Tomb of Zheng He

The tomb of Zheng He, a Chinese Muslim navigator. At the south foot of Niushou mountain, Zhoufang village, Guli Township, Jiangning County, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province. Because Zheng He's father's name was Mahama, he was called mahazhi. Local people thought that Zheng He was originally named Ma, so it was called "Ma Huihui tomb". The mountain where the tomb is located is also known as huihuishan. It is about 150 meters long, 60 meters wide from east to west and 8 meters high at the top. In 1985, to commemorate the 580th anniversary of Zheng He's first flight, the Nanjing Municipal People's government allocated funds to rebuild the pavilion and erect the monument. The newly-built Tomb of Zheng He can be stepped up. On the top of the tomb, there is a tower type tomb cover made of bluestone, engraved with the Arabic word "tasmi leaf". The back wall of the tomb is inlaid with marble and engraved with four characters of "Tomb of Zheng He of Ming Dynasty". Now it is a cultural relic protection unit in Jiangsu Province. There is an endless stream of tourists from all ethnic groups at home and abroad. The tomb was built in Islamic style. The whole shape of the tomb is "Hui" shape. There are four groups of steps in front of the tomb, with 7 floors and 28 steps. It means that Zheng He visited more than 40 countries and regions seven times during 28 years.

The tomb was built in Islamic style. The whole shape of the tomb is "Hui" shape. There are four groups of steps in front of the tomb, with 7 floors and 28 steps. It means that Zheng He visited more than 40 countries and regions seven times during 28 years.

The tomb is 300 meters long from north to south, 60 meters wide from east to west and about 8 meters high. The lower part of the cover is carved with a lotus seat of auspicious cloud grass leaves, and the top of the tile shaped tomb is carved with the word "Allah is great" in Arabic.

Fifty meters away from the cemetery, there is still a blue stone pedestal, which is the only relic of the Ming Dynasty. The system is huge, half sunk in the mud, and the body of the tablet has disappeared. At the population section of the tomb Road, a hall building imitating the style of the Ming Dynasty is built as a memorial of Zheng He, in which there are pictures of Zheng He and his nautical chart and other related cultural relics.

Tomb of Zheng He

Zheng He's tomb is located at the south foot of Niushou mountain in Jiangning District, Nanjing city. It is a cultural relic protection unit in Jiangsu Province.

Because Zheng He's father's name was Mahama, he was called mahazhi. Local people thought that Zheng He was originally named Ma, so it was called "Ma Huihui tomb". The mountain where the tomb is located is also known as huihuishan. The tomb is rectangular, about 150 meters long, 60 meters wide from east to west, and about 8 meters high at the top of the tomb. There are four groups of steps in front of the tomb, seven floors and 28 steps, implying Zheng He's seven voyages to the West. It took 28 years to visit more than 40 countries and regions. The lower part of the tomb cover is decorated with a lotus seat of auspicious cloud grass leaves, and the top is a tower tomb cover made of bluestone, engraved with Arabic "tasmi leaf".

In November 2012, Zheng He tomb, as one of the heritage sites of China Maritime Silk Road project, was included in the preparatory list of China's world cultural heritage. According to the schedule, the preparatory work for declaration of world heritage was completed in 2015 and formally submitted to the world heritage Conference for deliberation in 2016.

geographical position

Zheng He's tomb is located on a hillside, and the mound is not obvious. The local people call it "mahuihui tomb". On both sides of the tomb, there are stone graveyards with a radius of about 200 meters and a distance of about 100 meters between the East and the West. It turns out that there is a huge pedestal about 50 meters away from Zheng's tomb, which can be said to be the only remains of Zheng's tomb on the ground. It was smashed in the summer of 1982.

Zhengjia Village

Around the cemetery, there used to be a grave guarding field of the Zheng family. In the southwest of the cemetery, there is a village named Zhengjia village. Most of the people here are surnamed Zheng. It is said that their ancestors were not surnamed Zheng, but were all grave guarding households of the Zheng family (commonly known as "grave relatives"), and later they all changed their surnames to Zheng. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, they had contacts with Zheng He's descendants who lived in Nanjing, and they often came here to visit their graves. According to Mr. Zheng Liuhong, the 18th grandson of Zheng He, who is over 80 years old, the generation of the descendants of Zheng He after the 10th generation is arranged by four sentences, five words and one sentence, with a total of 20 classes, and the arrangement is: "taishangcun, Zhongxiao, jihouliu, ZiKuan, shiwandai, Taidao, Taichang". The smallest generation in the family has reached the "Kuan" generation. He also reflected that since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Zheng He's descendants in Nanjing often came here to visit their graves. He came with his elders when he was very young. So far, there are more than 400 Zheng He's descendants in Nanjing, and many of the older generation came here to worship and sweep before liberation. It is said that there is another branch of the Zheng family in Jinning, Yunnan, which also has three or four hundred people. It is the descendant of Ma Wenming, the elder brother of Zheng He. The descendants of the Zheng family are divided into two surnames: Zheng in Nanjing and MA in Yunnan. Zheng He, originally surnamed Ma, was given the surname Zheng because he made contributions to Zhu Di, the emperor of Ming Dynasty, in the battle of Jingnan and saved Zhu Di, the king of Yan, in the battle of zhengcunba, Daxing County, Hebei Province.

