The Revelation of “David”

Written by Peter Li-Chang Kuo

On Christmas Eve 2025, the film “DAVID” —The Rise of the King was released.

Fig 1: A still from "DAVID" (sourced from the internet)

From this film, we can grasp the meaning of life — for people are usually faced with two choices:

A meaningless life: living without responsibility.

A meaningful life: demonstrating the ability to respond to problems.

In the film, we see a skinny boy carefully tending his flock, bravely confronting a lion that attacks them. The lion, too, is struggling to survive; once David escapes danger, he chooses to spare its life, revealing a spirit of mercy.

Yet when his nation is invaded, he steps forward without hesitation. He famously declares to the giant Goliath:

“Today our battle is not about size—”

The outcome is that the small David prevails, and the giant falls before him.

This scene reminds me of something said to me in the previous Yisi year (1965):

“Very unlucky! — everything we made is just scrap junk!”

I pondered this for sixty years before finally understanding my elementary school teacher’s assessment of me:

“A modern heart-blind couple.”

Nevertheless, I chose to demonstrate "response-ability." Using crude tools in a sugarcane-board factory, I forged a pig-slaughtering knife for Ah-Yi, made small oil lamps for monks, repaired doors for the World Grand Ballroom, and more. I worked twenty hours a day, earning three to five thousand per month, all of which was handed over to the adults to manage.

Eventually, I gave up Kaohsiung — where I had a hundred clients — and returned to Tainan, beginning a life of credit and debt. Because I discovered that the sweat-earned money was being squandered; had I not made this choice, my grandmother — whose legs had been broken by police beatings — would have been left uncared for, and my younger brothers might have gone astray.

The result was that in December 1966, when the Kaohsiung Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) was newly established, I defeated competitors from the United States, Japan, and Germany, selling the “precision copper components” (superfine-eyelets) I made by hand to an American electronics company. Later, in New York, they told me:

“You helped Apollo 4 fly into space — to win the U.S.–Soviet space race!”

More importantly, I restored the family reputation of my grandfather, Kuo Biao, and helped lay the foundation for "Taiwan’s Precision Industry." As a result, later entrepreneurs had access, from the very start, to materials such as special steel, brass, phosphor bronze, Bakelite, ABS, PBT, and more.

Who would have thought that "response-ability" is contagious?

There was a young woman who married from Kaohsiung into Tainan, only to be expelled from her home by a couple of “modern heart-blind couple.” She drifted to Taipei and unexpectedly began living a simple, happy, and contented life. Through volunteering, she saw many people in society unlike ourselves. By reading three newspapers a day, she also saw the government’s predicament — “failed industrial transformation,” foreign companies shutting down and withdrawing after 1985, unemployed workers turning to taxi driving only to be robbed.

One day, she emerged from the kitchen and said:

“I want to start a business—to solve unemployment.”

Then she added:

“I want to create new industries and realize the ‘Rich Taiwan Plan.’”

Even when Mr. Chao Yao-Tung, Chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, responded:

“I don’t understand what this TES New Technology Economic System you’re talking about — and the government truly has no money.”

However, she pressed forward relentlessly.

In 1998, Malaysia, the host country of APEC, invited this woman—known as "Linda Din" (Ding Ling-Hong) — to Kuala Lumpur to deliver a lecture on “Market Access”, explaining how small and medium-sized enterprises could enter and exit markets through TES.

Fig 2: Linda Din won the E-Commerce Bill at APEC 1998

At that time, with only the projector available (no PPT at APEC 1998), she displayed a single slide titled “The Center of the Maritime Century” in the middle of the hall and explained it for more than ten minutes. The result: she secured the E-Commerce Act, ushered in the “contactless” era, and helped Taiwan’s per capita income rise from USD 3,000 in 1985 to USD 37,827 in 2025.

