I should say

During this travel, no matter which city it is, it’s always the people, food, weather and the atmosphere there impressed me more than other things. Or to say exactly, I don’t know how to describe other things except these four elements.

Neither those historical relics, structures, or artistic works. I can’t write anything of them.

But why?

When I walked through cities in Europe, I couldn’t stop gasping at different things in admiration. Those brilliant culture expression, those long-standing historical remains. Every piece of art I saw comes from decades of working, or even hundreds of years; artists strained their hearts and minds to reach its perfection. And these kinds of works are countless in Europe.

I could feel the beauty. The breath-taking beauty floated everywhere. But I couldn’t understand it.

And that almost drove me crazy.


These arts, which gain more value after the erosion of time, radiate the very glamour when appreciators vibe with them. The soul of art lies in the interaction between itself and the appreciators who project their feelings onto the art. These feelings generate from appreciators’ understanding of the history, affection and culture embedded in this artistic work. They will get the utmost satisfaction when they fully experience the work’s beauty of appearance and its beauty of soul.

Yet I couldn’t see their souls. For sure I was amazed by the beauty of their appearances. But every statue, every church, every painting……they’re all so silent to me, all the time. Quiet inside my heart, no resonance. I know something about the history behind them, but how about the affection and the culture? No, I had no idea, at least for the time when I met them. They stared at me with hollow expression in their eyes, inside which I could see no soul. My brain should have been filled with images and different feelings, but it was blank. I was hit by overwhelmed sorrow every time when I realized that I could only see their appearances. Hit by sorrow, again and again. So much I had missed, because of the lack of knowledge and experiences. In the end of the journey, I was almost numb.

I’m not sure if I will be able to understand the affection and culture behind those masterpieces in the future. I’m totally clueless, about those things like affection and culture for a country; I’m not so familiar with them. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I grew up in a place of which the identification is always not so clear. Even now I can’t tell if Taiwan is a country or not.

But I’ll do my best to understand. From every angle, in any ways. I’m very sure that if I’m lucky enough to be able to glance the soul of those arts some day, I’ll never forget that for my whole life.

For now, I’d rather not to write anything about them; they will be just hollow description.

Like something you can throw to the trashcan right away.



這趟旅行中，無論在哪個地方，我對當地的人，食物，天氣與整個城市的氣氛，都比較有印象。或者更明確地說，除了這幾樣之外，關於其他的事物我是寫不出任何東西的。

包括各城市所蘊藏的豐富文物。我寫不出來。

也許得等到數十年之後才有辦法。這是有原因的。

當我走過歐洲各個城市，我幾乎一刻也無法停止讚嘆。那些燦爛的文化表現，那些悠久的歷史遺跡，太過豐富而讓我難以承受。眼睛所見的每樣藝術都是幾十年，甚至幾百年的嘔心瀝血之作，而在歐洲這樣的作品目不暇給。

我感覺到美，隨處都是令人窒息的美。但我確實無法理解。

後者讓我幾近發狂。



這些在時間侵蝕下更顯價值的藝術品，其最大的魅力在於與欣賞者間的共鳴。藝術品的靈魂，在於欣賞者對其所隱含的歷史，情感與文化所產生的共鳴。表像的美，與其靈魂的美合而為一，帶給欣賞者無與倫比的感動與滿足感。

而我一直無法找到那種共鳴。感官上我震撼於表像的美。但每座雕像，每座教堂，每一幅畫，永遠都是這麼的沉默。我的內心寂靜，沒有共鳴。我也許知道一點他們的歷史，但在情感與文化上，短期內幾乎是毫無辦法。他們用空洞的眼神俯視我，在其中我看不見靈魂。那巨大的遺憾不停衝擊，讓我頭暈目眩。在旅行的終端，簡直是麻木了。

那堅固的情感與文化，這輩子究竟有沒有機會了解，我並沒有把握。那對我來說是完全未知的。類似那種定義的東西，在我心中不曾留下特別深刻的印記。我連我所生長的地方到底是不是國家都不清楚。

但我會盡我所能去了解。無論從哪種角度去嘗試。我非常肯定，只要有幸窺見一次那些藝術品的靈魂，哪怕只有一件，也會讓我畢生難忘的。

不過在現階段，很抱歉，就算寫了也只是空虛的描述。因此寧可不寫。