painted by Cheng Lixue 程立雪, a contemporary artist from Hubei province
臥遊, or 'travelling while lying down', is a phrase that became popular in the Southern dynasty. Zong Bing(宗炳) was a famous landscape painter, who loved to go outside and spend time in nature. When he grew older he struggled to get out like in his youth, so instead he would hang landscape paintings all over his walls at home. Lying down in the middle of the room, he would let his spirit wander into the mountains and rivers in the paintings around him, travelling to places he could otherwise no longer reach.
「臥遊」這個典故出自南朝畫家宗炳。他鐘愛山水三十年，年老了，腿腳不好，不能再外出，就在四壁掛滿山水圖像，坐臥其中，聊作神遊。
For almost a year now, we've been trapped inside just like Zong Bing. But I've learnt, too, to sit down, to brew some tea, to pick up a brush, to write calligraphy, and to paint new landscapes to travel into. Just like our ancestors, "in a space big enough only for a table and chairs, we can travel a wide expanse as far as our minds can take us."
我常常說起，若是沒有茶，沒有書法，要怎麼度過這漫長的幾個月又幾個月。幸好有這些看似沒有什麼用的事情在某些時刻卻成了良藥，它們讓我能在桌椅方寸之地穿越時空。古人有「臥遊」之說，想起來覺得充滿了浪漫主義色彩，今日雖是被迫在家，也不防學習古人臥遊一番。
-the end-
written by Fang yaoyao
translated by Thomas Staniforth
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