MOC unveils winners of National Cultural Award

2014-11-26

This year’s recipients of the Executive Yuan National Cultural Award were unveiled Nov. 24 by the Ministry of Culture, recognizing their lifelong contributions to the enrichment of the local artistic and creative landscape.

Editor and writer Chi Pang-yuan, architect and academic Han Pao-teh and poet Yu Kwang-chung will each receive a certificate, medallion and cash prize of NT$1 million (US$32,290) at a presentation ceremony Feb. 9, 2015, in Taipei City. Han, who died Nov. 20 aged 80, is to be represented at the event by a family member.

MOC Minister Lung Ying-tai said the three winners are thoroughly deserving and have left indelible marks on the nation’s cultural psyche. “Their works and influence have reached far and wide, while their discourse and thoughts have encouraged young people to follow in their footsteps.”

Chi, 90, a National Taiwan University emeritus professor in foreign languages and literatures, is a devotee of English translation who works tirelessly for the promotion of Taiwan literature at home and abroad. She was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the National Museum of Taiwan Literature in Tainan City.

In 2009, Chi released her autobiographical masterpiece “Great-Flowing River,” an enthralling account of her family’s life in mainland China during the first half of the 20th century and in Taiwan post-1949. The book also examines the plight of women during this transitional period.

Han designed many structures incorporating Western architectural aesthetics with Chinese elements. These include Changhua Cultural Center, Institute of Ethnology at Academia Sinica, the library at Tainan National University of the Arts and Tienhsiang Youth Activity Center at Taroko Gorge in Hualien County.

The multitalented Han also won praise for his museum management skills. In 1981, he was invited by the Ministry of Education to help plan National Museum of Natural Science, a facility to which he devoted 12 years of his life before becoming the first president of TNNUA.

Yu, 86, is a writer of great influence and reputation in the Chinese-speaking world. His highly regarded poetry and prose encapsulate life in a modern society. A prolific writer, his career spans 50-plus years and includes the unrivaled achievement of producing poems with the right hand and prose with the left.

A number of Yu’s poems inspired a campus folk song movement in Taiwan, with many of them turned into songs by Yang Hsien, father of the local folk music scene, and late musician Lee Tai-hsiang.

Established in 1980, the award is considered the highest honor for members of Taiwan’s cultural and arts sector.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=224442&CtNode=413)