Drawing a parallel between Thiruvalluvar and Confucius, the Chinese scholar and philosopher, Yu Si, the Taiwanese poet who translated Thirukural in Mandarin, said it was a universal scripture.
Mr. Yu Si, who was conferred the Tamil Nadu government’s Thiruvalluvar award, said after reading Thirukural, he rated Thiruvalluvar as an equally important philosopher on ethics, statecraft and citizenship. The award included a gold medal, Rs. 1 lakh and a certificate.
In translating Thirukural, Mr. Yu Si said he had relied on the English rendering of the couplets by M. Rajaram, secretary of the Information and Development Department.