School Dog Tai-Lang Passes Away After 20 Years as Soochow’s Guardian

Tai-Lang, the school dog of Soochow University, passed away in the early morning of April 12, accompanied by members of the school’s club “Wag the Tail”. On April 20^th, Tai-Lang was cremated under the eyes of the staff of the Accounting Office and the members of the Club, surrounded by blessing cards from people and students who knew him.

For the past few years, old age had brought Tai-Lang with ailing health and symptoms such as deafness, blindness, and even paralysis. Even so, it still limped to patrol around the campus. Unfortunately sharp changes in early April had further worsened Tai-Lang physical conditions, and soon he finally rested in peace forever.

To bid farewell to the school’s long-time guardian, Alumni Service and Resource Development Center prepared a cape embroidered with the school badge and the Chinese words "Guardian of Eternal" and "Tai-Lang". It meat that Tai-Lang had truly graduated from Soochow University and joined the angels.

Tai-Lang had been in Waishuangxi Campus for 20 years. Many staffs and students at Soochow knew that there had been a school dag named Tai-Lang, but no one knew exactly when he came. Tai-Lang was a mix dog and looked a bit like a wolf, which was why people named him “Tai-Lang,” as “Lang” means “wolf” in Chinese.

After the sad news came out, words of memories and condolences from students and alumni swarmed on the Internet. Over the past 20 years, many students had encountered Tai-Lang in Linxi Road, or stayed with him in the Chong-Hui Hall, or went mountain climbing with him, or played with him in the campus. Some students even have been “escorted” by Tai-Lang all the way from the school to the Shilin MRT station. Many students in Soochow had some encounters with Tai-Lang, but now those only become memories.