Taipei: Translator Tu Kuo-ch'ing, who dedicated his life to introducing literature from Taiwan to Western audiences, has died aged 83. In a statement Thursday, the Ministry of Culture said that the Taichung-born Tu passed away on Feb. 21.
According to Focus Taiwan, Tu was instrumental in bringing foreign literature to the Chinese-speaking world. He translated numerous Japanese and Western poems while working as an editor for Xiandai Wenxue, a Taiwanese literary journal, during his university years. In 1971, he translated "Les Fleurs du mal" by French poet Charles Baudelaire into Chinese, which was published in installments by Li Poetry Magazine, a publication he co-founded. These translations were later compiled by National Taiwan University Press and published in 2016.
Tu studied at National Taiwan University's Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures before earning his PhD in Chinese literature from Stanford University in 1974. He later served as a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he founded the Forum for the Study of World Literatures in Chinese and published the "Taiwan Literature: English Translation Series," which has grown to include 52 volumes.
In addition to his academic career, Tu held the Lai Ho and Wu Cho-liu Endowed Chair in Taiwan Studies at UCSB. He also engaged in numerous international exchanges, inviting Taiwanese authors and academics to the university and organizing international conferences on Taiwanese and Chinese literature.
Tu's contributions to translation were recognized with several Liang Shih Chiu Literary Awards and the Council for Cultural Affairs Award for Lifelong Achievement in Translation. His efforts to introduce Taiwan's literature to the world and his translations of poetry reviews have enhanced the international community's understanding of the country's literary landscape. The Ministry of Culture noted that his legacy will continue to benefit future generations of translators and researchers.