Lo Fu (Lo-fu Mo), a contemporary poet laureate, was invited by Founder Clement Chang to give speech and displayed calligraphy on the spot at Tamsui campus on December 19. 80 year-old Lo Fu, was graduated from the Department of English at 1973. His daughter, Fei Mo, son-in-law, and daughter-in-law, are all TKU alumni. Lo Fu was one of the winners of the 21st Tamkang Elite Award. Presently, he resides in Vancouver, Canada. Winning various poetic creation awards, including China Times Literature Recommendation Award, Chung Shan Literature and Arts Creation Award, and National Literature and Arts Award, he was a distinguished contemporary poet, well-known among Chinese-speaking countries.

At 1 P.M., December 19, President C. I. Chang received Lo Fu personally and had a joyous conversation. During the gathering, he repetitively expressed that “revisiting the alma mater 30 years after graduation gives me a warm feeling of homecoming.” President Chang presented Mr. Mo a pottery Chinese brush-holder as a memento. At 3 P.M, he gave a speech, “Appreciating the Beauty of Poetry,” hosted by Dr. Ya-ly Chao, Dean of College of Liberal Arts, at Chueh-sheng International Conference Hall. The speech was followed with a “Forum on Lo Fu and Modern Poetry,” hosted by Dr. Mei-hua Sung, Dean of College of Foreign Languages and Literatures. The participants included Huang I-min, chair of Dept. of English, Dr. Chun-chung Lin, Dr. Yao-fu Lin, Dr. Ming-tu Yang, Dr. Chen-hsing Tsai, and Dr. Cheng-tsong Tsui, Chair of Dept. of Chinese, and Dr. Wei-min Chao. Lo Fu expressed his appreciation of the Golden Eagle Award. In his speech, he highlights the process of poetic creation, in which experience is hatched in the heart with authentic language, then be expressed in exact, cool, non-sentimental language. Diverse options were given in the forum, however the participants concurred that Lo Hu was a daring and ingenious poet with many transformations during his long poetic creation career. In response to various remarks of the participants, he indicated that “after a poem is published, it enters the world of the readers, who may interpret it in diverse ways.” The speech hall was crowded with passionate audiences and admirers.

Lo Fu encouraged students to do creative writing for the modern society, in which the vain fetish for material gains has drained people’s energy for appreciating literature, especially poetry. However, he never doubts the value of poetry in such a world. Tao-hsung Chang, freshman of Dept. of Chinese, expressed his excitement to see the poet laureate in person and said he was impressed by Mr. Mo’s remark that “poetry can not be faithfully translated into other languages.”

After the forum, the poet was received by Mr. Pin-huang Chang, Vice Director of Carrie Chang Fine Arts Center to visit the museum. Lo Hu displayed a calligraphy epigram in cursive script on the spot, “Heaven moves ceaselessly; an authentic person work diligently.” Dr. Cheng-chong Tsuei, Chair of Dept. of Chinese, remarked that Lo Fu had planted seeds for future poet laureates, and expressed his admiration in saying that “Lo Fu is a contemporary Lee Po and Tu Fu.” Carrie Chang Fine Arts Center presented the poet two albums of arts collection, Fine Collection of CCFAC II, and The Beauty of Tamkang, and a memento Chinese brush. At the same night, Founder Clement Chang hosted a banquet for Lo Fu to create more good memory. (~ Chi-szu Chen )