I have almost given up teaching poetry. Someone in my Bible study group asked me to teach her poetry, but it didn't work out. Many people don't read words as carefully as they look at pictures or numbers, let alone take the time to understand the background, techniques, and emotions behind a poem, even when it is written in everyday vernacular. Many poems are quoted in advertisements, but few people care about the struggles the poets went through. Some people value science and reason above everything else. People can get paid to learn computer programming, but not poetry. Both poetry and music are deeply personal. I rarely dare to say which works I truly like. Once, a student mentioned a very shallow modern pop song. I said that I thought it was very poor, but I didn't realise that he actually liked it very much. The more poetry I read, the more I understand Professor Florence Chia-ying Yeh's words: "The reason I continue giving lectures is that I hope to leave something behind for those who enjoy Chinese poetry, something that might help them get a start in learning it." Professor Yeh, who passed away in Tianjin, understood that our ability to influence others is limited. As one of my Japanese friends once said, wearing a kimono is like preserving a dying art.

I have almost given up teaching poetry. A person in the bible study group asked me to teach her poetry. But it was failed. Many people don't read words, compare to pictures or numbers, let alone taking the time to understand the backgrounds, techniques, emotions of poetry. Even if the poetry is written in everyday vernacular. Many poems are quoted for commercial advertisements, but people don't care about the struggling of poets. Some people favor science and reason. People can get paid to learn computer programming but not poetry. Both poetry and music are very personal. I don't dare to express which work I like. Once a student mentioned a very shallow modern pop music. I said it was very bad. But I didn't know that actually he liked it very much. The more I read poems, the more I understand "the reason I continue giving lectures is that I hope to leave something behind for those who enjoy Chinese poetry, something that might help them get a start in learning it," which is what Professor Florence Chia-ying Yeh, who passed away in Tianjin, once said. But what we can do is very limited. As a Japanese friend said, the wearing of kimono is like a dying art.