In June 2010, at the southern foot of Niushou Mountain in Nanjing, the construction team suddenly dug up pieces of blue bricks of the same specifications while building a kindergarten. A typical ancient tomb of the Ming Dynasty was officially unearthed. Locally, this is the long-circulated Zheng He's tomb , and less than 1 km to the south is a tomb-keeping village where the entire village is named Zheng.
So when the construction team reported it to the Nanjing Cultural Relics Protection Organization, the villagers of the tomb guarding village also hurriedly contacted, and Zheng and descendants in Nanjing City guarded the tomb together. In the end, after negotiations between the two parties, the cultural relics protection personnel patiently popularized the "Cultural Relics Law ": All cultural relics in my country that predate the Qing Dynasty are under state management due to their age, and no individual, including future generations, has the right to prevent the excavation and protection of cultural relics.
In order to prove his identity, Mr. Zheng Liuhong, the 18th generation grandson of Zheng He, who was over eighty years old, personally brought his family genealogy to mediate. He also explained to experts that after ten generations of Zheng He's descendants, the genealogy used four lines of poetry to rank the seniority: "The great emperor remains loyal and filial, the Ji Houliu is self-forgiving. The reproduction lasts for thousands of generations, and the family is prosperous"! He is a descendant of the Liu generation, the 18th generation descendant. Currently, the youngest descendant of Zheng He in Nanjing City has passed down to the Kuan generation.
They have lived in Nanjing for generations. At present, there are more than 400 descendants of Zheng He in Nanjing. The villagers of Tomb Shou Village also said that they come to to worship their ancestors during festivals. And as early as 1983, dozens of elders among Zheng He's descendants collectively invited Mr. Li Shihou from Yunnan Tongzhi Museum and "Yunnan Daily" to inspect Zheng He's tomb and made a "Zheng He Genealogy Order" for their family trees.
They are descendants of Zheng He. It is an indisputable fact that this is Zheng He’s tomb! But this explanation made people present feel incredible. As we all know, Zheng He, as the confidant of Ming Chengzu Zhu Di's voyages to the West, was an excellent navigator, but he was also an eunuch who went down in history.
So as a eunuch, how could Zheng He have so many descendants of Zheng He after 700 years? According to the genealogy provided by Mr. Zheng Liuhong, relevant scholars studying Zheng He combined various materials and finally determined the ownership of Zheng He's descendants and Zheng He's tomb.
It turns out that Zheng He, as a eunuch, did not come from an ordinary family, but was a descendant of the Yuan Dynasty King Liang left behind in Yunnan. Zheng He's original surname was Ma, and he was a Semu man. His father and grandfather had both made pilgrimages to Mecca, and his family was quite wealthy. When the Ming Dynasty destroyed the Yuan Dynasty, Ming generals Fu Youde and Lan Yu defeated the army of King Liang. Zheng He, who was only 11 years old, was a prisoner of war and was brought back to Nanjing to be castrated and made a eunuch.
And two years later, he followed Lan Yu's army to the north and met the then King of Yan, Zhu Di, at the Yan Palace. This made it possible for Zheng He to be deeply trusted by Zhu Di and to represent the Ming Dynasty in its seven voyages to the West. After Zhu Di Jingnan raised troops, Zheng He followed Zhu Di in the southern and northern wars, and made great contributions in the Battle of Zhengcunba . Only then was Ma Sanbao given the unusual surname "Zheng" by Zhu Di. Since then, Zheng He has appeared.
Zheng He's seven voyages to the West not only aimed to find the whereabouts of Emperor Jianwen for Zhu Di, but also established a tribute system for the Ming Dynasty. Zheng He's fleet sailed as far as the east coast of Africa. The spices and sumac brought back by the fleet brought huge profits to the Ming Dynasty, so Zheng He became famous at home and abroad.
Although Zheng He became a eunuch, as the first Nanjing garrison eunuch of the Ming Dynasty, his status was extraordinary. At that time, there was a concept that "there are three types of unfilial piety, and having no offspring is the greatest", and there were also many adoptive behaviors between uncles and brothers. Therefore, out of self-inheritance and care for his family, Zheng He, who was in better condition, adopted the son of his eldest brother Ma Wenming, named him Zheng En and raised him. This is also the origin of the descendants of Zheng He in Nanjing.
In addition to his adopted son Zheng En, Zheng He also adopted two nephews in the family. Therefore, in Yuxi City, Yunnan, there are still a group of Zheng He descendants with the surname Ma, and a group of Zheng He descendants with the surname Zheng. The two have the same origin. They are both adopted nephews of Zheng He. They just pass on the ancestral surname from one line and the surname given by Zheng He to the other line.
At this point, the identity of Zheng He’s descendants has been completely clarified. The villagers guarding the tomb not far from Zheng He’s tomb also revealed the history of their tomb guarding. As a 77-year-old elder in the tomb-keeping village, Zheng Shanqing recalled the scene when he first paid homage to Zheng He 16 years ago. His father asked him to kneel in front of the grave and said: "Remember, this is the tomb of Sanbao eunuch. The ancestors of our village followed him to the West. From now on, you must protect Zheng He's tomb just like you guard your own ancestral grave. No plant or tree here can be destroyed by him!"
So every year during the Qingming Festival, the village will worship Zheng He, and Zheng He's descendants living in Nanjing will also come to to worship their ancestors. Together, they guard Zheng He's tomb. Old man Zheng Shanqing recalled that the biggest disaster for Zheng He's tomb occurred in 1951, not long after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and many places were still in chaos.
Some people say that there is a golden figure in Zheng He’s tomb, and many people want to dig up the tomb for gold. It was his father who led the villagers to stop him and said: "This is the ancestral grave of our village. Our ancestors have been poor for generations. Where did the little golden man come from?" The people dispersed and Zheng He's tomb was preserved. After investigating the actual situation, the cultural relics protectors carried out protection measures for Zheng He's tomb based on the opinions of the villagers of the tomb-keeping village and Zheng He's descendants.
also renovated new buildings for Zheng He's tomb. Currently, the new tomb is 150 meters long, 60 meters wide from east to west, and the top of the tomb is 8 meters high. It consists of four groups of 7 floors and 28 steps. It represents Zheng He's seven voyages to the Western Ocean. After 28 years of sailing, he visited more than 40 countries and regions. He was a great navigator who opened up China's Maritime Silk Road.
In November 2012, the restored tomb of Zheng He was selected as one of the sites of China's Maritime Silk Road and included in China's World Cultural Heritage List. I hope that in the years to come, Zheng He’s tomb will always stand tall, shining light on future generations while also leaving a piece of pure land behind for this great navigator!
