Noted poet and essayist Yu Kwang-chung (余光中) yesterday died from complications from pneumonia at age 90, Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-ho Memorial Hospital said.
Yu was hospitalized last week after a suspected mini-stroke, before being transferred to the intensive care unit because of pneumonia, the hospital said, adding that detailed information has been withheld out of respect for Yu’s family.
Yu had been in poor health since last year, when he was twice hospitalized, first for an intestinal complaint and then a fall.
Photo courtesy of National Sun Yat-sen University
He celebrated his 60th wedding anniversary last year by donating to charity.
National Sun Yat-sen University, where Yu was a professor emeritus of literature, said the poet made his last public appearance at his birthday party in October.
One of the last classes Yu taught before he retired from active teaching was a humanities seminar, the university said.
Director Ang Lee (李安) and Chinese writer Wang Anyi (王安憶) gave talks at the seminar and Yu was well enough to give lectures, the university said.
Born in Nanjing, China, in 1928, Yu began writing in 1949 while attending Xiamen University.
Fleeing the Chinese Civil War, he migrated to Taiwan in 1950. He gained renown for his literary talent and proficiency after publishing a half-dozen well-received poems, seven critical essays and two translations in a 10-day period in May that year.
Yu wrote poetry, songs, literary critiques and translations. Several of his works, such as Homesickness (鄉愁), My Four Hypothetical Enemies (我的四個假想敵) and Listen to the Cold Rain (聽聽那冷雨), are taught as standard Chinese literature in Taiwan and China.
Yu won a National Culture and Arts Award for new poetry in 1989, and in 2014, the Ministry of Culture awarded him the Cultural Award.
“We must aspire to gather Chinese words into a great philharmonic through the verisimilitude of syntax. The author’s pen should, as the symphony conductor’s baton, blend the hundreds of notes into music,” Yu said in his Cultural Award acceptance speech.
“Yu writes poems with his right and prose with his left. His achievements are peerless,” essayist and Shakespeare translator Liang Shih-chiu (梁實秋) once said of Yu.
Politically, Yu was regarded as a staunch proponent of Chinese nationalism and had on multiple occasions spoken out against of Taiwanese independence.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
DEFENSIVE EDGE: The liaison officer would work with Taiwan on drones and military applications for other civilian-developed technologies, a source said A Pentagon unit tasked with facilitating the US military’s adoption of new technology is soon to deploy officials to dozens of friendly nations, including Taiwan, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is to send a representative to collaborate with Taiwan on drones and military applications from the semiconductor industry by the end of the year, the British daily reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “Drones will certainly be a focus, but they will also be looking at connecting to the broader civilian and dual-use ecosystem, including the tech sector,” one source was
RSS