Minister Yiong stated that Dr. Tseng Kuei-hai has access to seemingly-infinite creative energy. Across his life, he has engaged in writing, culture, social work, and Hakka and environmental advocacy. Not only does this demonstrate praiseworthy determination, but also endows his oeuvre with spiritual significance, representative of Taiwanese society and his times.
Minister Yiong also mentioned that HAC has been implementing the Hakka Literature Translation & Overseas Promotion project since 2018. Lee Yung-te, HAC Minister at the time and incumbent Central News Agency Chairman, began the initiative and Minister Yiong took over in 2021. The translation of 17 works by 9 authors is expected to be completed in 2025. These will be subsequently published in countries where the languages are spoken, for a wider audience to familiarize themselves with Taiwanese Hakka literature.
Dr. Tseng quoted Martin Heidegger, whom he deems the greatest philosopher of the 20th century: “Language is the house of being.” Poets exist thanks to language and in turn give birth to poems, forming a trinity of sorts. In his view, poets are those who wander across Taiwan and the world. Even if poetry readers are a fading species nowadays, he will remain a poet nonetheless. He also shared the creative background behind three works: I Am a Poet, Winter Blossoms in the Night, and Sunset Portrait.
Dr. Tseng Kuei-hai is a Hakka from Jiadong, Pingtung. In the spare time from his job as a physician, he has written and published poetry that has received wide acclaim and recognition from various literary awards. He has also fervently participated in social movements, receiving the Hakka Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. Furthermore, he was the first Asian to win the International Poetry Award at Ecuador’s XV Festival de Poesía de Guayaquil Ileana Espinel Cedeño. This book compiles 132 poems divided into four chapters: “World and Life”, “Emotions and Love Poems”, “Nature and Spirituality”, and “People and Resistance”. They embody Dr. Tseng’s thoughts and devotion to Hakka culture and the land of Taiwan, demonstrating to the world the power of Taiwanese literature.
