Chin-Tao Huang (黄金桃)

BIOGRAPHY

Chin-Tao Huang (黄金桃) was born in Rokutani Village, Chikusan District, Taichū Prefecture, Empire of Japan (now Taiwan), on 15 May 1915, as the seventh child of eight children to parents Xie Hsieh and Liu Ma-Tuan Hsieh. She had two brothers and five sisters. She grew up in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period, so she is fluent in Japanese. Her father was the chief of the village and sent her to primary school. She completed six years of education, even though getting to school was not easy as it took 1.5 to 2 hours to walk to school. For that time period, the education rate was low, especially for girls, so completing primary school was a real achievement.

Marriages during that time were usually arranged, but her parents allowed her to choose. She was also spared foot binding. She married Chih-Jen Huang (b. 1910) on 15 January 1939 in Sharen Hō, Nantō Chō, Empire of Japan (present-day Shuili Township, Nantou County, Taiwan), when she was 23 and he was 28. Her husband had lost his parents at a young age and was not well off. But he was honest, diligent, steadfast and reliable and they had five children together: two daughters and three sons. They endured some hardships but her often repeated view on marriage was: “Marry a chicken, follow the chicken. Marry a dog, follow the dog.” She lived a life where there was no running water or cooking gas so cooking and laundry depended entirely on drawing water from wells or streams and fire depended on collecting firewood. Despite the household chores being so labor intensive, she never complained. She grew vegetables and was often sun-drying radish, pickling mustard greens and preserving bamboo shoots. They moved a bit at the start of their marriage, but her optimism, easy-going nature and generosity meant they made friends easily.

When her husband’s truck business became successful, they were able to afford the tuition fees and all their children had education and some even studied abroad. They remained together until his death in June 1984. Chih-Jen Huang was a quiet and solemn man who loved her and shortly before his death at the age of 75, he told her with gratitude: “You have been like an iron bull, working tirelessly without a single regret or complaint, accompanying me through a lifetime.”

After the death of her husband, she moved to Australia in 1985 to help her youngest daughter who had three children, including a newborn. Despite not speaking English, she taught herself the numbers in English as well as some basic words, such as “thank you” and “sorry”, enough so she could go to the markets and purchase food such as her favorite meat – chicken drumsticks and wings. She has also lived in other countries where her children emigrated to such as Thailand and Bolivia and has returned to Taiwan numerous times. Her last trip to Taiwan was for her grandson’s wedding when she was 98 years old. She not only attended the wedding but also gave a speech that day. She currently resides in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, with her youngest daughter (75), where she has lived for the majority of the past four decades.

When asked about the secret to her long life, she would always say: “Go to bed early and get up early”. She would also say she was told by a Japanese teacher to only eat until you were 80% full. She never smoked or drank but loves eating meat, especially chicken and duck. Given her parents lived to their late 80s, Chin Tao’s family believes there is a clear genetic that influenced to her longevity.

She loves cooking, gardening and sewing. She is very clever and until recently had a very sharp mind. She was very active and was often in the backyard planting vegetables until she was in her 90s. She loves to go shopping for food and was independently mobile and only started to need some walking aid after she was 100. She also loves children and has looked after all her grandchildren and even at 105 she was actively looking after her great-grandson. At 111, she has slowed down and mentally not as sharp. Her youngest daughter provides daily care such as cooking her favorite dishes or taking her out for food shopping.

Chin-Tao Huang is an inspiration to her family and much loved. At 111, all her children are alive at ages 87, 84, 81, 78, 75 and they live in Taiwan, Thailand, Ecuador and Australia. She also has 15 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, and they live in Taiwan, Ecuador, USA and Australia.

RECOGNITION

Her age was verified by Yumi Yamamoto, Fabrizio Villatoro, with the assistance of her family, and validated by LongeviQuest on 5 August 2026.

ATTRIBUTION

(The biography of Chin-Tao Huang (黄金桃) was compiled entirely through interviews with her family.)

GALLERY

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