There is a tomb of Zheng He on Niushou Mountain in Nanjing, but it is well known that it is a crown tomb, not the burial place of Zheng He. According to historical records, Zheng He died of illness in Guli, India, on the way to the West for the seventh time, so where is the real tomb of Zheng He? There are many opinions in the field of historians on this, and it has always become a historical suspense case.
One day in July 1956, several special visitors came to the pagoda of Hongjue Temple on Niushou Mountain, they were patients of the Zutang Mountain Mental Hospital, one of them was sitting on the bottom floor of the tower as usual, and suddenly he began to stomp hard with his feet, when he was in the middle of the tower, only to hear a hollow echo from the ground under his feet.
The Nanjing Museum soon received the news, and immediately sent people to investigate, and sure enough, a dungeon was found in the central underground of the bottom floor of the tower, and later excavated, a gilded lama tower was unearthed in the underground palace, consisting of a base, a gilded pagoda, and 4 celadon pots. The base is carved from red sandstone in the shape of Mount Meru, and contains pearls, gemstones, crystals, agate, jade, ashes and other objects. On the throne of Meru is a gilded pagoda with a gold coffin and silver coffin lying in the recess directly in front of it, and a gilded Buddha statue lies inside. In the four corners of the throne are four celadon pots, one of which contains a tooth relic and ashes.
The excavation of the gilded Lama Pagoda caused a sensation, especially the line at the bottom of the tower: The Buddhist disciple's royal eunuch Li Fushan was given alms, which made many historians extremely excited, and everyone had a bold guess, is the eunuch Li Fushan Zheng He? Then the teeth and ashes hidden in the tower are most likely Zheng He's! After some research, some scholars have suggested that Li Fushan was not Zheng He, but a eunuch of the same period as Zheng He and his good friend Li Tong.
This conjecture gradually faded from people's vision, but there was one person who did not die, he was Ge Xiaokang, an expert at the Nanjing Museum. Ge Xiaokang paid attention to the historical suspense of Zheng He's tomb for a long time, after which he conducted in-depth research on the cultural relics excavated from the pagoda of Hongjue Temple on Niushou Mountain, during which he also consulted a large number of historical materials, and finally in the "Buddha Says Moritz Sutra" inscribed by Yao Guangxiao in the first year of Yongle, he found evidence, which contained such a sentence: "Zheng He, a disciple of the Bodhisattva, is called Fushan", that is to say, Fushan is Zheng He's Dharma name.
So why did Zheng He use the surname "Li"? Ge Xiaokang's explanation after examining the matter was that at that time, Ming Chengzu had died, the newly appointed Xuanzong did not trust him, the opposition held real power, at this time he had to make early plans for the future, in order to prevent the future opposition from destroying his tomb, the inscription was written more obscurely. Since Hongjue Temple was built by the charity of Li Fu of the Southern Tang Dynasty, li Fu was buried on Niushou Mountain after his death, so Zheng He also expected himself to worship the Buddha forever at The Hongjue Temple of Niushou Mountain like Lord Li Xian. This can be seen in another inscription of the Lama Pagoda: "Jinling Niushoushan Hongjue Zen Monastery Yongchong Offering".
In addition, Ge Xiaokang also found the inscription "Non-Illusory Temple Incense Fire Icon" in the Library of Congress, from which it was verified that the pagoda of Hongjue Temple was Zheng Hede Pagoda.
At this point, a historical suspense case was finally solved, Zheng He was overworked in the Western Ocean for the seventh time, and the guest died in his hometown, and his previous careful planning was not in vain, the Hongjue Temple Stupa has been miraculously preserved through wind and rain and various wars, and the secrets of the underground palace have been kept to this day, which has to be said to be a miracle.
In 2015, the gilded lama tower was officially unveiled in the Nanjing Museum, solemn and elegant, glittering, like this "mini" gilded lama tower in China, this is the only one, which is very precious, which is also the first time since the Nanjing Museum reopened in 2013, replacing the treasure of the town courtyard on display, which shows that its value is extraordinary.