Lin Yu Tang



My first brush with Lin Yu Tang must be through his internationally renowned book The Art of Living. The book in which he also expounded the joy of the simple life like taking walks, drinking tea, and having long talks with friends, reminding us all to enjoy life that’s all around us without needless worry captured my heart and since then the author has been one of my favorite and the book too. Lin Yu Tang's original name is Lin Hele. I suppose, Hele here must be a Christian name, Henry since Lin Yu Tang is not only the son of a Chinese Presbyterian minister but he was also originally a very devoted Christian. The inventor of the Chinese typewriter was educated for the ministry but he had later renounced Christianity, the reason for which could be found in his The Art of Living. A prolific writer in both Chinese and English, Lin Yu Tang was a frequent nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He wa very active in popularizing classical Chinese literature and the general Chinese attitude towards life in the West. I understand that at one time, he was staying in Singapore, having been roped in to the Literary Department in Nanyang University and later, he moved to Taiwan.














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