Renowned Chinese poet Yu Kwang-chung died at the age of 90 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on Thursday, local media reported.

Yu was in hospital after suffering a stroke and had a pulmonary infection. His family confirmed the news without revealing more information.

Yu was most recognized for the short poem "Nostalgia", in which he vividly described the relationship between people on either side of the Taiwan Strait.

The poem has appeared in many Chinese school textbooks.

Born in Nanjing of east China's Jiangsu Province, Yu spent his younger days in the mainland before moving to Taiwan. He studied English at the University of Nanjing in 1947 and then transferred to Xiamen University.

Yu was later enrolled at Taiwan’s most prestigious institution, National Taiwan University, where he began to write poetry. As one of the first students to graduate with a degree in foreign languages in 1952, he published his first collection of poems "Blues of a Sailor", which is highly sentimental and nostalgic, and quickly gained popularity. He also held a master of fine arts degree from the University of Iowa.

Yu also wrote prose and commentaries, and was a translator. He published 21 poetry collections, 11 prose collections, five commentary collections and 13 translation collections during his career.

The master of Chinese was a former professor at the Chinese language and literature faculty at the Chinese University of Hong Kong from 1974 to 1985. He was internationally acclaimed for his command of traditional Chinese and modern literature.

Yu spoke French, German, Spanish, Italian and Russian.