Hey there, poetry lovers! 📚✨
Have you ever heard of someone who loved poetry so much that they shared it with the world for over 70 years? Meet Florence Chia-ying Yeh, a wonderful teacher and scholar who just passed away at the amazing age of 100.
Florence Yeh was born in Beijing, China, in 1924. From a young age, she fell in love with classical Chinese poetry. This type of poetry is like ancient stories and poems that tell us about history, nature, and human feelings in beautiful words.
But she didn’t keep this love to herself! She decided to become a teacher in 1945 and spent her whole life teaching others about the beauty of poetry. She taught in China, Taiwan, the United States, and even Canada!
In fact, she was a professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada and was part of the Royal Society of Canada, which is a group of important scholars.
Even when she was in her 90s, Florence didn’t stop teaching! She lived and worked at Nankai University in China during her final years. She loved teaching so much that she once said on her 90th birthday, “If there is a life after this, I would choose to be a teacher again, and still teach classical poetry.“
Isn’t that inspiring? 🌟
She also donated all her savings—over 35 million yuan (that’s about 4.93 million US dollars!)—to support research on traditional Chinese culture. She wanted to make sure that the beauty of poetry and culture would continue to be shared with future generations.
Florence received many awards for her work, but the title she loved the most was “teacher.” She believed that teaching was the most important job in the world.
Florence Yeh’s life shows us how powerful it is to share what you love with others. Maybe next time you read or write a poem, you can think of her and how she spread joy through words!
Let’s celebrate her amazing life and remember that our passions can make the world a better place. 💖🌎
Reference(s):
Renowned poetry scholar Florence Chia-ying Yeh passes away at 100
cgtn.com
