序一

Tremendous in Warring Arts

——Pang's narrative cartoon in my eyes

龐大浩瀚 戰事一絕

——我眼中的龐氏連環畫

Prof. Albert Diem

丁愛博教授

Pang，meaning “Tremendous” in Chinese，is the surname of this artist. Indeed，Pang Wanfu's 7 years project is tremendous ——drawing thousands of narrative cartoons on the Tangut warring events（983-1227）. Rooted in a literary family of Pang Tong（a military scholar in the Three Kingdoms Period，220-265 AD），his family tree can be traced back far. It is no doubt that Pang's scense on ancient warring history is gifted.

龐，在漢語里是“龐大，浩瀚”的意思，也是眼前這位藝術家龐萬福的姓氏。龐萬福先生花了七年創作了一件龐大浩瀚的藝術作品——用上千幅動漫連環畫，表現了西夏王朝立國前后（983—1227）兩百多年戰事。龐家是書香門第，三國（220—265）時期的謀士龐統（號鳳雛先生）是今日寧夏惠農龐家的老祖先。龐萬福對古代戰爭的歷史感，無疑是與生俱來的。

Generally speaking，the warring scene is the most challenging topic in oil painting，sculpture，and cartoon. In doing so，Pang has put meticulous studies on the Tangut warring history. As a state along the Silk Road，Tangut constantly dell with war and peace during two hundred years: when just established，it was threatened by the neighboring Khitans，the Uyghurs，the Tibetans，and the Northern Song. On the eve of its fall，Tangut impressed Genghis Khan's army with 6 wars in 22 years，by its solid city walls and powerful cannons. Once Pang asked Prof. Yang Manzhong，the Tangut expert at Ningxia University，about the Tangut cannon. Yang replies，on camel back the Tangut cannon can turn around smoothly in 360 angels. It was learned by the Mongols，as the secret weapon during Genghis Khan's conquer of Europe.

戰爭場面，本身是油畫、雕塑、連環畫創作中，公認的場景最大、難度最高的題材。為此龐全身心地投入，琢磨上千個畫面畫什么，怎么畫，文字說明如何。西夏是絲綢之路上的小王國，其王朝兩百多年戰事在歷史上富有戲劇性：立國之初，北有大遼國，西北有高昌回鶻和甘州回鶻，西南有吐蕃，南有北宋，強敵環飼，戰事紛沓。西夏最終毀滅于蒙古大軍鐵蹄。一代天驕，成吉思汗，曾經六攻西夏而不果，前后征戰二十二年，對于西夏堅固的城池和先進的火炮，印象深刻。龐為了畫好戰爭場面，曾經請教寧夏大學西夏研究中心楊滿忠教授，關于西夏火炮的細節。楊教授說，西夏火炮是世界軍事史上一大發明，西夏人把小型火炮架在駱駝背上，打仗時可以360°旋轉，進退自如。蒙古人在與西夏國的交戰中，學到了這門技術，在成吉思汗西征歐洲的戰役中，成為絕門武器。

That is what I appreciate most，Pang constructs a brilliant warring epic，with black-and-white all around in his works. His drawing technique seems naive like a child，and his view angel appears unique，which，moving me deeply in sigh. Of cause it is my pleasure to offer him some details on the Tangut armlet. Hoping his art can survive in this hectic modern world. I believe through reading Pang's narrative cartoons，children today would have a better understanding on the devastated Tangut cultural heritage.

對于龐的連環畫我最欣賞的一點是，他采用樸素的黑白線條，勾畫了一出絢麗的戰爭史詩，歌盡悲歡離合。他兒童般稚拙的手法和獨特的視角，常常讓我停下來驚嘆。我很樂意給他提供一些西夏盔甲的細節。希望他能在時代的喧囂中繼續畫下去。希望更多的孩子通過閱讀他的連環畫，而深入了解這一段湮滅于時光塵埃中的西夏文化遺產。