. Despite free travel opportunity, she spends vacation at home.

Helen says she has had almost enough travel. She wants to go abroad for study, then "marry and have a lot of children."