"Eternal Poetry," a special showcase of manuscripts and relics donated by revered Taiwanese poet Lin Heng-tai (林亨泰), will be on display at the Tainan-based National Museum of Taiwan Literature (NMTL) from July 26, 2019 through Feb. 2, 2020.
Born in 1924 in Changhua County towards the end of the Japanese colonial era, Lin is considered a poet of Taiwan's "cross-linguistic generation" who is well-versed in both classical Japanese- and Mandarin-language literature. Lin wrote under the pen names of "Heng Ren (亨人)" and "Huan Tai (桓太)," authoring prose, critiques, and translations in addition to poetry.
In 1956, Lin served on the editorial board of Contemporary Poetry Society (現代詩社), publishing avant-garde poems and ushering in a major wave of new modern poetry in post-war Taiwan. In 1964, Lin launched a Taiwanese nativist poetry society, the Li Poetry Society (笠詩社), with many of his peers and served as the first editor-in-chief of the society's publications.
In 1992, Lin published "The Undying Poetry Theory (詩永不滅)," stressing that "poetry shall persist as long as one active poet remains (只要有一個詩人不放棄寫詩，詩永遠是不會滅亡的)." As both a poet and a critic, Lin has become a prominent figure of Taiwan's post-war literary campaign and continues to promote the spirit of modern poetry today.
Lin was bestowed with the 8th National Award for Arts in 2004 by Taiwan's National Culture and Arts Foundation for his accomplishments, as Lin's poetry is full of concern for the people and land of Taiwan, and enriched with innovative use of punctuation and graphic representation of traditional Mandarin characters to heighten the melodic, semantic, and pictorial impact of his text.
NMTL Director Su Shou-bin (蘇碩斌) pointed out that symbolism is a signature trait of Lin's works, which take advantage of even blank spaces to create the profound imagery that are imbued with a sense of spatial layers in his poems. Therefore, in addition to exhibiting precious manuscripts, cultural relics, and audiovisual records, the museum has also prepared creative symbol props to let the audience try and create their own symbolic poems.
Moreover, in dedication of Lin's poetry work "Landscape No. 2 (風景No.2)," the second-floor terrace will be integrated with the exhibition hall to create a reading space with a scenic view of the beautiful landscape below and beyond, thus inspiring exhibition-goers to follow Lin's verses and discover a parallel poetic landscape within.
‘Undying Poetry – Exhibition of Poet Lin Heng-tai’s Donated Collections’
- Date: July 26, 2019 – Feb. 2, 2020
- Venue: National Museum of Taiwan Literature
- Location: 2nd Floor, Exhibition Room E
- Site: www.nmtl.gov.tw