self-reflection (fan si). The idea of self-reflection was to seek continual
improvement of one’s character through constant reflection on one’s
actions and thoughts. Zeng Guo Fan firmly believed in the Confucian
ideal of leading by moral example. He knew when to delegate authority,
and his successes were in large part due to his trust in his able associates.
His emphasis on cultivating and using an individual’s talents helped
the Qing dynasty in the last years of its reign to cultivate more than
eighty exceptional persons such as Li Hong Zhang and Zuo Zong Tang.
Hu Xue Yan, a successful businessman during the late Qing dynasty,
was also frequently mentioned. He had businesses in banking, silk,
and Chinese herbal medicine. Since he guaranteed the support of
military supplies in times when the government was fighting its enemy,
he was promoted to a ministerial position, and thus became a power-
ful and influential ‘‘official merchant’’ in his later years. In 1874, he
opened a Chinese herbal medicine shop in Hangzhou named Hu Qing
Yu Tang Pharmacy, and he personally made a plaque that said ‘‘Quit
cheating.’’ In running this business, he kept to his principle of honesty.
He was well known both at home and overseas as ‘‘The Medicine King
of Southern China.’’
Kang Xi was the second emperor of the Qing dynasty. He was not
extravagant but practical and hardworking. During the sixty-one
years of his reign, China attained unprecedented prosperity. He
conducted private investigations to expose and punish corrupted
officials. Kang Xi went through tough situations during his reign. Some
government officers raised their own troops in their controlled places
and wanted to rebel against the Qing government, and there were
forces that sought the separation of Taiwan from China. Kang Xi firmly
and successfully fought against these forces and kept China united.
The contemporary figures mentioned most by the interviewees were
primarily successful entrepreneurs: Hong Kong businessman Li Ka
Shing, Legend Group’s chairman Liu Chuan Zhi, the CEO of Huawei
Technologies Ren Zheng Fei, Haier Group’s CEO Zhang Ruimin, and
others. The lessons learned from these role models were seizing all
business opportunities, conscientiously managing both internal com-
pany affairs and external business relations, developing and choosing
successors, implementing professional business management policies
and practices, and building global brands.
These interviewed business leaders also learned a valuable lesson
from the experiences of infamous contemporary Chinese entrepreneurs
258 Zhi-xue Zhanget al.