Poet Zheng Chouyu passed away in America due to heart failure on June 13 at 4 PM Beijing time, at the age of 92. Friends of Zheng stated, "May he reunite with loved ones in heaven, with his poetry and music living on forever."

Zheng Chouyu, originally named Zheng Wentao, was born in Jinan, Shandong in 1933, with ancestral roots in Ninghe, Hebei. He was the 11th descendant of Zheng Chenggong. He served as a distinguished professor at the University of Hong Kong and was a tenured professor and poet-in-residence at Yale University.

During his childhood, Zheng traveled across China with his military father and during the war, moved to various places in the mainland with his mother, who taught him classical poetry in transit. At 16, his family moved to Taiwan. He began writing new poetry at the age of 15.

His works, including “Mistake,” “Sailor’s Knife,” “Ruined Fortress,” “Little Island,” “Mistress,” and “When the Mist Rises,” are widely celebrated. Zheng’s poetry not only flourished in Taiwan but has also been included in numerous textbooks both domestically and internationally, becoming classics of modern lyric poetry. His poems have been adapted into many songs, sung on streets everywhere—wherever the Chinese language is spoken, his poetry is recited. Zheng's creations are deeply influenced by classical Chinese poetry while incorporating modern techniques, resulting in a unique poetic expression in the context of both Chinese and Western cultures.