華人漫畫家記錄中美疫情衆生相

The Chinese-American cartoonist Weng Chen has transformed her surreal life during the epidemic into comics, which have resonated with people in both the US and China. The creative mind records her true life in humorous satire, revealing her dilemmas and frustrations when confronting different COVID-19 responses from two cultural backgrounds.
美籍華人翁辰是一名漫畫家，最近幾個月，她把疫情期間她所經歷的“魔幻”生活畫了下來，收穫了國內外不少讀者的喜愛。她用幽默的筆觸記錄自己的真實生活，也記錄了中美兩種文化下兩國對疫情不同的應對措施，以及帶給她的切身感受。

The artist now lives in Seattle, the first city ravaged by the coronavirus in the US. And the first-known US case, from the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington, is only a 10-minute drive from her daughter's school. Moreover, months earlier, she was already anxiously checking the news from her hometown of Wuhan, the hardest-hit city in China.
翁辰目前定居西雅圖，西雅圖是美國最早發現疫情的地區，而美國第一例新冠肺炎病例就發生在距離她女兒學校十分鐘車程的養老院裏。事實上，她幾個月前就已經在提心吊膽地關注武漢的消息了，武漢是她的家鄉。

The proximity of the novel coronavirus inspired her to steer her creations, which previously focused on parent-child themes, to life changes under the threat of the disease.
病毒的步步緊逼激發了她的創作想法，她把筆觸由家庭、育兒轉向了疾病帶來的生活變化。

Washington state announced a stay-at-home order on March 23. However, her two children, ages 7 and 5, had spent three weeks at home already due to the suspension of classes in her school district. And if Weng's experience is any measure, the multitasking between work and child care at home can prove challenging.
她所在的華盛頓州3月23日發佈了“居家令”，但她5歲和7歲大的兩個孩子早在三週前就因學校停課在家隔離了。兼顧在家辦公和育兒是個很有挑戰性的活兒。

The students do have online courses from school, but it's the parents' duty to ensure their children carry out the study on the app. "The teacher will give assignments online, and the student can choose to complete or ignore them," she said. "Even if you submitted your assignment, the teacher won't review it. It's pretty casual."
在家的學生們可以上網課，其實就是在軟件上下載視頻觀看，監督學習也都是家長的責任。“老師在網上佈置任務，你可以在網上完成，也可以不做。你做了老師也不會看，是一種非常放鬆的網課。”

According to Weng, even the simplest courses were called off due to fairness concerns — some households without internet connections and computers objected to the e-learning experience — and consequently no one could learn from home.
翁辰說現在即便是這樣簡單的網課也沒了，因爲要考慮公平。一些家庭由於不能上網或者沒有電腦反對線上課程，這樣一來，所有網課都停止了。

As an Asian American, Weng is prudent about protection and naturally considers wearing a mask a necessity. In one of her strips, she listed several common circumstances for Asians to put on masks in daily life. In contrast, Americans instinctively say "nah" to masks even when told they can safeguard against Ebola and HIV.
作爲一名亞裔，翁辰很注重防護，也自然意識到戴口罩的必要性。她在漫畫中曾這樣講述：亞洲人平時生活中可以有很多戴口罩的理由，相比之下，即使告訴美國人戴口罩能防埃博拉、防艾滋病，他們都對此不屑一顧。

After the face mask story was published on social media platforms abroad, comments trickled in, such as this one: "Some Americans use them for robbing 7/11 stores."
這篇關於戴口罩的漫畫發佈到國外圖片網站後，有外國網友紛紛前來神評論：有些美國人戴口罩是爲了搶劫711商店。

In the early days of the outbreak, the artist said she was really worried while her neighbors were still at ease. "I can't step in to persuade them to wear masks," she said. "I feel helpless when I have to watch the situation getting more severe."
疫情暴發伊始，翁辰憂心忡忡，但鄰居朋友們好像仍不當回事。她說，“我也不能要求或者說服他們戴口罩，但看着情況這樣嚴峻下去我感到很無助。”

However, as the pandemic worsens in the US, Weng's comics also chronicle Americans' changing attitude when they finally come to realize the importance of social distancing, which, to some degree, is good news for her.
隨着疫情在美國不斷加劇，翁辰筆下的美國人也開始轉變觀念，意識到隔離的重要性，這對她來說也算是一個值得欣慰的好消息了。

She described people's overreactions to Wuhan in one of her strips. "I think since it happened there, it is what it is," she said. "This could happen in any city and I don't feel stigmatized by it."
面對海外對武漢的污名化標籤，她說：“我不覺得因爲它發生在武漢，然後我作爲一個武漢人，就會不好意思，或者是覺得不敢說。我覺得它既然是在那裏發生了，就是在那裏發生了。這件事情可以發生在任何城市。”

The artist believes people who have ingrained prejudices could shout at anything, a sad result of their own knowledge and worldviews.
她認爲有歧視心理的人對誰都會發泄心中的不滿，這也是他們的認知和長期以來的觀念造成的結果。

While acknowledging the deep-rooted stereotypes of Chinese in US society, Weng says "many incidents occurred because we don't know each other". And the Chinese-American offers insightful stories from a personal perspective to overcome this ignorance.
她承認美國社會中的確有對中國人的偏見，但同時認爲“很多事其實是因爲我們互相不瞭解”。而她作爲華人，正在用自己的觀點和引人深思的故事消除其中的隔閡。

The cartoonist said she frankly has no intention to justify or explain anything. "I like to draw my life. When people read my comics, they may think 'we're alike'," she said. "Then they'd realize I am from China."
翁辰說她的漫畫其實“並沒有想去特意解釋或者證明什麼”，而是通過自己的故事“展現普通人的生活”，大家看到併產生共鳴後意識到“這是一個來自中國的畫家，她跟我真的好像。”