Foreword of Editor-in-Chief

主編前言

Shaun McNiff 教授

Lesley University, USA

Since 1970 I have explored how the arts heal throughout history and in the different regions of the world by transforming pain and suffering into endlessly variable and unique affirmations of life and by activating creative energies that exist inside and outside the person in what might be imagined as a pulse of nature, maybe close to China’s untranslatable Tao. These forces are not only accessible to all humans, they are what make us human.

As an advocate for a deeper appreciation of this common humanity I have always celebrated understanding and respecting different traditions that move like rivers toward and from the source that holds their ongoing changes. My work with the arts also affirms the endless differences in individual expressions, manifestations of our unique creative DNA and biodiversity. I miss this deeper sensibility in our current Western discussions of culture where more attention needs to be given to how the arts both individuate in the most complete ways while also uniting in communion with all people and living things.

This was the context of my life and thought when Dr. Tony Yu Zhou invited me to be part of CAET. I am impressed by his commitment to all of the arts, close cooperation between education and therapy, and the need for a more robust partnership between artistic inquiry and science---all of which have been the bedrock of my career presented to me now in a new opportunity to span East and West and to affirm the importance of China to our past and future.

As we begin the work of CAET, I hope the journal will promote more cross-cultural understanding and opportunities for others like me to learn and be a more complete participant in the world.

自從1970年開始我就開始探尋在人類的歷史長河過程中各個不同的地區和文化怎樣通過藝術進行療愈 ，幫助我們將痛苦和磨難轉化為無窮的對生命的多樣和獨特的肯定。藝術所賦予我們的那種創造力存在於一個人的體內外 ，可以被想像成自然的脈搏 ，也許這類似于中國文化中所謂的‘道’。這些力量不僅對於所有人類是可及的，它們也使我們成為人。

作為對於這一共同人性深切欣賞的宣導者，我始終慶賀自己能夠理解和尊重不同的傳統，它們就如河流般流淌進出於抱持著不斷變化的源頭。我的藝術工作也確認了個人表達的無限不同，體現了我們獨特的創造性的基因和生物多樣性。在當今西方對文化的探討中我看到了這種深度感性的缺失，我們需要更加關注藝術在最為激進的方式中如何體現個性化的同時，將人類和所有的生靈在交融中統一在一起。

這是當周宇博士邀請我加入CAET的時候我生命和思想的背景情況。我被他對所有藝術，教育和治療之間緊密合作，藝術探索和科學更為堅定夥伴關係的需求的致力奉獻所深深打動。所有這些都一直是我整個職業生涯中的基石，而現在它們以一種新的機會 呈現在我的面前，跨越東西方，並確認了中國對於過去和將來的重要性。

在CAET的工作開始之際，我希望這本對於懂中文和英文的讀者的期刊，將促進像我這樣的人對跨文化有更多地理解，並為我們提供學習和更加全面參與到世界的機會。