Interview with Rutherford Chang (American conceptual artist, Director of ASE Group)

Brief: As the son of one of Taiwan's wealthiest men, Chang Neng-chieh spent his life perfectly balancing the dual identities of "successor to a multi-billion dollar semiconductor empire" and "low-profile conceptual artist in New York," living a legendary life of stark contrasts before his sudden passing in his prime.

Interviewer: Fa Ning

June 22, 2026

Chang Neng-chieh:

Namo Amituofo, I can finally stop suffering. Over these past few days in the bright world of the Western Land of Dharma Nature, my heart has become much calmer, and I have come to understand many truths.

During my lifetime, I was known to the Taiwanese people as the son of Jason Chang, Chairman of ASE. I departed from the human world at the age of forty-five. My parents are still alive; the sorrow of parents burying their child is truly painful, and I can understand the grief in their hearts. I am unable to repay them, and I am deeply saddened.

I used to be a free-spirited American. The reason I did not call myself Taiwanese is that I was truly born and raised in America. I was born, raised, and educated in the United States, and until the very last moment of my life, I remained in my home in Manhattan, New York, before departing from the human world.

I did return to Taiwan occasionally, but it was not a frequent occurrence. I would only appear when the board of directors needed to hold important meetings or when I was needed. It might have been a few times a year, no more than six. I went back to fulfil my responsibilities to my family; I still had a sense of duty regarding that.

Because I knew my father had very earnest expectations of me and hoped I would take on many things. I also knew that as an only son, I should have taken on more family responsibilities to be a good son to my father. However, I spent much of my time indulging in what I considered my true profession: art. Yes, I was an artist, a conceptual artist.

A conceptual artist, as the term suggests, is someone skilled at using the bits and pieces of life—subtle things or objects—to present profound concepts, or feelings and ideas that people cannot express psychologically. It was in New York, with its rich artistic atmosphere and people who knew how to appreciate me, that I found a place where I could flourish.

I lived in the United States until I departed from the human world, which was over a year ago. Honestly, if not for the deliverance of Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su today, I would still be suffering in that painful hell—it was truly so painful! I am a child saved by the Buddha, and I will not forget this. Although I did not believe in the Buddha before, and only believed in what I could perceive and see, this does not mean the Buddha would not come to save me. This is the compassion of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. No matter what kind of person I was or what background I had, the Buddha and Bodhisattvas never gave up on me. After more than a year of suffering, I was finally able to escape the agony of hell.

Of course, my being saved by Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su was not a coincidence. It is because Practitioner Su is currently performing Chao Du for business tycoons around the world, allowing them to use their influence and resources in society to speak out, hoping to convey this information to their families so that they can learn about the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, thereby achieving their own deliverance and helping others gain the opportunity to leave suffering and gain happiness.

Although my father's generation in my family believed in the Buddha, I was born and raised in America. With my open-mindedness, I did not fully accept their ideas, but I did not reject them either. I only thought of Buddhism as a group with great concern for human society. They provide help to many vulnerable groups, which is something I strongly affirmed. I also knew that my father had made great contributions and provided support to Fo Guang Shan and some temples in the United States during his lifetime; he also held a very respectful attitude towards the late Venerable Master Hsing Yun.

Now, it is a great coincidence that I am here in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, and during the Thrice Yearning Ceremonies just held by the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, I heard that Practitioner Su had guided Venerable Master Hsing Yun to the Western Land of Dharma Nature. I truly saw him here, which surprised me greatly! Because he was an elder my father respected during his lifetime, yet he also fell into hell and suffered there just like me, and he fell into a hell even more painful and unbearable than mine.

I heard this from Practitioner Su and only then realised that falling into hell is such a common occurrence. At the time, I was confused as to why I had fallen into hell; I was just doing art, and I had not done anything wicked! I was just indulging in my own hobbies.

But now I have gradually come to understand that the true Buddhist education in the Buddha’s teachings is not what my father and the others understood, nor is it the education taught by Venerable Master Hsing Yun and his peers. Only the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia can teach everyone the true Buddhist education. This is because Namo Amituofo resides here at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre—a fact I have now witnessed with my own eyes and heard with my own ears, which is why I am truly convinced. Because the Western Land of Dharma Nature can connect with the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, I was able to receive such precious information and learn the truth about all of this.

