爱思英语编者按：背部的伤痛让英国人罗斯-奥利维亚（中文名：王玫瑰）开始练习太极，这让她认识了丈夫，并且双双来到中国。

A back injury led Briton Rose Oliver to tai chi, which led her to her husband and then took both of them to China. But three years after moving to Shanghai to pursue their dream, Oliver's husband died, leaving her alone to follow their shared passion for tai chi.

背部的伤痛让英国人罗斯-奥利维亚（中文名：王玫瑰）开始练习太极，这让她认识了丈夫，并且双双来到中国。然而在举家迁往上海追寻梦想三年后，奥利维亚的丈夫去世，留下奥利维亚孤身一人继续追随他们对太极的热爱。

Twenty years ago, Oliver's back injury crushed her childhood dream of becoming a ballerina.

二十年前，奥利维亚背部受伤使她儿时成为芭蕾舞者的梦想破灭。

But the injury did lead her to tai chi, a martial art typically practiced in slow motion. Her initial hope was to improve her health.

但这次受伤却使她开始练习太极（一种慢动作的武术运动）。她最初是希望增进健康。

She later married her instructor, Rey Nelson, and founded a school with him, teaching the martial art to more than 10, 000 students over eight years.

不久之后，她同自己的教练雷-尼尔森结婚，并共同创办一所学校，在8年的时间里向1万多名学生教授太极。

The 49-year-old recalls the injury that left her bedridden for six months when she was 21 years old and with constant pain for decades.

49岁的她回忆起21岁时让她卧病在床长达6个月并且在随后数十年里承受病痛的伤势。

"I was active and could not bear resting in bed, " she recalls.

她回忆称：“我本身比较活跃，总躺在床上受不了。”

"But the soft tissue injuries were hard to heal. I thought I had to find some way to recover my health."

“但软组织受伤后痊愈比较难。我想我一定要想办法让自己痊愈。”

Oliver saw a poster for a tai chi class and decided to try the "mysterious exotic sport". She was struck by the beautiful movements and the "nice, patient instructor" - Nelson.

奥利维亚看到一张教授太极课程的海报，并决定试一下这项“神秘的外国运动”。她被优美的动作和“亲切耐心的教练尼尔森”打动。

The couple later opened a tai chi school in the United Kingdom that attracted thousands. But they found themselves in a bottleneck.

随后，夫妻俩在英国开设了一个太极班，吸引了数千人。但他们发现自己陷入瓶颈之中。

"It was not enough for us to improve ourselves when we just learned from tai chi masters for two or four weeks a year, " she says.

她说：“仅仅通过一年中2—4周时间跟随太极大师学习来提升自己是远远不够的。”

So the couple moved to Shanghai in 2000. They taught English in universities and happily learned tai chi under various gurus. After years of practice, Oliver found her occasional backaches had disappeared.

因此，2000年夫妻俩搬到了上海。他们一边在大学教英语一边跟着多个高手学习太极。经过数年的练习，奥利维亚发现她经常性的背痛消失了。

She thought of giving up.

2003年，丈夫的去世给她带来了极大的悲痛。她想到了放弃。但她继续着丈夫引以为傲的事。

"He motivated me to come. Give it up and return and not pursue what we came here for? That sounded easy. But it wasn't easy at all."

“他最大的梦想就是来中国学习太极”，奥利维亚说道，“他鼓励我来到中国。放弃这里所追求的一切回英国？听起来很容易，事实上这一点也不容易。”

She says her tai chi "family" - the masters and students - also provided a great support network.

她说自己的太极“家族”，包括教练和学员，也为自己提供了巨大的支持。当时，奥利维亚的精神导师叫董斌，2009年，88岁的董斌去世。

She says of their first meeting: "I had been told that his skill was of a very high level and for some reason I had a mental image of a powerful, big man. But my shixiong (fellow male student) pointed to a small, wizened old gentleman, sitting on the ground.

奥利维亚谈到了他们的第一次见面：“我早就听说过他的水平很高，由于某种原因，我把他想象成一个强壮魁梧的人。但我的师兄（董斌其中一个男学生）指着一个坐在地上的瘦小老人给我看。”

"I felt amazed as I realized that this was the master himself, and then a sudden feeling of pleasure hit me. Of course this was exactly the kind of person who would be a tai chi master - the last person you could imagine.

“当意识到这是大师本人时我感到很惊讶，然后我心里突然冒出愉快的感觉。当然就是这种人才是真正的太极高手，你最想象不到的那种人。”

"I learned tremendously from him. He did not only teach me physically the tai chi but also the philosophy of how to be a better person, how to keep going when you felt you were tired."

“我从他身上学到了很多。他不仅教我练习太极，而且在精神上教我如何成为一个更好的人，教我当自己感觉累时怎样走下去。”

The master was sent to a labor camp during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) because he wanted to quit his job to practice tai chi full time. He was not allowed to practice in the camp. So, he secretly did the movements under the blanket when lying in bed.

这位太极高手因想停止工作全天候练习太极而在“文化大革命”（1966年—1976年）期间被送去劳改。在劳改时，别人不许他练习太极。所以，当躺在床上的时候他就躲在毯子下面偷偷练。

"His ethos is that one should not pursue riches and fame but endeavor to be happy and share one's knowledge and wisdom with others."

“他遭到了不公平的对待。但他既不愤怒痛苦也不怨恨别人，他只是让自己变得更好，更受欢迎，更友善”，奥利维亚解释道，“他的精神就是一个人不应该追逐名利，而应致力于追求快乐，与他人分享知识与人生智慧。”

Following the master, Oliver learned to live a simple life - one perhaps more traditional than many Chinese. She does tai chi in the morning and brews kung fu tea for guests. Ink-wash bamboo paintings hang on her apartment walls.

跟随这位大师，奥利维亚学着过一种简单的生活—这也许比许多中国人更加的传统。她早上打太极、为客人泡功夫茶。竹子水墨画挂在她公寓的墙上。

Oliver spends her time outside tai chi teaching English and attending cultural-exchange events.

奥利维亚在除练习太极以外的时间里教英语、参加文化交流项目。

She founded the Double Dragon Alliance in 2005. The organization enables Chinese kung fu masters to teach martial arts to Westerners and organizes seminars and events for them to experience Chinese massage, acupuncture, traditional medicine, calligraphy and tea ceremonies.

2005年，她建立了双龙会。这个组织让很多中国功夫高手向西方人传授功夫，为这些西方人组织研讨会等项目来感受推拿、针灸、中医、书法和茶道。她还向来自海内外的徒弟教授太极。

Rose inspired 55-year-old Briton Virginia Withers to take up the martial art. That led to an eight-year friendship.

奥利维亚鼓励55岁的英国人弗吉尼亚-威瑟斯练习这门武术，这也引出了一段长达8年的友谊。

Shanghai Jiao Tong University associate professor Luo Jifeng has learned tai chi with Oliver since 2009 and often joins her organization's events. His home is now a site for foreign visitors Oliver invites to experience ordinary Chinese life.

“罗斯是个很可爱的人，”威瑟斯说道，“她很亲切，总是很支持我，非常热情，也乐于拿出时间。”上海交通大学副教授罗继峰（音）从2009年开始跟奥利维亚练习太极，经常参加奥利维亚组织的活动。他家现在已经变成奥利维亚邀请的来中国感受日常生活的外国人的一个据点。

"She's happier to see our success and achievement than her own."

“我最欣赏她的就是她的知无不言言无不尽，”罗继峰说，“她看到我们成功和达到的成就之后会比她自己成功更高兴。”

Because of her contribution to cultural exchange, Oliver was given the Shanghai Magnolia Award on Sept 30, 2013. The award, named after Shanghai's city flower, is given to foreigners who have made significant contributions to the city.

由于她对于文化交流的贡献，奥利维亚于2013年9月30日被授予上海白玉兰奖。这项以上海市市花命名的奖项是专门授予对城市作出突出贡献的外国人的。并且她于2011年被英国女王伊丽莎白二世授予大英帝国荣誉勋章—这是对英国国民的最高荣誉之一。

"We talked about the cultural exchange in building friendship. And she said: 'This is very important work. You must keep it up'. And I said OK.

奥利维亚回忆道：“女王在仪式上问了我几个关于中国的问题，我们讨论了关于建立友谊的文化交流活动。并且她说‘这是非常重要的工作，你一定要坚持。’我说好的。”

"You see, " she says, jokingly, "now I have no other choice."

“你看，”她笑着说，“现在我别无选择了。”