We must protect our culture amid current disarray, say Hong Kong and Taiwan writers and poets
Former Taiwan culture minister Lung Ying-tai moderates discussion on cultural values in the Chinese world
Eminent writers and poets from Hong Kong and Taiwan have offered a timely reminder of cultural values in the midst of the current “disarray”.
Dubbed “The Inspired Island II”, the star-studded occasion was an event to launch a literary and film festival profiling each of the seven featured literary celebrities – three from Hong Kong and four from Taiwan.
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“The significance of this occasion is far more than the launch of documentary films, but one that pays tribute to our venerable masters,” said Lung Ying-tai, a prolific writer and former Taiwan culture minister, to a full-house audience in the university’s Grand Hall yesterday.
Lung, who has returned for a new three-year term as Hung Leung Hau Ling Distinguished Fellow in Humanities at HKU, where she stayed from 2004-2012, paid homage to a league of legendary literary figures on their lives and works.
The talk was preceded by a short film that encapsulated all seven literary figures, including the late Yesi, the Hong Kong poet par excellence who passed away in 2013. His narrative, “if a city has no literature, it will have no identity and the ability to converse with others on equal ground” prompted deep thought from the audience.
“I hope his literary work and criticism offer inspiration to society in disarray,” said Yesi’s wife, who was in the audience.
Liu Yichang, the 98-year-old guru whose scripts were turned into blockbuster movies such as Wong Kar-wai’s 2046, was present to advise young writers “to be innovative and produce literary works of their own”.