Discussion and Conclusions 結論與延伸

In this paper we have presented a tomb, discovered on Xiyu Island in Penghu, which through the inscription 皇明 identifies itself as Ming period tombstone. Given the small number of Ming tombstones that have ever been documented in Penghu and given the poor documentation of Ming tombstones in Taiwan, adding one tombstone to the set of known Ming tombstones would be an important step forward in the study of funerary and epigraphic practices on Penghu and Taiwan. To confirm that this tombstone actually is a Ming tombstone, we identified a number of attributes which a commonly shared by older tombstones or by Ming period tombstones particularly.

本團隊於此論文發表一個發現於澎湖西嶼的墓碑。此「洪門楊氏墓」碑橫額刻有皇明，能作為證實此墓為明墓之證據。目前僅有極少數在澎湖的明墓有被記錄；台灣本島對於明代墓碑的紀錄也是寥寥無幾。新增一個明代所建立的墓碑資料進入資料庫將是台灣喪葬文化研究及刻銘領域往前邁進非常重要的一大步。為了證實此墓碑是明代之墓，本團隊建立一套經由已確立為明墓所訂定的檢測標準檢視此「洪門楊氏墓」碑。

Calculating the conditional probability of a Ming tombstone given these features, we obtain very high probability that this tombstone is indeed a Ming period tombstone. The critical features, the for a ming tombstone well preserved characters, have been partially integrated into the calculus using the features ’Penghu’, ’coral rock’, which indeed yield a very low probability. But combined with the high probability through 皇明，the rectangular form and the width of the tombstone, we can show that against all expectations, this tombstones can be very likely identified as Ming period tombstone. 透過這些指標，我們可以推測此「洪門楊氏墓」碑極有可能為明代之墓。最關鍵的特點為此墓保存非常良好，且同時具備在「澎湖」地區使用「珊瑚礁石」製作而成的墓碑，這樣的發生機率相當微小。

We hypothesize thus that his tombstone is an original Ming tombstone, which however has been reworked. Its surface has been polished and characters have been re-carved. The date for this reworking of the tombstone might be in the immediate past, when the last HONG family members of ZHUWAN moved to TAIWAN. It doesn’t seem to be uncommon in Penghu to renovate a tomb before leaving the islands, known that for years or decades nobody will come to the tombs any more. 我們推測此墓是一個於明代所建立的墓，但曾經被整修過。此墓的表面被重新磨製、字也被重新刻過。重修的日期可能就在不久之前，當最後一代洪姓家族的人離開澎湖時所整修。這樣的情況習俗在澎湖並不少見，當人們離開澎湖後，就至少會有數年甚至是數十年不會再有人去墓地翻新之前的墓。¹

The ultimate answer to the question whether OUR TOMBSTONE is a Ming period tombstone or not requires information on the HONG family or genealogic information on the HONG family. Our claim that OUR TOMBSTONE is a Ming period tombstone can be easily falsified if the offspring who erected the tombstone can be identified as a 20th or 19th century personality. If not, however, the likelyhood of a real Ming tombstone increases, raising the interesting question, why this tomb of a woman has been preserved with so much care, why the orientation facing the mountain has been chosen. 最首要的問題：究竟此「洪門楊氏墓」碑是否為明代之墓，除非能夠直接從洪氏家族取得相關資料或族譜，否則沒有一個確切的答案。我們主張此墓為明代之墓，但此墓很可能被19世紀或20世紀的子孫所重新整修因而產生年代被竄改之問題。倘若並非重修竄改之墓，這便產生了一個值得探討的新問題：究竟為什麼此女性之墓碑被保存得如此完善、且方位選擇如此特殊，為不同於一般面海背山的「面山背海」呢？若經過本團隊持續耕耘能聯絡上洪氏家族，此研究便可增加其延展性。