Evergreen Man of Letters in Taiwan

A birthday party was held on October 2, 2008 in Taipei in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the birthday of Yu Guangzhong. The birthday party was attended by about 100 friends and relatives, many of them being established writers and professors. Yu Guangzhong is known as a phenomenal poet, essayist, critic and translator in his 60-year literary career.

Yang Zhao, a writer, addressed the party with a short speech on Yu’s contribution to poetry. He mentioned that Yu Guangzhong’s poems were in textbooks, bookstores, and hearts of young people despite tremendous social changes that Taiwan had experienced over past decades.

The poet himself had published three new books in celebration of his 80th birthday: a collection of poems, a collection of reviews, and a collection of translations. He said at the birthday celebration that the three books could serve as his graduation papers if the 80th should be the year for graduation. The prolific author is an incarnation of his own motto: one is never too old to learn and write. He is the best proof of the truth of his own observation: lazy writers never have inspirations.

Fifty-seven books by Yu Guangzhong were displayed as a centerpiece of the birthday party, a retrospective glance at Yu’s writings over the past 60 years.

Professor Chen Fangming once studied under the private guidance of Yu Guangzhong. He recalled at the Yu’s 80th birthday party that Yu’s poems he read at the age of 18 made him aspire to be a writer. He said Yu’s life embodied the history of Taiwan’s literature.

Yu Guangzhong spoke at the birthday party. He said his literary creations take roots in Chinese culture and that he seeks supreme goodness and beauty trough Chinese culture. He held that a writer should protect the spiritual health of humanity and take it as his own mission and responsibility to sing of his nation and people. He pointed out that poems survive only in the heart of the people, especially in the heart of the poet’s own people.

Yu’s 80th birthday was more than a birthday party in Taipei. It is a year-long phenomenon held in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and on the mainland.

In March 2008, an international forum was held in Xuzhou Normal University on Yu Guangzhong and the 20th-century Chinese Literature. In May 2008, Taiwan Political University held a forum on Yu’s literary work. Yu was granted an honorary PhD degree by the university.

Literary magazines in Taiwan and Hong Kong issued special collections of Yu’s poems. Many of Yu’s works were reprinted. New collections of his poetry and essays were published in Taiwan and on the Mainland to mark his 60-year literary career.

On the Double Nine Festival which fell on October 7, 2008, four major newspapers and two literary publications published Yu’s works. Taipei Rolling Stone reissued songs created in 1975 on the lyrics of Yu’s poems. Rolling Stone also held a three-hour concert in a forest park in Taipei in celebration of the master’s 80th birthday.

Sun Yat-sen University of Taiwan where Yu is a professor held a series of celebrations.