墓不算大，但主人卻留下了……

2010年的6月26日，南京市社會福利院在江寧祖堂山南麓施工中，突然發現了一座古墓。

考古隊聞訊而來~

In June 26, 2010, Nanjing Zutangshan Social Welfare Institute discovered an old brick-chambered tomb during their construction work at the foot of Zutangshan Mountain.

這座墓長這樣

打開墓門

考古專家發現，這是一座大型磚室墓，全長8.2米，寬4.1米，高3.5米，平面呈「呂」字形，由封門牆、門道、木門、前室、前後室之間過道、石門、後室及擋土牆組成。

後室有棺床、壁龕，棺槨等，已經全部腐爛，只剩幾枚棺釘。

從考古現場推測，這座墓曾經被盜過，後室頂部有一盜洞。

Archaeologists came and opened the gate of the tomb. They found that the brick structure, 8.2-meter-long, 4.1-meter-wide, and 3.5-meter-high, was composed of a front chamber and a rear chamber. The rear one houses the coffin of the tomb's owner, but all that had been eroded and disappeared except a few coffin nails.

墓主是誰？

考古專家在封門牆上部，發現了一合「壽藏銘」。

所謂「壽藏銘」，就是墓誌，上面記錄了死者的姓名、身份和生平。

A stone tablet was found on the wall, recording the identity and life story of the owner. It indicates that tomb belongs to Hong Bao, the second fiddle for Zheng He's oceangoing fleet in Ming dynasty. The tablet was made and inscribed before the death of Hong Bao, according to the inscriptions.

壽藏銘 The stone tablet found in the tomb.

相信你也看出來了，此墓的墓主是明代初年的都知監太監洪保。

洪保是誰

洪保，雲南大理府太和縣人，生於洪武三年（1370），名字為明成祖朱棣所賜。

歷任內承運庫副使、都知監右少監、都知監太監等職務。

從永樂元年（1403）到宣德八年（1433）年的三十年時間內，洪保一次出使西域，七次出使西洋。

洪保曾是鄭和下西洋船隊的副使，是伴隨鄭和航海「下西洋」的主要領導成員之一。

Like Zheng He, Hong was also born in Yunan and got his name from Emperor Chengzu. Zheng and Hong shared similar experiences of being captured in the war and castrated in a young age and being dispatched on multiple voyages overseas to display the strength of the dynasty.

墓里出土了什麼？

由於早年被盜，洪保墓出土的文物並不多，共有各類遺物20件（組），包括玉環、水晶串珠、料珠、銀釵、金冥幣、陶缸、鐵輔首、鐵棺釘、買地券、壽藏、錫鉛合金質地瓶等。

Having been robbed in early years, the tomb has a humble number of relics, including jade rings, earthenware jars and some other burial objects.

令人感到驚奇的是洪保墓前室內有一口陶制大缸。

這口陶釉絳紫色的大缸直徑為98厘米，高76厘米。

缸里還有一塊長20公分、寬15公分的青磚。

青磚也很怪，中間有個直徑2厘米的眼子。

A pithos was found in the front chamber, containing a piece of blue brick with a hole in the middle.

洪保墓前室內的陶制大缸 A pithos was found in the front chamber.

大缸裡面，有眼的青磚 A piece of blue brick with a hole in the middle was found in the pithos.

一個大缸里，放一塊有眼的青磚，是用來幹什麼的？

考古專家介紹：這口大缸，其實是一口「油燈」，缸里當年放置的全是燈油！

明代等級較高的墓中，都會放置一口大缸，缸上鋪一層木板，木板中間放一塊有小洞的青磚。

缸里裝滿燈油，青磚小洞裡插燈捻，燈捻通過木板上的洞伸進大缸里，這就形成了「一盞燈」。

用大缸來做長明燈的現象，在明代墓葬中並不鮮見，南京地區也多有發現。

Archaeologists speculated that the pithos was used to contain oil, and a wick would normally be put on the hole of the brick so it can dip into the oil and keep burning, which is common in tombs from Ming dynasty.

墓主有話說

這還是得回到墓里的壽藏銘~

嚴格意義上講，洪保墓發現的石碑不能稱墓誌，因為墓誌一般是死後撰寫的。

據《洪保墓誌》記載，洪保壽藏銘是生前就寫好並刻到石碑上。

The discovery of Hong Bao's tomb excited archaeologists, as the stone tablet found in the tomb sheds lights on the epic voyages in Ming dynasty.

墓主通過石碑告訴我們：

「永樂紀元，授內承運庫副使，蒙賜前名。

充副使，統領軍士，乘大福等號五千料巨舶。

齎捧詔敕使西洋各番國、撫諭遠人。

」

翻譯過來就是：朱棣上台第一年（永樂元年），我就作為下西洋船隊的副使，統領船隊下過西洋。

坐的是五千料巨舶」大福號「。

言下之意：鄭和第一次奉命下西洋的時間，並不是學界普遍認為的永樂三年（1405年），而是永樂元年（1403年）。

所以，鄭和下西洋應該不止七次；

洪保下西洋時坐的旗艦「大福號」是「五千料」級別的。

料，為古代計量單位，或以一石糧食為一料，或以兩端截面方一尺、長七尺的木材為一料。

5000料，摺合排水量達到2500多噸。

這麼說，鄭和下西洋所用寶船規模至少比很多人想像的要大很多。

"In the first year of Emperor Chengzu's reign (1403), Hong was appointed the deputy superintendent to lead a fleet on a voyage abroad, on a ship with a displacement of 5000 Liao (about 2500 tons)," the tablet reads.

洪保與鄭和是同鄉，兩人年齡相仿，一生命運軌跡也極為相似。

洪武十五年（1382年）時，明軍攻入雲南，12歲的他與11歲的鄭和等人一道被虜至宮中，成了太監，供侍廷掖。

後因追隨燕王朱棣靖難有功，被賜名洪保，得到重用，歷任內承運庫副使、都知監右少監、都知監太監等職。

This could mean that the first official oceangoing voyage in Ming dynasty started in 1403 instead of the 1405 we generally believe. And the fleet could have gone on more than seven voyages abroad. More importantly, the ship that Hong boarded had a displacement of over 2500 tons, which could mean that the ship Zheng He boarded might have been much bigger than we believe.

鄭和1433年辭世後，洪保還在延續下西洋活動。

1441年7月到1442年，已年過七旬的洪保率使團最後一次出使西洋。

一生奔波，怪不得洪保在「銘文」中慨嘆：「人生在世，如駒過隙，與其生後之有為，孰若生前只早計也」。

洪保墓後室棺床及壁龕

Two puzzles remained about the tomb of Hong Bao—first about the purpose of the iron hoops on the surrounding wall of the coffin bed, and second about the disappearance of the coffin and the body which were buried only 600 years ago.

被列為海絲申遺點

洪保墓的發現為鄭和下西洋研究提供了極其珍貴的一手資料，在國內考古界引發了很大震動。

洪保壽藏銘上記載排水量的文字，也印證了鄭和寶船的長寬記載是可靠的，足以反駁一切質疑的聲音，而洪保墓也被列為海上絲綢之路南京申遺點。

Given the precious first-hand information it offered about the epic voyages of Ming dynasty, Hong Bao's tomb was listed as an important site of the ancient Maritime Silk Road.

Source: WeChat（絲路雲帆）