Lessons from Parents

By Tan Baoluo

Cao Dewang, also known as Cho Tak Wong,born in May 1946 in Fuqing, Fuzhou City,Fujian Province, is the founder and chairman of Fuyao Glass Industry Group Co., Ltd.Established in 1987, Fuyao is now the largest automotive glass supplier in China and second largest in the world.American Factory, the documentary based on the story of Cao Dewang and Fuyao Group in the United States,won the award for best documentary feature at the 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, or the Oscars, in February 2020.

曹德旺，1946年5月出生，福建省福州福清市人，福耀玻璃集團創始人、董事長。1987年成立的福耀玻璃集團，目前是中國第一、世界第二大汽車玻璃供應商。以曹德旺及福耀玻璃在美國建廠故事為原型的《美國工廠》于2020年2月獲得第92屆奧斯卡金像獎最佳紀錄長片獎。

Cao Heren, Cao Dewang’s father, went to Japan at a young age and worked as an apprentice at a cloth store. Gradually, his father accumulated a fortune in Shanghai and ended up a shareholder of the famous Wing On Department Store. Cao Dewang’s mother, named Chen Huizhen, came from a wealthy family and was one of the few well-educated women at that time.

In 1947, one year after Cao Dewang was born, China witnessed the political instability of the Kuomintang regime, and Cao Heren decided to return to his hometown of Fuqing, Fujian Province.

To protect the family against possible inflation, Cao Heren spent all his money in purchasing tangible goods. He bought a large steel ship for carrying his property back to Fuqing. In his father’s eyes, the family’s daily expenses could be covered if the ship were to be rented out in the future.

曹德旺的父親曹河仁年幼時即到日本當學徒，做布匹生意，后來又在上海積累財富，最后成為著名的永安百貨的股東。曹德旺的母親陳惠珍是大地主家千金，知書達理，是當時少有的文化女性。

1947年，也就是曹德旺出生第二年，國民黨政權風雨飄搖，父母準備從上海回老家福清。

頗有經濟頭腦的父親考慮到通貨膨脹，早已將資金換成實物財產，還買了一只大鐵殼船，裝著這些財產回福清。父親當時想，鐵殼船以后即使出租用，也能保證家里的日常開銷。

可惜，這艘船在海上遇到風暴，沉了。曹德旺的命運從此改變，原來的“富二代”淪為了“窮二代”。他幼年和絕大多數中國人一樣，物質匱乏，但又和很多人不同，父母的精神財富傳承給了他。

Unfortunately, their ship was caught in a merciless storm and sank into the sea. Since then,Cao’s family fell into poverty,and the life of Cao Heren’s son, the once silver-spoon kid,had completely changed. At an early age, Cao Dewang, like most Chinese at that time, had been through tough times due to a great scarcity of food and clothes. But luckily, Cao Dewang had successfully inherited the entrepreneurial spirit his parents passed down onto him.

Cao Dewang recollected three anecdotes related to his father.The first one happened during the time when his father served as an apprentice in Japan. During that time, Cao Heren kept practicing the way he walked and smiled in front of the mirror in order to serve customers in a natural and poised way and to make them feel comfortable and relaxed.

The second is that Cao’s father got up at 5 am every morning to fetch water from the well with a bucket and sweep the floor. It is worthwhile to note that his father swept not only the floor in front of their store, but also that of the adjacent shops. “The thriving commercial district will bring in a constant stream of customers,and each shop will benefit,” Cao Dewang explained. “It’s a win-win result, so don’t be selfish.”

The last one is a lesson his father learned from a Jewish merchant with regard to credit and loan issues. The Jewish told his father not to lend money to others, since problems arise if the borrower is unable to repay the debt. You may feel lucky if the money you lend out is small amount, since the borrower would do nothing more than avoiding you. But if it is a large sum of money, the borrower,when pushed too far, may go to extremes, and your personal safety is at risk.

“I would rather give away my money than lend it out,” said the Jewish merchant. Cao Dewang finally understood the meaning in the Jewish merchant’s words:that is, money-related issues need to be institutionalized. To borrow money, you are supposed to resort to the bank, from where you can get support, since the bank is skilled in screening risks and then avoiding them. In other words, institutionalization will contribute to the avoidance of risks and the expansion of enterprises.

Cao Dewang recalls that he and his brother were asked to sit on their stools and listen to the stories and life philosophies of their father during those poverty-stricken times, and the two of them, if caught not paying attention, would receive punishments like a blow with a stick.

曹德旺回憶了父親的三個細節。第一個是父親在日本做學徒時，布店會讓學徒對著鏡子練習走路的儀態和對客人的笑容。這樣做，是為了既讓顧客感到舒服，又讓自己不卑不亢。

第二個是父親早上五點便起床挑水，打掃店鋪門口。這時，他會把左右兩間店鋪的門口也順帶打掃了。“片區的商家都好了，人流就旺，大家都受益，絕對不能各人自掃門前雪。”曹德旺說。

第三個是上海的一位猶太商人曾給父親上過“金融課”。猶太人說，千萬不要私人借錢給別人，別人還不上的話，問題就來了。借得少，別人會躲著你；如果借得多，有可能走極端，殺了你怎么辦？

“我可以把錢送你，但不會借給你。”后來細致體會猶太人的話，曹德旺悟出了道理，猶太人的意思是商業應該制度化，信貸應該找正規銀行，銀行有專業風險甄別能力，專業人做專業事。制度化既能規避風險，也有利于企業做大。

曹德旺回憶，在那些大家都吃不飽的歲月里，父親會讓他和哥哥端坐在凳子上，給他們講那些人生故事和道理。如果走神，父親會立刻懲罰，可能是一棍子打下來。