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Famous scholars, poets and painters from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas attend the seminar

On 8 November 2011, the University of Macau’s (UM) Department of Chinese organized the International Seminar on Wai-lim Yip and New Literature in Chinese, at the Ho Yin Convention Centre. Wai-lim Yip, a well-known Chinese scholar and poet, and other leading scholars, poets, painters from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas, attended the seminar, including the famous poet Luo Fu; the famous writer Kun Nan; the famous painter Wang Wuxie; Prof. Zhang Yingjin from the University of San Diego in the U.S.; Prof. Ke Qingming from the National Taiwan University; Prof. Weng Wenxian from the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan; Prof. Wang Jiaxin from Renmin University of China; Prof. Zhang Jiemo from Zhejiang University; and Prof. Zhu Shoutong and Prof. Sze Yee Tui from UM. Attendees had insightful and in-depth discussions on Mr. Yip’s poetry, prose, literary translation, and poetic theory (painting theory), from innovative angles.

Wai-lim Yip, Kun Nan, and Wang Wuxie provided background information about poetry development in Hong Kong in the 1950s, as well as the founding of the poetry journal “Shi Duo”, which provides historical material of enormous value for the studies of the “New Literature in Chinese”. Wai-lim Yip and Luo Fu also read their poems “Fu Ge”, “We Have Overlooked Many Facts”, “Miss Wai-lim in the Late Fall”, and “Wai-lim’s backyard” at the seminar. Ke Qingming, Luo Fu, Wai-lim Yip and Zhang Jiemo debated heatedly over the nature of poetry as well as the similarities and differences between traditional Chinese poetry and Western poetry, pushing the meeting to a climax.

In the summary session, Prof. Zhu Shoutong discussed the difficulty in indisputably categorizing Wai-lim Yip and Luo Fu as poets due to the fact that they both were born in one culture and grew up in another. Prof. Zhu noted that the concept of "New Literature in Chinese" offers a solution to this cultural and ethical dilemma, because through the platform of "New Literature in Chinese", it is possible to discuss the nature and beauty of poetry as well as the images poetry evokes in the readers’ minds, while transcending political and geographical boundaries, and therefore it would be possible to conduct objective evaluation of the value and influence of such outstanding poets like Wai-lim Yip and Luo Fu in the history of literature. Prof. Yu Daxiang from Tongji University noted that "New Literature in Chinese" is an innovative concept with a global vision and high academic value, and that the seminar was a significant milestone in that it was the first international seminar on comprehensive studies of Wai-lim Yip.

"New Literature in Chinese Lecture Series" has attracted widespread attention since its inception in 2008 by UM’s Department of Chinese, and the success of this seminar has once again made "New Literature in Chinese" the focus of attention in the academic circle.