Foreword

前言

This issue of the journal focuses on COVID-19, the coronavirus pandemic. These articles review the coronavirus epidemic outbreak beginning in late 2019 in China and the rest of the world and its wide-ranging impacts on a social-psychological level on the world’s population. This provides us with a cross-cultural reflection on this pandemic using both Chinese and global perspectives.

Several authors from China and other countries explore this issue from different angles ranging across biomedicine, traditional Chinese medicine, education and psychotherapy, and ecology. These articles were written at different stages of the pandemic, some in earlier stage, some very recently, but all correlated to COVID-19 and arts. The virus is defined and discussed literally and symbolically to address the challenges human beings are facing in relation to great technological advancement and rapid economic development in human society. This alarming public health crisis prompts us to build a respectful and harmonious relationship with nature through humanistic approaches which can serve as guidelines for sustainable human development in the future. Vivid and inspiring artwork is included and presented in some of these articles highlighting the invaluable contribution of arts in this crisis.

In this difficult time, we have witnessed that a virus can act as a biological and psychological agent to separate us as well as to unite us. We also notice that the original concept of ‘social distancing’ does not seem to be valid anymore. Instead, we are looking for ‘physical distancing and social solidarity’ while being confined. However, we, as human beings, can’t survive without physical connection and intimacy, which distinguishes us from the digital entities penetrating and dominating our lives. The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us both of our uniqueness as well as our vulnerability, and the significance of staying connected to nature that is our ultimate resource for creativity, vitality, and belonging. It also calls for a fundamental transformation of human beings and our society to go beyond our own guarded territories into a global collaborative community to advance humanity. Among this mission, art will play an indispensable role to integrate our body, mind and spirit, and facilitate the equal and constructive dialogue between east and west, south and north.

Dr. Tony Yu Zhou, CMA

Founder and Executive Editor

CAET

CAET本期重点关注新冠肺炎（COVID-19），全球性冠状病毒大流行。这些文章回顾了2019年底开始在中国和世界其它地区爆发的新冠疫情，以及它在社会心理层面对世界人口的广泛影响。这让我们从中国和国际视角对这次全球性疫情进行跨文化反思。

来自中国和其它国家的多位作者从不同的角度探讨了这一议题，涉及生物医学、传统中医、教育和心理治疗以及生态学。这些文章写于疫情的不同阶段，有的在早期，有的与近期完稿，但都与新冠疫情和艺术相关。作者们从字面和象征层面定义和探讨病毒,应对人类社会科技和经济快速发展所面临的挑战。这一令人震惊的公共卫生危机促使我们通过人文关怀的方式，与自然建立起一种尊重和谐的关系，以此作为未来人类可持续发展的指导方针。收录的文章中，呈现了一些生动的、鼓舞人心的艺术作品，突出了艺术在这场危机中的宝贵贡献。

在这个艰难的时刻，我们看到病毒作为一种生物和心理的媒介，让我们彼此分离，也让我们团结一致。我们也注意到，最初提出 “社交隔离 “的概念似乎不再有效。取而代之的是，受到禁锢的同时，我们也在寻找“身体的疏离和社交的联结。”然而，作为人类，我们无法在失去身体连结和亲密关系的支持下生存，这也是我们与众多渗透并支配人类生活的数码实体的区别。新冠肺炎提醒我们人类具有独特性与脆弱性，与自然保持连接格外重要，它是我们创造力、活力和归属感的终极源泉。 全球性的疫情也呼唤人类和社会发生根本性的转变，超越我们各自守卫的领地，成为一个全球合作的共同体，促进人类的进步。在这一使命中，艺术将发挥不可或缺的作用，融合我们的身、心、灵，促进东西南北全球平等和建设性对话。

周宇博士，拉班动作分析师（CMA）

《创造性艺术与治疗CAET》

创始人兼执行主编