Huang, Lieh-Ho

Huang was born in Lukang District (鹿港區), Taichung Prefecture (now Lukang Township, Changhua County) during the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan. He lost his father at a young age and was raised by his widowed mother. He was an early self-made entrepreneur in Taiwan. In 1938, he went to Kobe, Japan with five friends to establish the Hotai Yoko (和泰洋行), which engaged in the trading of cotton cloth and sundries. Later he went to China to do business.

When World War II ended, Huang returned to Taiwan in February 1946. In September 1947, Hotai Trading Company resumed business in Taiwan and established branches in Shanghai and Tianjin. The following year, it signed agency agreements with Toyota Motor and Yokohama Rubber in Taiwan and entered the transportation industry. With his entrepreneurial success, Huang founded the Hotai Chemical Industry Company (和泰化學工業公司) in 1953, starting out by producing monosodium glutamate (MSG). The following year, it was renamed Wei Chuan Foods Corporation (味全食品公司). In the past, Wei Chuan enjoyed a great reputation, and there was a saying in Taiwan: "Wei Chuan in the North and Uni-President in the South" (北味全、南統一), meaning that the Taiwanese food industry was dominated by two companies.{{Cite web |last=郭東硯 |date=2003-09-18 |title=走過半世紀 味全再出發 魏家要在大中華圈再戰統一 P.106 - 今周刊 |url=https://www.businesstoday.com.tw/article-content-92751-127184-%E8%B5%B0%E9%81%8E%E5%8D%8A%E4%B8%96%E7%B4%80%20%E5%91%B3%E5%85%A8%E5%86%8D%E5%87%BA%E7%99%BC%20%E9%AD%8F%E5%AE%B6%E8%A6%81%E5%9C%A8%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%AD%E8%8F%AF%E5%9C%88%E5%86%8D%E6%88%B0%E7%B5%B1%E4%B8%80%20P.106 |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=www.businesstoday.com.tw |language=zh-Hant-TW}} Wei Chuan was also the first food company in Taiwan to be listed on the stock market.

In 1955, Hotai Capital (和泰商行) was reorganized into Hetai Trading (和泰貿易). In 1959, Su Yanhui (蘇燕輝) joined Hetai Trading. In 1963, Huang and Su founded Hotai Development (和泰興業), starting out by producing and exporting stainless steel tableware. In 1968, Hotai Trading was reorganized into Hotai Automobile, with Huang as chairman and Su as general manager. In 1968, Huang resigned as chairman of Hotai Motor and was succeeded by the then general manager Su. Because Huang had a deep friendship with the Japanese Toyota family, Su established a close cooperative relationship with Toyota Motor through Huang.

In 1986, Huang resigned as chairman of Wei Chuan and was succeeded by his eldest son Huang Keming. After retirement, Huang devoted himself to charity work. In addition to the "Hotai Chunching Social Welfare Foundation" (和泰純青社會福利基金會), "Wei Chuan Cultural and Educational Foundation" (味全文化教育基金會) and “Chweng Ching Child Nutrition Research Foundation” (純青嬰幼兒營養研究基金會) established when he was running his business, he also established the "HLH Social Welfare Foundation" (黃烈火社會福利基金會).{{Cite web |date=2010-03-22 |title=和泰汽車創辦人黃烈火逝世 享年100歲 {{!}} 大紀元 |url=https://www.epochtimes.com/b5/10/3/22/n2853186.htm |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=大紀元 www.epochtimes.com |language=zh-Hant}}

In 1998, Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團) took over Wei Chuan Foods, and the Huang family decided to withdraw from the management of Wei Chuan. On the afternoon of March 21, 2010, he died of cardiopulmonary failure at his home in Wei Chuan Pushin Ranch (味全埔心牧場), Yangmei District, Taoyuan City at the age of 98.{{Cite web |date=2011-08-02 |title=黃烈火白手起家 創辦味全.和泰 ｜ 公視新聞網 PNN |url=https://news.pts.org.tw/article/143841 |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=公視新聞網 PNN |language=zh-Hant}}

Huang has two wives. The eldest son of the first wife, Keming Huang (黃克銘). The second wife gave birth to Nan-Guang Tu (黃南圖) and Nan-Guang Huang (黃南光)

• Hotai Motor
• Wei Chuan Foods Corporation
• Ting Hsin International Group

{{Reflist}}

Category:Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent

Category:Founders of automobile manufacturers

Category:Taiwanese businesspeople