Yu Guangzhong
| Yu Guangzhong 余光中 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
October 21, 1928 Nanjing, Republic of China |
| Language | Chinese and English |
| Education | MFA at the University of Iowa, USA |
| Alma mater |
National Taiwan University University of Iowa |
| Period | 1950's-present |
| Notable works | Lanse de yumao [Blue feather], Zai lengzhan de niandai [Cold war years] and Yu yongheng bahe [Tug-of-war with eternity] |
| Notable awards | Order of Brilliant Star |
Yu Guangzhong (Chinese: 余光中; pinyin: Yú Guāngzhōng; also written Yu Kwang-Chung, born October 21, 1928) is a Taiwanese writer, poet, educator, and critic.
He was born in Nanjing, China but fled with his family during the Japanese Army's invasion in World War II. After returning to Nanjing many years later, he again was forced to flee due to the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War. Yu and his family fled to Taiwan via Hong Kong in 1950 with the Kuomintang Government. Yu entered the University of Nanking for English Major in 1947, and then transferred to Xiamen University. He enrolled at National Taiwan University and was one of the first students to graduate with a degree in foreign languages. He also holds a master of fine arts degree from the University of Iowa.
After graduation, he began his career as a university teacher in 1956. He is Professor Emeritus at National Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung. He has taught in the United States, including at Gettysburg College.[1]
He has published 17 poetry collections and 12 prose collections. Yu's poetry since the 1970s has focused on the theme of longing for China felt by many Mainland Chinese soldiers and Nationalist Government workers who fled to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War.[2]
Yu in his works often focuses upon four fundamental aspects of literature; namely poetry, prose, translation, and commentary. Amongst the writers using Chinese, Yu Guangzhong has made himself well-received to readers by showing innovative humour in his essays, exhibiting wit in his appreciations, and evincing his understanding of humanistic culture in his poetry.
As a former professor at the Chinese language and literature faculty at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Yu is internationally acclaimed for his command in traditional Chinese as well as modern literature. Besides his proficiency in the English language, for which he has been appointed professor at departments of English in Taiwan and the USA, Yu is also an eager learner of languages, especially occidental ones. He speaks French, German, Spanish, and Italian, languages which he sometime cites in his Chinese essays when juxtaposing the Chinese and Western cultures. He has also learned Russian.