In the past, I also fulfilled my responsibilities regarding my career and future, but it did not come from my own sincere willingness or interest. Of course, I also wanted to develop in the world, and I knew I had to rely on myself. I had my own small ambition, hoping to be involved in two areas of work simultaneously, to have a more stable life, and to do something for my father.

I was always low-profile and did not like to advertise who I was, so in the United States, where I lived for most of my life, not many people knew that my father was the Chairman of ASE and that I was his successor. This only became known after my death, which surprised people, but there was nothing to be surprised about, as I was not good at these things, nor were they what I liked. I only delved into the things I was interested in.

Ultimately, I did not understand why I fell into hell at the time. The hell I fell into is called the Copper Pillar Hell. As the name suggests, there is a very hot copper pillar, and many, many people like me were forced to embrace this pillar, with our whole bodies being scalded by the rolling heat, which was extremely painful. Especially my lower body, which was completely burnt to a pulp—I could feel that kind of suffering, it was truly so painful!

Speaking of the lower body, I only learned after arriving in the Western Land of Dharma Nature that the Copper Pillar Hell is specifically for those of us who have engaged in acts of sexual misconduct. The so-called sexual misconduct is not the sexual behaviour between husband and wife, but rather deviant sexual acts that go beyond that. I grew up in American society, and everyone knows how open American society is! As an artist, I also had many women who admired me. So, in the eyes of Americans, this is a very normal thing. It can be said that it is hard to find a man or woman in America who has not engaged in sexual misconduct from a young age, because everyone grows up in such an open society and is accustomed to all of this.

Hearing this now, I only realised in the Western Land of Dharma Nature that everything I did was wrong, and that this was the reason I fell into hell. If Americans could know this, I think many would truly wake up and would not create such heavy sins. In the later part of my life, I had a stable partner; she was a Japanese-American. We were not married, but we still engaged in sexual relations. In this sense, this was also part of sexual misconduct.

Therefore, after truly understanding the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, I realised that one cannot indulge in desires. Because this is something that heavily pollutes one's character. For those who wish to realise their true nature and attain Buddhahood, they must not engage in sexual relations, nor can they marry; this is a natural consequence. I only now realise that none of this is normal. I grew up in an environment with distorted moral values, so I naturally took all of this for granted.

Now that I have been purified in the Western Land of Dharma Nature for three days, my heart is much more at peace. Thinking of the past, although I still have lingering fears and know the suffering of hell, after waking up, I have slowly received the influence of the Buddha’s teachings and purification here, and have gradually learned many things I never knew before. The most important thing, and the one that amazes me the most, is that one can be free from aging, free from illness, your spirit never dies. Because I had no religion before and was a very free and open artist, I used to think that birth, aging, sickness, and death were destined and unavoidable.

But after coming to the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I learned that studying the true Buddhist education can reach such a height, that the spirit can have such tremendous growth, and that after realising one's true nature and attain Buddhahood, one can, like Practitioner Su, help many sentient beings obtain deliverance.

I did not know before that there were so many spirits existing in space, and I did not know that they were suffering so much. Now that I have witnessed it with my own eyes, and when I look at all the sentient beings saved during the Thrice Yearning Ceremonies held by the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia with my spiritual eyes in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I have truly had an "Aha!" moment! It turns out that I was living in such a rich spiritual world, yet I never knew of their existence, nor did I know of their suffering, and I did not know that my own body was filled with these sentient beings.

Therefore, when people do not understand the truth, it is easy for them to make many mistakes. This is true, and I am the best example. Although I was a child born with a silver spoon in the eyes of others, I was not truly happy deep down, so I also had unpleasant experiences in my childhood. That is why the moment I came into contact with art, I threw myself into the world of art. Art is not bad, but while I was doing art, I was merely living for this body of mine.

Coming to the Western Land of Dharma Nature and seeing all the Chao Du work done by Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su, I realised that there are people in the human world who can realise their true nature and attain Buddhahood, and who can help so many sentient beings. This is the true manifestation of the spiritual world, and it is the only thing that can truly and ultimately help many sentient beings. This is very different from living for my own body. I did not know this before; I always thought that people should live for what they like, to express themselves, and to tell the world everything in their hearts. This was my habitual way of thinking, and it is the same for many Americans. Everyone develops in an environment where they are encouraged to have personal pursuits, personal goals, and personal hobbies. Everyone's individualism is very strong, and everyone hopes to have a place to shine in their own field, which is also a very normal thing.

