"In my childhood,

Homesickness was a small stamp,

I was here, and my mother was over there;

When I grew up,

Homesickness was a small tomb,

With me outside, and my mother inside;

But now,

Homesickness is a shallow strait,

I am on this side, and the mainland is on the other side."

This is one of the most-famous poems written by Yu Guangzhong, a renowned writer from Taiwan. Entitled "Homesickness", the oft-quoted poem vividly depicts the flesh and blood relations between people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

Born in 1928, Yu Guangzhong is one of the best-known of modern Chinese writers, literary critics and translators. So far, this prolific writer has published 17 poetry collections and 12 prose collections. Since the 1970s, Yu Guangzhong has written a number of poems expressing Taiwan people's nostalgia for their homeland and family members on the mainland: these have deeply touched the heartstrings of numerous Chinese.

Missing his native land so much for so long, the famous poet recently returned to his hometown of Changzhou for the first time in fifty years. Yu Guangzhong left his grandmother's home in the city in 1947, when he was 19 years old. Time flies! In a twinkling, half a century has passed, and that strapping young man is now a gray-haired old gentleman. Everything in his grandmother's old house was still familiar, but some of his relatives and childhood friends have passed away, leaving him with a profound sense of loss, and regret that he was unable to see them at least one last time.

While paying his respects at the tombs of his grandmother and other loved ones, Yu Guangzhong also spared time to meet with many literature fans in Changzhou. During a lecture organized by the city’s Writers' Association, the audiences asked Yu Guangzhong to recite his poem "Nostalgia," which is as famous as "Homesickness" that we heard just now.

"Give me a glass of Yangtze River water,

It's as tasty as vintage wine,

The feeling of nostalgia is like that of drunkenness;

Give me a flowering crabapple,

It's as red as blood,

The pangs of nostalgia are like my blood is boiling;

Give me a snowflake,

It's as white as letter paper,

The anxiety of nostalgia is like that of waiting for a letter from home;

Give me a wintersweet flower,

It's as fragrant as my dear mother,

The aroma is like that of the soil in my homeland.

Addressing the issue of China's reunification, Yu Guangzhong has this to say:

"We are all descendants of the Chinese nation and share the same brilliant Chinese civilization. No one can deny this. I believe the 5,000-year-old Chinese culture will be a centripetal force in promoting the reunification of the Chinese nation."

(cri.com.cn June 4, 2002)