Chinese
Name: 羅慶士
Born: 1933
Died:
2020
Birthplace:
Hsinchu County (Northern Taiwan)
Lo
Ching-shi was born in 1933 at Guanxi Township, Hsinchu County in Taiwan. In
1937, his father established the Formosa Black Tea Company with Guanxi locals.
The company focused on producing and purchasing various kinds of tea, and
exporting these Taiwanese teas abroad. Back then, on top of setting up a
largescale tea factory in Guanxi, the company also set up a trade office and a
packaging plant in Taipei. As a result, Taiwanese tea could be sold to
international cities such as Copenhagen, London, and Rotterdam. The Formosa
Black Tea Company played a vital role in the history of Taiwan tea export; Lo’s
growing up years was immersed in this atmosphere of international trade.
Lo
Ching-shi graduated from Tamkang English Junior College. After the junior
college was restructured to form Tamkang University, Lo returned to the
university to gain the credits necessary to obtain an English degree. On top of
studying English and Japanese, Lo studied French as well. Lo was a translation
officer in the military, and also assumed the post of liaison officer for the
Military Assistance Advisory Group. After his retirement from military service,
he took charge of the family business, becoming the general manager of Formosa
Black Tea Company, and later its chairman. He also served as executive director
and was on the board of supervisors for the Taiwan Tea Manufacturers
Association for several years. All in all, Lo served in the Taiwan tea industry
for nearly 60 years, and bore witness to the history and development of the
industry.
In the
1960s and 70s, Lo capitalized on his multilingualism and bravely ventured
cities such as London, Paris, and Frankfurt with but a suitcase for company, as
he sought to expand the market for Taiwanese tea. His foresight with regard to
the decline of black tea informed his decision to switch to importing equipment
and technology vis-à-vis Japanese Sencha tea (green tea). Taiwan’s tea industry
eventually focused on export to Japan, which led to a new epoch of Taiwanese
tea export.
In 2006,
Lo founded the Formosa Tea Industry and Culture Gallery, sparing no effort to
actively preserve and promote the history and culture of the tea industry. In
recent years, the gallery has held a series of special exhibitions to expound
on the stories of those who struck out a path in Taiwan’s tea industry. The
Formosa Tea Industry and Culture Gallery would also hold an annual concert at
the end of the year, bringing art, humanities, and music to the gallery.
Lo was
also a pioneer in promoting the Hakka three-line poem in Taiwan. Known as ‘the
father of Hakka three-line poem’, Lo was the biggest proponent of this form in
Taiwan. He believed that in order to retain the Hakka, one had to
think in Hakka in their daily lives – creating poems was both a form of
literature and a way of life. The three-line poem is a literary form unique to
Hakka: the first line consists of 5 characters, the second and third lines, 7
characters. To fully express a story in such short lines was not an easy task,
thus highlighting the difficulty and uniqueness of the Hakka three-line poem.
Lo Ching-shi passed away on 3rd July 2020 at the age of 87. The Hakka Affairs Council awarded on behalf of the Office of the President a presidential citation, as well as the Hakka Affairs Professional Medal and a letter of commendation in honor of Lo’s contributions to Hakka culture and the tea industry.
(Translators: Patrick Lin, Eric Zhang, Vivi Cheng, Charles Tang
In collaboration with Fu Jen Catholic University, Department of English)