CHENNAI, INDIA, January 16, 2014 (New Indian Express): Taiwan scholar and poet Dr. Yu Hsi (Hung Ching Yu), who has translated Tirukkural and the poems of Subramaniya Bharathi and poet Bharathidasan in Mandarin, was conferred with the Thiruvalluvar Award instituted by the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday. The founder president of the Tamil Sangam of Taiwan, Dr. Yu Hsi is the first foreign scholar to receive this award. At a public function held here, Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam presented the award to the scholar. The award carries a gold medal, a check for US$1,625 and a citation.
Dr. Yu Hsi was born in Taiwan on March 16, 1951 and is a Doctor of Letters. He has authored more than 60 books. The scholar was awarded $8,775 by the State for translating Tirukkural. However, he had donated the amount to Tamil University for setting up of an endowment to propagate Tirukkural.
In his acceptance speech, the scholar said after learning Tirukkural, he found that the teachings of Saint Tiruvallur and Chinese philosopher Confucius were similar with regard to ethics, statecraft, etc.