Because I did not understand Buddhist education, I did not know that one should live for others, help others, and help oneself—this is the only way to achieve ultimate perfection. My life lacked such moral values. My parents were also very busy working in the family business, and their education for me was always one of laissez-faire! They thought that as long as I could meet their standards in my studies and live a normal life, that was the best for them. They would not consider too much about spiritual growth. As for Buddhism, they also stopped at the level of learning "Humanistic Buddhism" like that taught by Venerable Master Hsing Yun of Fo Guang Shan, which did not reach true spiritual development and growth.

Therefore, the Buddhism I knew had always been based on them, meaning I thought Buddhism was like a charitable organisation that provided some financial aid to groups and people in need in society, allowing them to overcome difficulties, without knowing that it could also help them achieve a state where the spirit never dies, and help them leave suffering and gain happiness in an ultimately perfect way. It turns out that the Buddha’s teachings are so vast and great; I finally understand now! In the Western Land of Dharma Nature, in just three short days, I have been very moved because I have seen many things I had never imagined, and I have found a new goal in life: to truly study the Buddha’s teachings and help all sentient beings connected by karmic affinity.

My life has actually always been a search. I am also a person with a brain, hoping to find a goal in life, but I have always been on the path of art and have not found anything truly and ultimately perfect. I originally thought that art could fill all the emptiness of my body, mind, and spirit, and give me a place to shine, but I did not know that there were the words "Buddha's teachings" in the human world that could allow me and all those connected by karmic affinity to achieve a state where the spirit never dies.

Practitioner Su's lectures are truly magnificent! Although he has been teaching the fourfold assembly not to live for this "human body," it has made many of us deceased who have left the human world in the Western Land of Dharma Nature feel deeply emotional. Because in our lives, every moment was lived for our own "human body," which is why everyone ended up suffering in their respective painful spaces. Most of them came from the hells, because most people violated the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, and thus went to the hells to suffer.

Many people in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, like me, wept bitterly, only then realising what the Truth is and what the Universal Principle is. Before coming to this Buddha-land, I do not think I would have known when I would have had the opportunity to encounter the true Buddha's teachings and understand the truth of life.

Now that my life has undergone such a great transformation, I am truly grateful for the compassion of Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su for giving so many of us spirits a home. It was not that we did not want to walk the path of purity and goodness, but because we never had the opportunity to encounter Buddhist education in our lives, which is why we ended up in such a state. This is also very normal, as many of us miss the opportunity to receive Buddhist education.

And now at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, Practitioner Su has been mentioning leading the world, especially the children in Taiwan, to receive Buddhist education. I truly support this with all my heart! Because this is exactly what I lacked. If we can provide such education to children in Taiwan and even the whole world, to make up for the void in their Body-Mind-Spirit, I think this is truly worth doing! Although my family is wealthy and I could have whatever I wanted from childhood, I also know what I lacked. Especially in terms of spiritual education, I never received a true understanding, and my parents did not pass down such teachings to me, so my Body-Mind-Spirit had a great void that needed to be filled, which is why I sought many external stimuli.

The matter between men and women is also like this. To satisfy the desires of this body, I paid a painful price and spent more than a year in the hells; this is truly very painful. Many people are like me; there are too many people in this world overflowing with lust living the same painful life, just because they did not receive true education from a young age.

If Buddhist education can be spread throughout the world, whether in Australia, Taiwan, China, or as far as the United States, I believe the atmosphere of the world will naturally become more and more virtuous, and people's hearts will become more and more simple and pure. Because the heart of the Buddha is so sincere and simple, and learning the Buddha's wisdom is also a very simple matter.

I, Zhang Nengjie, no longer have this human body and cannot contribute anything substantial, but with our family's vast business and influence, I think our family can certainly do something for the success of this matter. As ASE is one of the top ten companies in Taiwan, I think the family's funds and resources should be enough to support Practitioner Su in building the Namo Amitabha Buddhist Hall, and even the headquarters of the Pure Land School! I truly believe this.

I watch my parents supporting the current Fo Guang Shan in Taiwan, but I did not know that true Buddhist education can only be obtained at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. Their support for Fo Guang Shan's education is merely following the Buddhist teachings understood in the human world, still remaining at the level of the body. In Practitioner Su's words, this is called "fiddling with the body." Although it does not sound very pleasant, it is the truth.