A study of Zheng He's tomb

In 1983, Mr. Li Shihou, a counsellor of Yunnan Provincial People's government, and dozens of middle-aged and older people of Zheng He's descendants in Ning met to visit Zheng He's tomb. During the on-site inspection, everyone recalled their impressions of Zheng He's tomb, which provided many valuable suggestions for the future reconstruction of Zheng he's tomb. As far as the tombs are concerned, they were originally piled in the shape of steamed bread according to the Han customs. The descendants stressed that they should build a rectangle according to the Hui customs. According to this opinion, they also referred to the shape of buhading's Tomb of Yuan Dynasty Hui people in Yangzhou for restoration. 1985 marks the 580th anniversary of Zheng He's voyages to the West. During the national Zheng He symposium held in Nanjing, more than 300 experts, scholars and Zheng He's descendants attended the Symposium and paid a visit to the tomb of Zheng He, a great navigator. It was unprecedented. Mr. Zheng Liu'an, one of his descendants, also provided a lot of information related to Zheng He's tomb. According to him, there are two tombs in front of Zheng He's tomb. In the East is the bodyguard "he Da'an" who traveled with Zheng He to the west, named "Hai zha'er", a Muslim. Because he lived on the sea for a long time, his face was black, so people called him "black man". There is also a wasteland grave in the West (which has long been excavated). It is said that it is the aunt of the Zheng family who is not in the cabinet.

There are many differences in the historical records about the burial site of Zheng He's death year. There are many different opinions about the burial place. One is that he died in the Nanyang, that is, the Guri kingdom in southern India, buried in the Sambo cave in Java; the other is that he died in the middle of the road, buried in the sea; some people think that Zheng He returned to Nanjing in 1435 after his seventh trip to the west, and died in Nanjing in the same year, buried in Niushou mountain. "The tomb of Zheng He is in Nanjing," said a westerner, Bo Xi, and his book a study of Zheng He's voyages to the West This is based on Tongzhi's Shangwu and Jiangning County annals. According to the third volume of the chronicle, "there is a tomb of Zheng in Niushou mountain. Yongle ordered him to go to the west, Xuande ordered him to return to the west, died in Guli, and was buried at the foot of the mountain." Now there is no doubt that the tomb of Zheng He at the foot of Niushou mountain should be the tomb of Zheng He, but there are two different opinions on whether it is the tomb of Yi Guan or the real one. Their descendants think it is the tomb of Yi Guan. They say that according to the legend of their ancestors, Zheng He only brought back hair braids and boots after his death. However, Wu Han, Zhu Xie and Shu Shizheng, the famous contemporary historians, believe that Zheng He's last voyage ended in 1435, successfully completed the important task of seven voyages to the west, and returned to Nanjing. Due to the changes of domestic politics, he died in Nanjing in the same year and was buried at the foot of Niushou mountain. Therefore, they believe that what was buried here is true.

Explanation of Zheng He's tomb

As for Zheng He's tomb, there was another saying. Some people thought that Zheng He's tomb was in gaojiaku, yangjiafen, north foot of Niushou mountain. Because there was a memorial archway engraved with the word "Shendao of eunuch Zheng", it was determined that it was Zheng He's tomb. This saying has lasted for quite a while. During the "Cultural Revolution", a small number of local people gathered together to excavate the tomb. After the intervention of government departments, the archaeologists of Nanjing Municipal Commission for the preservation of cultural relics cleaned it up in 1974 and unearthed the epitaph, which turned out to be the "Tomb of Zheng Qiang". Zheng Qiang was the eunuch of Nanjing imperial court and the garrison of Nanjing during the Hongzhi period of Ming Dynasty (1488-1505), 50 years later than Zheng He. In addition, the argument that there was Zheng He's tomb in Java's Sanbao cave has been further clarified. According to the book Nanyang travel notes, "Java Sanbao cave is not the place where Zheng He returned to heaven. There is a tomb beside the cave, which is the tomb of King Jinghong of Ming Dynasty." Wang Jinghong is also known as "Wang Sanbao". At that time, Zheng He and Wang Jinghong traveled together in Nanyang. Wang Jinghong was Zheng He's deputy and died here. It is a false story to say that it was Zheng He's tomb.

dispute

The name was controversial in those days

Zheng He made great achievements in his seven voyages to the west, but it is a mystery where he was buried after his death. In 1964, a brief record of Jiangning cultural relics revealed that a tomb in NIUSHOUSHAN should be Zheng He's. The tomb is located on a hillside called huihuishan. Next to it is a Zhengjia village. One of the Zheng family members in the village claims that their ancestors have been watching the cemetery for generations. Local people say that this tomb is similar to the tomb of Luo Zhi and other Ming eunuchs in this area. It may be the tomb of Zheng He. In 1981, the relevant departments carried out a survey of the Ming Dynasty tomb "huihuishan". Soon after, the Jiangning County Bureau of culture and education renovated the tomb and officially identified it as "Zheng He tomb". After the renovation, the "Zheng He tomb" was engraved with the words "Tomb of Zheng He, a great navigator of the Ming Dynasty". At the bottom of the tomb, there are several groups of seven steps, symbolizing Zheng He's seven voyages to the West.

Since the ancient tomb of huihuishan was identified as Zheng He's tomb at that time, it was mainly based on the legend and speculation of the villagers, and no cultural relic was found to prove that this tomb was Zheng He's tomb, so there was a controversy in the academic circles. Many scholars thought that this "Zheng he's tomb" was not credible, at most it was just Zheng He's tomb. However, the academic case was not settled, and the ancient tomb was hastily titled "Tomb of Zheng He". Since then, most publications have claimed that the tomb of Zheng He was in Jiangning.

It's unreasonable to be buried in Nanjing

Generally speaking, it is unreasonable for Zheng He to be buried in Niushou mountain in Jiangning after his death. Zheng He died in April 1433 in Guri, India

Chinese PinYin : Zheng He Mu