One of Mr. Lin Yutang’s most famous lines is “Like a woman’s skirt, the shorter the speech, the better.” He made this jest decades ago. Mr. Lin did not only translate the word “humor” into Chinese, but also promoted literature of humor. Famous for being a modern Chinese scholar writing in English, Mr. Lin was a linguist, philosopher, man of letters, traveler and creator.
In 1966, Mr. Lin returned and resided in Taiwan. Designed by Mr. Lin, this house integrates the style of Chinese four-chamber architecture and Western aesthetics. With blue tiles and white walls, arches and winding corridors, this house manifests the beauty of classical architecture. As to its site on Yangmingshan, it resembles his hometown in Fujian. When he was still alive, he could hear the dialect he was familiar with – Southern Fujianese, from time to time, giving him the feel of home.
Once he described this house saying, “there is a yard in the mansion; house in the yard; garden in the house. There are trees in the garden, sky upon the trees and moon upon the sky. How marvelous it is.” Mr. Lin always came to the balcony. After dinner, he loved to sit on a rattan armchair smoking his pipe. Watching the sunset at Guanyin Mountain, you can also feel Mr. Lin’s serenity.
The Lin Yutang House 林語堂故居
