Renowned poetry scholar Florence Chia-ying Yeh passes away at 100

Florence Chia-ying Yeh, also known as Ye Jiaying, a prestigious scholar of classical Chinese poetry, passed away at the age of 100 on Sunday, according to Nankai University in Tianjin, where she worked for decades.

Yeh dedicated more than 70 years to teaching, researching, and promoting classical Chinese poetry both in China and internationally. Even in her 90s, she continued her academic pursuits. Many prominent writers, including Kenneth Hsien-yung Pai and Hsi Mu-jung, were among her students.

Born into a literary family in Beijing in 1924, Yeh began studying classical poetry at a young age. She started her teaching career in 1945 and later taught at universities in China's Taiwan and the United States before settling in Vancouver, Canada in 1969. She was a tenured professor at the University of British Columbia, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

In 1979, Yeh returned to the Chinese mainland to give lectures during the holidays. She lived and worked at Nankai University during her final decades. In 2018 and 2019, Yeh donated her entire savings and earnings – 35.68 million yuan (around 4.93 million USD) – to Nankai University to support research on traditional Chinese culture.

Yeh was widely honored throughout her life, receiving accolades such as the "Lifetime Achievement Award in Chinese Poetry," the "Most Influential Foreign Experts During 40 Years of China's Reform and Opening-Up," the 2019 "Chinese Government Friendship Award," and the "Touching China 2020 Person of the Year," among others.

Despite her many accomplishments, Yeh cherished the title "teacher" the most. "If there is a life after this, I would choose to be a teacher again, and still teach classical poetry," said Yeh on her 90th birthday.