论郑和宝船与册封舟——纪念郑和下西洋六百周年

Treasured Ships (Baochuan) under ZHE He and Conferring Ship

从《明实录》中郑和第一次下西洋前夕有关造海船的记载、历史上福船在远洋航行和海战威力方面所居优势地位以及明初福建海防和造船业格局等诸方面分析 ,福船应是第一次下西洋的主要船型。而与郑和同时为中官、且在洪熙、宣德中曾四次奉敕出使琉球的柴山亦称自己所乘福船型册封舟为“宝船”。由此可以认为 ,同为福船的宝船与册封舟只是一物二名而已。因此 ,我们将较可信的静海寺残碑和《前闻记》下西洋题本摘要中有关郑和船只的记载 ,与明朝后期册封琉球使臣们所撰《使琉球录》中关于册封舟形制的详细描述相结合并加以研究 ,相信有助于人们对郑和宝船获得符合客观实际的认识。

Judging from the record in the Ming Shilu (Veritable Records of Ming Dynasty), in which the manufacturing of seaworthy ships before Zhe He first sailed to the Western world was recorded, from the dominant position in history of Fu Chuan in seaworthiness and ocean war, and from the fabrics of Fujian coastal defence and ship building in early Ming Dynasty, it is reasonable to conclude that Fuchuan is the main type in the ships by which Zhen He first sailed to Western world. Cai Shan, which lived in the same age of Zhen He and ever sailed to Ryukyu four times as a convoy in the reign of Hongxi and Xuande, also titled his conferring ships featured the type of Fuchuan as treasured ships(Baochuan). Therefore, it can be articulated that treasured ships(Baochuan) and conferring ships, both of which were Fuchuan, are different names of the same type of ship. Based on the articulation, the record of Zhe He's ships in the relatively credible inscription on the remaining tablet in the Jinghai temple and the record in the abstract of the book Qianwen Ji, are compared with the detailed record of the type of conferring ships, which was put down in the books on voyages to Ryukyu, which were written by the convoys to Ryukyu in late Ming Dynasty. Such a comparison will convincingly help know more reasonable type of Zhe He's Baochuan.