Exhibition “The Trumpet of the Times: Poet F. Hua-Lin” is officially open
The opening ceremony of the exhibition “The Trumpet of the Times: Poet F. Hua-Lin”, organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym), was held on 27 September, at 6:30pm at the Jao Tsung-I Academy. The opening ceremony was officiated by the President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Ung Vai Meng; the President of the Pen of Macau, Li Guanding; the President of the Macau Documentation and Information Society, Tang Chon Chit; the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Macao Daily News, Lio Chi Heng; and the representative of Hua-Lin’s family, Fung Ping Buck.
This exhibition features manuscripts, poems, photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, music scores, song lists and other related items pertaining to the Macao poet Hua-Lin, who rose as a new star in the Chinese literary circles in the 1930s and 1940s, and earned the title "the trumpet of the times" during the "isolated-island period" in Shanghai. All the objects have been generously donated by relatives of the poet. This is the first time an exhibition gives an overall and three-dimensional picture of the poet, his poems and his era. With this exhibition, IC hopes to attract people's attention to the literature of Macao.
F. Hua-Lin is the adopted pseudonym of Fung Kam Chiu (1915-1992), born in Macao. In 1939, he graduated from the Foreign Language Department of Jinan National University in Shanghai and, in the following decade, roamed through several places such as Yunan, Guilin, Guizhou, Chongqing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Macao, where, in spite of many difficulties, he kept on writing and publishing a lot of poems and translated works. In the early 1950s, he settled down in Macao where he kept on working and polishing his writings. In the late 1960s, he began his studies on classical Chinese poetry and couplet making. Among his published works are Mei Gui [Rose], Xiang Ri Kui [Sunflower], Man Tian Xing [StarrySky], Qian Niu Hua [Morning Glory], Huo Hua Ji [Sparkling Flame], and Hua Ling Si Wen Ji [Poems and Writings Collection of F. Hua-Lin], in addition to a great number of unpublished translations, poems, couplets and monographs.
In order to complement this exhibition and allow the population to understand more in depth the poet and his work, IC launches the collection The Trumpet of the Times: Poet F. Hua-Lin (priced at MOP100). In addition, IC has invited poet Song Zijiang to conduct a study of and compile Hua-Lin’s poems, including his English-language poems, translation and essays, and now publishes Ardent Appeals: Selected Poems and Essays by F. Hua-Lin (priced at MOP80). These editions feature a rich content, with part of the works included therein never having been published and including also rare new poems that were published in scattered fashion in newspapers of several places. The two books will be available at a discounted price on the day and venue of the opening ceremony, and will be available for sale at full price during the period of the exhibition.
The exhibition “The Trumpet of the Times: Poet F. Hua-Lin” will run from 28 September to 13 November at Jao Tsung-I Academy, daily from 10am to 6pm, including on public holidays, closing on Mondays. Admission is free. For more information, please refer to IC’s webpage at www.icm.gov.mo, or call IC through tel. no. 2852 2523, during office hours.