Esteemed scholar and translator Tu Kuo-ching (杜國清) passed away at the age of 85 on Feb. 21 in the United States. Saddened by the news, Culture Minister Li Yuan expressed his deep sorrow over the academician’s death. The Minister commended Tu for his dedication to translating Taiwanese literature and introducing poetic theories from both the East and the West, adding that Tu was an important figure in bringing Taiwan literature to the world.
Born in Taichung in 1941, Tu graduated from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at National Taiwan University in 1963. He earned his doctoral degree in Chinese Literature from Stanford University in 1974. Tu served as an editor of Modern Literature (現代文學) magazine, a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Taiwan Literary Studies (台灣文學研究學報), and one of the founders of Li Poetry magazine (笠詩刊). In addition, he was also an honorary professor of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara.
A professor, poet, and literary critic, Tu was a prolific author who translated poetic theories and works from Japan and the West, as well as Charles Baudelaire’s French classic “The Flowers of Evil (惡之華).”
Tu devoted himself to promoting Taiwanese literature in English translation and fostering international academic exchanges. He launched a short-term program for Taiwanese writers to travel abroad, contributed to the publication of Taiwan Literature: English Translation Series (臺灣作家英譯系列), and hosted international symposiums on Taiwanese and Chinese literatures.