Ye Jiaying's Last Years

In her later years, Ye Jiaying still worked until 2am every day and got up at 6:30am to continue working. She donated her half life savings to Nankai University and lived in a 70 square meter residence with a fixed and simple daily meal. When asked, "Are you afraid of aging or death?" she replied, "I am 'doing what I should do and stopping what I have to stop.'"

Zhong Jin, a direct disciple of Ye Jiaying and associate professor of philosophy at East China Normal University, visited Ye Jiaying in April and July 2024. On the afternoon of November 24, 2024, Ye Jiaying passed away at the age of 100

Li Shaojun, the editor in chief of Poetry Magazine, visited Ye Jiaying during the Spring Festival of 2024. At that time, she had already been admitted to the hospital, and Li Shaojun did not want to disturb her too much. Originally (she) was lying in a hospital bed, but once she talked about poetry, she got excited and sat up, "Li Shaojun recalled to Southern Weekend reporters

Li Shaojun sighed at Ye Jiaying's persistence in inheriting traditional Chinese poetry. Her most precious legacy is that spirit and sense of mission, "Li Shaojun told Southern Weekly reporters. After the May Fourth Movement, new poetry became mainstream, and modern style poetry was overlooked as a whole. It was not until Ye Jiaying first returned to China that modern style poetry was still in a relatively marginalized position, but gradually returned to the public eye

As an expert in classical literature research, educator, and poet, Ye Jiaying always prioritizes teaching in her three careers of research, teaching, and poetry creation. In her more than seventy years of teaching career, Bai Xianyong, Chen Yingzhen, Xi Murong, Yuwen Suo'an, and Dai Jinhua all sat in her classroom. On her 90th birthday, she made a birthday wish: to become a teacher and teach classical poetry in her next life

My life has not been smooth sailing, I have come through hardships. The study of poetry is not my goal, but a force that supports me in overcoming difficulties In her oral biography "Dream of Red Mansions", Ye Jiaying wrote as follows. When Ye Jiaying was in her teens, she lost contact with her father during the war, and her mother passed away due to illness caused by depression. In her twenties, she left her homeland and traveled to North America. When she returned to her homeland, she was already fifty years old. Two years later, her eldest daughter and son-in-law died in a car accident... During the painful time, Ye Jiaying wrote poetry, which showed a strong embodiment. Because she was born in the sixth month of the lunar calendar, known as the "Lotus Moon," Ye Jiaying's nickname is "Little Lotus." Her poetry often includes the image of lotus flowers with Buddhist connotations. In 1940, at the age of 16, she wrote "Ode to Lotus", "The plant grows out of the Peng Ying, and the mud is not stained. The Tathagata is originally a fantasy, how can he cross the world. 61 years later, by the Mati Lake on the Nankai campus, she wrote a poem called "Washing the Sand in the Stream", in which she wrote, "Lotus should not die with a heart, and life is prone to old age and dreams. A thousand springs still bloom." Life is like a lotus that may wither, but there will always be a lotus seed left behind

In 1979, Ye Jiaying began to give lectures and lectures in China. In "Dream of Red Mansions," she recalled, "I found that I could return to my home country to teach my favorite poetry, and I could also give back some of the traditions I inherited to my own country. This was a great support and encouragement for me, and it was a psychological process for me to come out of sorrow." In Zhong Jin's view, Ye Jiaying made great sacrifices by shifting from poetry research to poetry popularization. He believes that Ye Jiaying's most important academic contribution lies in tracing back to the study of old ci through Wang Guowei, and summarizing a series of discussions on how ci originated and moved readers, including proposing the theoretical concepts of "dual gender" and "dual context", and discussing how the Changzhou ci school elevated Tang and Five Dynasties ci to a moral level; The development of words can be divided into three stages: lyric words, poetic words, and fu words; And propose the well-known concept of 'the beauty of weak virtue'

Ye Jiaying once told Zhong Jin that she has studied the aesthetic qualities of poetry in various aspects, but the aesthetic qualities of poetry are quite complex, which she has not yet considered. If she focuses her energy on poetics, I think she will definitely write something more inspiring for academia, "Zhong Jin told Southern Weekend reporters

Professor Zhang Jing from the School of Literature at Nankai University is Ye Jiaying's assistant and a direct student. She recalled to Southern Weekend reporters the scene when she first met Ye Jiaying in 2003. "At that time, she had a lung infection, had fluid transfusions during the day, and had a medical tape on her hand when giving speeches at night. In this situation, she still stood and spoke for two or three hours." Later, Zhang Jing worked beside Ye Jiaying for more than 20 years, participating in the compilation of Ye Jiaying's chronology, recording of lecture notes, and writing several works such as "Ancient Poetry for Children" and "Poetry Master". She was the academic advisor for Ye Jiaying's literary documentary "The Moon in My Hand"