Taiwanese poet Chou Meng-tieh tripped and fell at his home in New Taipei last month and fractured his right foot, right arm and pelvis. Chou was sent immediately to a hospital for surgery and hospitalized for a week.
Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai visited him at his home in Xindian on Jan. 28, sent him Lunar New Year greetings in advance and wished him an early recovery. The Chinese New Year falls on Feb. 10 this year.
The 94-year-old poet recalled his lonely childhood after his father died. However, he said his grandmother often reminded him that "a child without blessing is pitiful, but one without mother is even more pitiful.”
However, Chou said his Chinese teacher in the seventh grade introduced him to classic Chinese literature, and the teacher's mentoring made him feel fatherly love.
"I didn't have a father. It was still painful at all as time went by, but the Chinese teacher's teaching in literature gave me some consolation.”
Later, Chou told her that "you lose something; you get something,” adding that he often looked back at that time and felt more at ease gradually.
Before she left, the Minister gave the poet an auspicious red envelope for him "to buy steamed buns,” and reminded him to really take care of himself. Lung said the poet's six-word maxim is in fact his best wishes for her because she knows Chou has been quietly concerned about her busy life as a public servant.