Prominent cultural figures and friends gathered yesterday for the funeral of poet Chou Meng-tieh (周夢蝶) in Taipei, where they recalled the life of the meditative poet and celebrated the man and his beautiful creations.
Chou died on May 1 at age 92 due to complications from pneumonia.
Those who came to pay their respects placed a flower inside the poet’s casket. Admirers and people close to him spoke about Chou’s contributions to literature.
Photo: Pan Shao-tang, Taipei Times
Poet Hsiang Ming (向明) dedicated a poem to his longtime friend, recalling Chou’s bright eyes that “never lost focus” despite the passage of time.
“He chose to be a poet after having been through war. He not only wrote poetry — his life was a poem itself,” writer Chang Show-foong (張曉風) said.
Also in attendance was Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai (龍應台), who praised the late poet for his personality as well as his works.
“His poetry, character and perseverance are like a national flag for Taiwan — a flag that represents beauty and pureness, and depth of heart,” Lung said.
Presidential Office Secretary-General Timothy Yang (楊進添) presented a posthumous presidential citation for Chou to the late poet’s friend Tseng Chin-feng (曾進豐).
The citation called Chou an “undying legend” of Taiwan’s cultural history, praising his works for capturing the essence of Zen Buddhism and enriching contemporary Chinese poetry.
Chou was born Chou Chi-shu (周起述) in China’s Henan Province in 1921.
He joined the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) China Youth Corps during the Chinese Civil War and came to Taiwan in 1948 with the party, leaving behind his wife, children and mother.
He began selling poetry and books in Taipei in 1959, the same year he published his first collection of poems, Gu Du Guo (“Lonely Land”), which became one of his most important works.
In 1997 he was named the first literature laureate of the National Culture and Arts Foundation.
His poems are deeply influenced by Buddhist thought and have a meditative quality. They often touch on subjects of time, life and death.
Chou wrote more than 400 poems, which have been published in Taiwan and overseas, including in China, the US, France and South Korea.
He was known for living a simple and low-key life. He never remarried and had no relatives in Taiwan.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS