熊猫论

熊猫论 ·作者：坡森（摘自《影画中华》之熊猫家园图）

作者曾赴卧龙等大熊猫栖息地数月，进行大熊猫专项考察调研。后受邀为“熊猫家园图”作此文。

熊猫论：

  今之熊猫者，实名大熊猫。唯中国独有，享“国宝”雅誉。其萌憨之态，几所向披靡，夫黑白之色，冠水墨丹青。故常负外交之任，助国邦往来之谊。

其生理特征，为类猫之熊。亦说非熊，自属一科。

既属类猫之熊，应名“猫熊”，何谓“熊猫”？有说：前世纪三四十年代，标本展于重庆，称名以西例左书“猫熊”，不意时人仍循中俗右读“熊猫”，故此流传。后考：此前已有辞书列词“熊猫”；可见此说为讹。“熊猫”之名，或与小熊猫有关；小熊猫发现在前，大熊猫发现于后，时认同属，沿用名式。

若辩讹说，确可一究：熊猫系天之骄子耶抑或自然弃儿耶？性为娇弱耶抑或强韧耶？

洪荒之时，人类尚无；赤县之内，熊猫广布；北至古燕，南达缅越；盛极一时，声名彪炳。然曾几何时，物换星移，值冰川之世，有气候剧变；沧海桑田，历暑往寒生，经优劣物竞，存亡天择也。天地视万物为刍狗，淘汰伴漫夜以严酷；多少物种，荡然无存；一世之霸，只余残骨；万物生生灭灭，熊猫孑遗至今。见证沧桑巨变，故谓之为“活化石”。化石本为死物，熊猫今且存生。三字惊心，有深意焉。一线生机，熊猫得之，劫余涅槃，所凭者何？若属天宠，偏不变不存；如非强韧，岂易肉食竹？

以此为镜，推而思之：人若当此，能存能亡？若能存遗，食肉食竹？苟为化石，是“死”是“活”？

天下之大势，适者存，悖者亡；自然之演进，谁能外，谁能阻？

不可自傲，是为古诫。

On Panda

What we call panda today actually refers to the giantpanda. They exclusively exist in China and enjoy the honor of nationaltreasure. Their adorable appearance makes them second to none, and theirblack-and-white coats are uncannily parallel to the Chinese painting. So theyalways bear diplomatic missions to promote friendship among nations.

According to their physical features, they belong tothe class of cat bear. There is also another saying that they belong to anotherfamily.

Why aren’t they named Catbear since they belong toclass of bear? In the 1930s and 1940s, when panda were exhibited in Chongqing,their Chinese name was written in a new format, but visitors still followed theold customs and read it from the right -- cat bear. However, according totextual research, panda was already listed in previous dictionaries. So thatversion might be a rumor. Their name is likely to be connected to red panda,which was found earlier and identified to belong to the same family. So theirnames followed the same pattern.

It is worthy to investigate whether panda bears areprivileged by God or abandoned by nature, whether their character is delicateor tenacious.

In the times of great antiquity, even before any formof human beings existed, panda bears were widespread in China. They thrivedfrom Yan in the north to Vietnam and Burma in the south. However not longafterwards, the climate changed greatly through the ice age, and the fittestsurvived in natural selection from heat to cold. The universe was quite ruthlesswithout mercy. Many species had disappeared, and the most ferocious beasts inthe past only left their bones. All things come and go, but panda remained. Asthe witness of tremendous changes of the world, panda are called the “livingfossil”. This title is quite meaningful, since fossil originally refers to deadthings but panda survived to the present. How did they seize the slim chance ofsurvival? If it has been a privilege from God, they would remain the same, butif not for their fortitude, the weak should not live through the law of thejungle. 

Taking this as a mirror, people can reflect on whetherwe could survive through this kind of situation, and if we could, whether wewould be the weaker or the stronger, whether we would be the living fossil orthe dead.

It is natural tendency that the fittest will survive,otherwise all shall perish. No one could stay out of or intervene with thenatural evolution.

The old adage put it this way: One shall never bearrogant.

《影画中华》之“熊猫家园图”手卷，供使用1126张拍摄自大熊猫栖息地的摄影作品，以摄影作品为素材进行再创作，塑造了一个理想化的熊猫家园，写实艺术与传统文化相结合，表达了对人与自然和谐相处的美好愿望。

“熊猫家园”手卷，全图宣纸材质呈现，手工装裱。展开时，浓郁的书卷气息扑面而至，被誉为是第一个将写实摄影与中国古老的手卷形式完美结合的创新作品。作品当中完美的运用了传统装帧，书法篆刻，类赋体文等经典传统文化元素。