Poet Tsai Chi-lan (蔡奇蘭) on Wednesday passed away at the age of 81, the Ministry of Culture said in a statement yesterday.
Expressing his deep sorrow and condolences, Minister of Culture Li Yuan (李遠) said that Tsai was a key representative of Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) literature in southern Taiwan and an important advocate of the Hoklo movement.
Tsai’s work, imbued with a profound sense of place, historical memory and the spirit of Hoklo, would continue to inspire future generations and remain an enduring part of Taiwan’s literary history, Li said.
Photo courtesy of professor Chiung Wi-vun
Throughout his life, Tsai wrote about Taiwan’s land, history and people, while nurturing the Hoklo literary community, leaving behind a rich and invaluable cultural legacy, he said.
Tsai was born on Sept. 9, 1944, in Tainan’s Annan District (安南), the ministry said.
Writing under the pen name Luerhmen Fisher (鹿耳門漁夫), he created works in his mother tongue at a time when Hoklo literature faced a generational gap, it said.
He elevated the traditional “seven-character verse” (七字仔), rooted in folk ballads, into an epic form encompassing historical narrative, depictions of the land and a strong sense of national identity, exerting a profound influence, the ministry said.
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