Established author Lin Heng-tai (林亨泰) passed away on Sept. 23 at the age of 100. Deputy Minister of Culture Lee Ching-hwi (李靜慧) attended the memorial service and presented the presidential citation to Lin’s son Lin Yu-pin (林于竝) on Oct. 17.
Culture Minister Shih Che also attended the ceremony after the Legislative Yuan meeting concluded in the morning. He paid his tribute and said that Lin, as a writer of the “translingual generation” who was educated in Japanese but forced to switch to Mandarin, is one of the most important authors in Taiwanese literature. Lin’s writings are exemplary and inspiring for future generations, Shih added.
Born in Taichung in 1924, Lin mainly worked on modern Chinese poetry and literary criticism. After graduating from the Taiwan Provincial Teachers College in 1950, he taught at the Beidou Middle School. He was very active on the literary scene and joined several poetry clubs. He also founded the Li Poetry Society (笠詩社) in 1964.
Since his debut with "The Voice of Soul" (靈魂の產聲) in 1949, Lin never stopped writing until he published "The Poetry of Life" (生命之詩) in 2009. Besides that, he also authored several works on literary theories and pedagogy. As a faithful practitioner of modernism, Lin was praised by his peers as a role model and his works are deeply influential.
Due to his exceptional achievements and contributions, Lin received numerous accolades such as the National Award for Arts (國家文藝獎), Wu San-lien Literary Award (吳三連獎文學獎), and others. As the epitome of the development of Taiwan's poetry, his philosophy encompassed modernism and was often connected to the local consciousness and Taiwanese identity.