The Executive Yuan today conferred the National Cultural Award to writer and translator Chi Pang-yuan, poet and writer Yu Kwang-chung and the late architect and academic Han Pao-teh.
"This year's winners are highly esteemed in their respective professional circles, as their works and achievements have exerted a profound influence domestically and abroad and play an important role in passing on culture and creativity from generation to generation," Premier Mao Chi-kuo stated at the award ceremony in Taipei.
The National Cultural Award—Taiwan's highest cultural award—is presented to honor the winners' lifetime contributions to local arts and culture, Mao said. It is also intended to set paradigms of value to help hand down culture, which not only is a stabilizing force at the foundation of society but also serves to promote the nation's sustainable development.
Every recipient of the annual award, which was inaugurated in 1981, has deeply influenced and made far-reaching contributions to local culture, noted the premier.
Chi—a most respected teacher in the educational and cultural fields—published the autobiographical masterpiece River of Big Torrents in 2009, at the age of 85. The book gives an account of her family's life in mainland China in the first half of the 20th century and in Taiwan after 1949 while also examining the plight of women during this transitional period.
"Chi is a most important driving force helping to improve the international visibility of modern Taiwanese literature, having devoted her lifetime to translating it into English," said Premier Mao, adding Chi is also well-known for generosity in guiding and supporting younger literary talents.
Yu's achievements go beyond being a renowned poet and a pioneering figure in Taiwan's modern poetry. He is also a prose writer, cultural commentator and literary critic. Premier Mao said that he himself was introduced to the world of literary and aesthetic beauty by Yu's first prose collection, The Left Hand's Muse. Yu's writings have been widely included in literature textbooks in Taiwan, mainland China, and Hong Kong. His dedication to education and literary exchanges has greatly helped promote Chinese-language education and literature, the premier said.
Han, who unfortunately passed away last year, was a great architect, educator and leading protector of Taiwan's cultural assets, Mao remarked. With his unique approach to reflecting on cultural issues from the perspective of life and environment, Han endeavored to spread ideas about architecture, design and humanism and promote popular science and aesthetics. He has left an unparalleled historic legacy in Taiwan's cultural development.
The Ministry of Culture stressed that the establishment of the National Cultural Award is a testament to the nation's cherished cultural values and beliefs. The award is Taiwan's cultural icon, a wonderful goal to work toward and a repository of fond collective memories for the cultural sector, the people of Taiwan and all the world's Chinese-speaking communities. It also helps foster Taiwan's cultural subjectivity and vigor, incorporating the island's cultural richness into world culture.