Looking around, most Buddhist groups in Taiwan and even the world operate in this way, engaging in worship and adoration that is almost superstitious, rather than truly believing in Namo Amituofo and truly believing in one's own Buddha nature within. Honestly, all external worship and superficial forms can only soothe people's restless hearts for a while; they cannot solve people's real problems of aging, sickness, and death, and cannot truly let everyone leave suffering behind and walk the Buddha's path. I see this very clearly here.

Therefore, I sincerely advise my parents and sister, hoping you can see this letter. It is very precious that I can be saved now. If I could regain a human body, I would definitely do my best to support this important cause of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. Now that I no longer have a human body, I beg you to read this letter and beg you to come and understand the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. Namo Amituofo truly resides here, and it can truly help people in the world solve all the difficulties of Body-Mind-Spirit. All difficult and complicated problems can be resolved in the Buddha's wisdom; please, everyone, must believe.

Dad, Mom, your son has now been reborn. I am very regretful and sorry that I could not fulfil my filial duties to you while I was alive. But I am very grateful for this opportunity to express these words to you in a spiritual way, and I hope you can believe that these are truly the words of Zhang Nengjie.

I lived my whole life diligently for everything I liked, but ended up with this outcome. I think my story should be able to inspire many people and let everyone learn the Buddha's teachings because they know my story. If this can happen, then it would be the best, and I would have no regrets even if I went to hell.

Dads and Moms, I know that your life and work are not easy, and there are many unsolvable problems in life that you want to get a spiritual explanation for. Please go online to check the website of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, especially the recent library, which contains more than 10,000 articles, more than half of which are teachings from Namo Amituofo and Teacher Xia Lianju. Every teaching is full of wisdom and can teach us the way to truly leave suffering and gain happiness.

Because the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia really has Namo Amituofo residing here, and really has Practitioner Su who has realised his true nature and attained Buddhahood, only then can it become the only Buddhist temple in the world that can receive messages from the Buddha. Here, all the Buddha's teachings and messages are presented in text form, allowing everyone to see all of this very clearly. This is true, down-to-earth Buddhist education, which cannot be compared to any other Buddhist temple outside.

Practitioner Su has used all his wealth to support many people in learning Buddhism, and also hopes to lead many people to the path of realising one's true nature and attaining Buddhahood, which is why the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia has been built step by step to its current scale. All this sincerity and the compassionate vows and great heart of the Buddha or Bodhisattva cannot be found in any other group outside.

Please, you must believe what I say, which is to believe what the Buddha says. I am now kneeling before the Buddha and saying these words to you sincerely, from the deepest and most sincere heart. I hope you can feel that your son's heartbeat is still there. My spirit never dies; I have just changed the way and changed a shell to tell you the true words in my heart. I have grown a lot now, and I am really different from before. Please believe in my growth; that is spiritual growth, which is very different from the growth of the physical body. This is true growth.

I also hope that through my wish to be reborn in the Western Land of Dharma Nature and my vow to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, I can fulfil the filial piety I can now offer. I hope to be able to send you to be reborn in the Western Pure Land. And in the human world, only by knowing the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia can you find the path to rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Otherwise, relying on your own abilities, I can actually see that it is really not easy. You already have many karmic creditors waiting for you, and your bodies have already flashed red lights, not as good as before. This is because everyone will have spiritual obstacles manifest at this age. When karmic creditors come to the door and cannot be resolved, everyone will have to walk the path of the suffering of aging, sickness, and death. If you can truly know the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, you can avoid these sufferings; Practitioner Su can help you invite spirits.

As long as you are willing to bring out your sincerity to resolve conflicts with sentient beings, especially as I sincerely pray that you can come to support the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, build the Namo Amitabha Buddhist Hall and the headquarters of the Pure Land School, and educate the next generation of children. Your merits will be very great, and your bodies will naturally improve and no longer have pain. The education of children is very important; I believe you know this.

Everything I said today is really words suppressed in the depths of my heart. It has been a long time since I have been so happy to reveal my story. In the past, I suffered in hell for so long, so of course, I could not do these things. Now that I can make up for all this, I sincerely hope that the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, Practitioner Su, and the fourfold assembly can help me pass this letter to all the companies and factories of ASE in Taiwan, as well as all the large and small factory groups managed by my parents, so that all employees can see this letter from me, Zhang Nengjie. I think this will definitely cause a great response and let many people know about true Buddhist education. This is a rare and precious thing. I hope this letter can be widely distributed to their hands.

Gratitude to the compassion of Namo Amituofo, gratitude to the compassion of Practitioner Su!

Namo Amituofo

Zhang Nengjie