华人漫画家记录中美疫情众生相

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.

美籍华人翁辰是一名漫画家，最近几个月，她把疫情期间她所经历的“魔幻”生活画了下来，收获了国内外不少读者的喜爱。她用幽默的笔触记录自己的真实生活，也记录了中美两种文化下两国对疫情不同的应对措施，以及带给她的切身感受。

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.

翁辰目前定居西雅图，西雅图是美国最早发现疫情的地区，而美国第一例新冠肺炎病例就发生在距离她女儿学校十分钟车程的养老院里。事实上，她几个月前就已经在提心吊胆地关注武汉的消息了，武汉是她的家乡。

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.

病毒的步步紧逼激发了她的创作想法，她把笔触由家庭、育儿转向了疾病带来的生活变化。

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.

她所在的华盛顿州3月23日发布了“居家令”，但她5岁和7岁大的两个孩子早在三周前就因学校停课在家隔离了。兼顾在家办公和育儿是个很有挑战性的活儿。

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."

在家的学生们可以上网课，其实就是在软件上下载视频观看，监督学习也都是家长的责任。“老师在网上布置任务，你可以在网上完成，也可以不做。你做了老师也不会看，是一种非常放松的网课。”

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.

翁辰说现在即便是这样简单的网课也没了，因为要考虑公平。一些家庭由于不能上网或者没有电脑反对线上课程，这样一来，所有网课都停止了。

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.

作为一名亚裔，翁辰很注重防护，也自然意识到戴口罩的必要性。她在漫画中曾这样讲述：亚洲人平时生活中可以有很多戴口罩的理由，相比之下，即使告诉美国人戴口罩能防埃博拉、防艾滋病，他们都对此不屑一顾。

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."

这篇关于戴口罩的漫画发布到国外图片网站后，有外国网友纷纷前来神评论：有些美国人戴口罩是为了抢劫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."

疫情暴发伊始，翁辰忧心忡忡，但邻居朋友们好像仍不当回事。她说，“我也不能要求或者说服他们戴口罩，但看着情况这样严峻下去我感到很无助。”

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.

随着疫情在美国不断加剧，翁辰笔下的美国人也开始转变观念，意识到隔离的重要性，这对她来说也算是一个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."

面对海外对武汉的污名化标签，她说：“我不觉得因为它发生在武汉，然后我作为一个武汉人，就会不好意思，或者是觉得不敢说。我觉得它既然是在那里发生了，就是在那里发生了。这件事情可以发生在任何城市。”

The artist believes people who have ingrained prejudices could shout at anything, a sad result of their own knowledge and worldviews.

她认为有歧视心理的人对谁都会发泄心中的不满，这也是他们的认知和长期以来的观念造成的结果。

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.

她承认美国社会中的确有对中国人的偏见，但同时认为“很多事其实是因为我们互相不了解”。而她作为华人，正在用自己的观点和引人深思的故事消除其中的隔阂。

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."

翁辰说她的漫画其实“并没有想去特意解释或者证明什么”，而是通过自己的故事“展现普通人的生活”，大家看到并产生共鸣后意识到“这是一个来自中国的画家，她跟我真的好像。”