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Yang Mu (born Wang Ching-hsien)

ヤン ム

Yang Mu

Aliases: 王靖獻 / Wang Ching-hsien / 葉珊
Pen Names: Yeh Shan（Pen name used in early poetry publications）, Yang Mu（Major pen name used from the 1970s onward (primary name)）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1940-09-06 （Hualien County, Taiwan）
Died
2020-03-13 （Cathay General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan） age 79
Nationality
Taiwan
Languages
Chinese, English, Old English, German
Residence History
Hualien → Taipei → Iowa (study) → California (Berkeley, study) → Seattle (University of Washington, faculty) → Hong Kong (HKUST, faculty)

Career

Occupations
poet, essayist, critic, translator, professor (comparative literature / Chinese literature)
Active Years
1956-2020
Affiliations
National Taiwan University (faculty), Princeton University (visiting / faculty), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (faculty), National Dong Hwa University (founding dean), Academia Sinica (research fellow / director), University of Washington (Professor Emeritus, Comparative Literature), National Chengchi University (Chair Professor of Taiwanese Literature)
Influenced By
William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats, W. B. Yeats

Education

Tunghai University
History (initial) → Department of Foreign Languages (transferred) / Department of Foreign Languages
Degree: BA
Country: Taiwan
Initially majored in history, later transferred to Department of Foreign Languages
University of Iowa
Creative Writing (MFA) / Creative writing (English)
Degree: MFA
Year of Graduation: 1966
Country: United States
Studied creative writing
University of California, Berkeley
Comparative Literature (PhD) / Comparative Literature
Degree: PhD
Year of Graduation: 1971
Country: United States
Earned a PhD in comparative literature

Awards

Shi Zong Award
1971
Result: 受賞
China Times Prize for Literature
1979
Organization: China Times
Result: 受賞
China Times Prize for Literature
1987
Organization: China Times
Result: 受賞
Wu Sanlian Literary Award
1990
Result: 受賞
National Culture and Arts Award
2000
Result: 受賞
Huazong International Chinese Literature Award
2007
Result: 受賞
Newman Prize for Chinese Literature
2013
Organization: Newman Prize for Chinese Literature
Result: 受賞（台湾人として初受賞）
Cikada Prize
2016
Organization: Cikada Prize (Sweden)
Result: 受賞（台湾人として初受賞）
Award / Fellowship from the Foundation for the Advancement of Outstanding Scholarship
1996
Result: 助成（1996–2001の期間に関連）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Songs of the Little Dipper

1978 poetry

Published in 1978. A poetry collection praised for its linguistic innovation and contribution to modern Chinese poetry in Taiwan.

linguistic innovationnaturememory
Translations
  • Portions translated into English and other languages

Wu Feng: A Play in Four Acts

1979 verse play

A four-act verse play based on Taiwanese history, expressing praise for benevolence and human reason.

historymoralitycommunity

Manuscripts Sealed in a Bottle

poetry

One of his poetry collections featuring experiments in diction and interweaving personal memories.

memorysubjectivitylinguistic experimentation

Hawk of the Mind: Collected Poems

2018 poetry (English collected translation)

An English collected translation edited by Michelle Yeh, presenting Yang Mu's major works to English readers.

international receptioncollected poems

No Trace of the Gardener: Poems of Yang Mu

1998 poetry (English translation)

English translation by Lawrence R. Smith & Michelle Yeh, bringing Yang Mu's poetry to an international readership.

translationinternationalization

Bibliography

  • On the Water Margin
  • Flower Season
  • Lantern Boat
  • Legends
  • Songs of the Little Dipper
  • Manuscripts Sealed in a Bottle
  • Wu Feng
  • Annual Ring (essays)
  • Storms over Hills and Ocean (essays)

Translations by Author

  • Translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight into modern Chinese
  • Translation of Shakespeare's The Tempest into Chinese
  • Translations of W. B. Yeats's poetry into Chinese

Translations of Works

  • No Trace of the Gardener (English translation, 1998)
  • The Forbidden Game and Video Poems (English translation, 1993)
  • Hawk of the Mind (English collected translation, 2018)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyricismexperimental approach to diction and syntaxfusion of classical Chinese imagery and Western poetic tradition
Recurring Motifs
hometown memorydepictions of naturelanguage and translationsocial criticism

Health

  • coma
    2020-03
    Lapsed into a coma after hospitalization and died on 2020-03-13

Legacy

Yang Mu is regarded as one of the leading Chinese-language poets of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He fused Eastern and Western poetic traditions and innovated Chinese poetic diction. His international translations enhanced his global reception, and institutional legacies such as the Yang Mu Library and the Yang Mu Literary Award at NDHU commemorate his impact.

Museums

  • Yang Mu Library (National Dong Hwa University) National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, Taiwan Opened in 2016

Archives

  • Yang Mu Library collection, National Dong Hwa University
  • Donated personal library at University of Washington
  • Collections at Academia Sinica

Trivia

  • In his youth he published poetry under the pen name Yeh Shan.
  • He was the first Taiwanese winner of the Newman Prize for Chinese Literature (2013) and the Cikada Prize (2016).
  • He donated his personal library, contributing to the establishment of the Yang Mu Library.