Fig 3: Taiwan is the center of the Maritime Century

Once again, the film scene returns to my mind — the moment when the small David faces the giant Goliath and declares,

“Today our battle is not about size—”

"DAVID" —The Rise of the King reinterprets the classic biblical story through epic animation. What resonates with me most is the theme of “meaning”—which I define specifically as "response-ability."

In light of the film’s contrast between meaningful and meaningless lives, my reflections are as following four points:

1. Meaning lies not in “size,” but in responsibility:

In the film, the frail David stands in stark contrast to the towering Goliath. David’s famous line—

“Today our battle is not about size—” is, in essence, a redefinition of power.

Recently, a man surnamed Jian sought media attention through AI themes, claiming that Taiwan should attach itself to the mainland market. In truth, Taiwan’s ability to lead the world lies precisely in Chiang Ching-Kuo’s “Three No’s Policy.” Clearly, worldly wealth does not grant ordinary minds insight into the true meaning of significance.

A meaningless life tends to avoid problems. When the giant shouted provocations on the battlefield, countless strong soldiers chose the “meaningless” option — silence — because silence carries no responsibility for failure.

A meaningful life, however, is born at the moment you are willing to bear responsibility. David’s victory did not come from physical strength, but from his ability to respond to fear. He saw the nation’s crisis and recognized that it had something to do with him.

2. The Levels of “Response-Ability”—From Shepherding to Defending a Nation:

The film’s detailed portrayal of David caring for his flock is the key to understanding “meaning.”

Faithfulness in small things: Many people believe that only great achievements are meaningful, but the film reminds us that meaning begins with carefully tending a flock of sheep. If a person cannot be responsible for a few sheep, he cannot be responsible for a nation.

The power of mercy: David spares the lion’s life — one of the film’s most moving original adaptations. This moment reveals a higher level of response-ability: restraint and compassion. He possesses the ability to kill, yet chooses to respect life. This shows that a meaningful life is not merely about defeating opponents, but about safeguarding values.

3. The Temptation of “Meaninglessness”— The Cost of Evading Responsibility:

The film subtly contrasts those who choose to live without responsibility. Such a life may appear easy and safe, free from the risk of injury, but its cost is the atrophy of the soul.

When people refuse to respond to the questions posed by their time or their circumstances, they lose their connection with the world.

David becomes a king not because he wears a crown, but because even as a shepherd boy he already possessed the core quality of kingship: he did not stand by and do nothing.

4. A Modern Revelation — We Are All “Little Davids”:

Director Phil Cunningham has noted that "DAVID" took 30 years to complete. This film is not a product of Disney or DreamWorks; instead, it was created through large-scale "crowdfunding" by Angel Studios, uniting countless supporters to preserve the purity of the story.

Its release in 2025 is profoundly meaningful for modern audiences. We live in an age filled with "uncertainty," where giant challenges — such as AI disruption, environmental crises, and social upheaval — arrive in rapid succession. It is easy for people to feel small and powerless, and thus slide into the nihilism of “meaninglessness.”

In sum, "DAVID" — The Rise of the King delivers an exceptionally warm message: meaning is a voluntary adventure. We do not need to wait until we become strong before we take responsibility; rather, it is by taking responsibility that we become strong. David’s “victory” is a life-and-death confrontation between those willing to respond to problems and those who judge only by outward size. The film reminds us that the most meaningful thing in life is not the pursuit of labels called success, but the ability — when pressure (whether a lion or a giant) stands before us in challenge — to calmly and courageously say:

“I am here. I am willing to take responsibility.”

This is the finest gift the film offers as the year 2025 draws to a close — a call to awaken the “little David” within each of us, the one who dares to respond to the world.

Peter Li-Chang Kuo, the author created Taiwan's Precision Industry in his early years. Peter was a representative of the APEC CEO Summit and an expert in the third sector. He advocated "anti-corruption (AC)/cashless/e-commerce (E-Com)/ICT/IPR/IIA-TES / Micro-Business (MB)…and etc." to win the international bills and regulations.