曾秀烈 Zeng Xiulie
Record ST089 · Place stated on tomb 海邑 · Sungei Tiga Cemetery, Pulau Ubin · Date unknown
海邑
㳉考秀烈曾公
(㳉 written with the water radical 氵 and 月)
Summary
The tomb recorded as ST089 is at Sungei Tiga Cemetery on Pulau Ubin. Its inscription names the deceased as 曾秀烈, rendered here as Zeng Xiulie, and gives 海邑 as a place designation. No year, age, personal dates, relatives, or burial-register entry is supplied with the record, so the individual’s life and the precise meaning of 海邑 cannot yet be established. The S.T.E.M. record associates the inscription’s unusual character 㳉 with anti-Qing usage. A Chinese dictionary describes 㳉 in the phrase 反㳉復汨, an encoded form of 反清復明, and explains the graphic wordplay as 清无主 (“Qing without a ruler”). That association is a possible historical resonance of the character; the inscription alone does not prove the tomb owner’s political affiliation.Family 家族
| Relationship | Name | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Self | 曾秀烈 Zeng Xiulie | Tomb inscription; S.T.E.M. record |
| Other family members | Not named in the available inscription or record | Available record |
Tomb Inscription 墓碑銘文
| 碑文 | Transcription / Meaning |
|---|---|
| 海邑 | Literally “Hai county/region.” The two characters alone do not securely identify a particular county; identifying it specifically as 海澄 Haicheng would require corroborating evidence. |
| 㳉考 | The S.T.E.M. record reads this in the honorific position as approximately 顯考, “late honored father,” while noting that 㳉 is a graphic variant associated with 清. This is an interpretive reading, not a literal character-for-character transcription of 顯考. |
| 秀烈 | Recorded as the deceased’s name, Xiulie. The characters may also carry laudatory associations, but the inscription by itself does not establish whether they are a personal name or an epithet. |
| 曾公 | Mr Zeng / the respected Zeng gentleman; 曾 is the surname and 公 is an honorific. |
The character 㳉 is described by the Chinese dictionary entry cited below in the expression 反㳉復汨, a graphic expression for 反清復明. This supports an anti-Qing symbolic association for the character in that context. It does not, on its own, date this particular tomb or show that Zeng Xiulie belonged to a particular society or movement.
Burial Register 埋葬記錄
| ST089 | |
|---|---|
| Final Resting Place | Sungei Tiga Cemetery, Pulau Ubin (as recorded in the supplied entry) |
| Name | 曾秀烈 Zeng Xiulie |
| Age | Not recorded in the available material |
| Nationality | Not recorded |
| Date of death | Not recorded |
| Date of burial | Not recorded |
Short Biography 生平簡介
What the stone records. The available information for ST089 consists of the tomb inscription 海邑 㳉考秀烈曾公 and its stated location at Sungei Tiga Cemetery on Pulau Ubin. The inscription does not provide a date, age, hometown beyond the brief designation 海邑, or names of relatives. The precise identity and life history of Zeng Xiulie therefore remain unknown on the evidence currently available.The character 㳉. The inscription uses 㳉 before 考. The S.T.E.M. record interprets the phrase in the conventional memorial-honorific position as approximately 顯考 (“late honored father”), while noting the character’s association with 清. The dictionary records 㳉 in 反㳉復汨 as a written form of the anti-Qing expression 反清復明. This offers useful context for the unusual graph, but should not be treated as proof of the deceased’s political beliefs. Additional dated inscriptions or family records would be needed to test that interpretation for this tomb.
Pulau Ubin’s cemeteries. The National Heritage Board’s Pulau Ubin exhibition describes Chinese communities on the island and identifies three Chinese cemeteries. It locates two by nearby landmarks and describes the third as the largest, at Jalan Batu Ubin. That general account provides island context but does not identify which of its cemetery descriptions corresponds to the Sungei Tiga Cemetery designation in this tomb record.
Sources 資料來源
- Tomb inscription transcription and location, record ST089, as supplied for this post.
- 㳉考秀烈曾公, Singapore Tombstones Epigraphic Materials (S.T.E.M.), existing record.
- 漢典 (ZDIC), 㳉, dictionary explanation and example 反㳉復汨.
- National Heritage Board, Pulau Ubin, Pulau Ubin Cultural Mapping Project exhibition; Chinese communities and burial sites.
About this record. This entry is part of Singapore Tombstones Epigraphic Materials (S.T.E.M.) 新加坡墓碑銘集录, a specialised digital documentation project and archive recording historical tomb inscriptions in Singapore, with a focus on Bukit Brown Cemetery 武吉布朗坟场 and other early Chinese burial grounds. S.T.E.M. records transcribe inscriptions, interpret their wording, and add historical context where supporting sources are available. No burial-register entry or family record for ST089 was included in the material available for this post.
Cite this entry as:
“曾秀烈 Zeng Xiulie.” Singapore Tombstones Epigraphic Materials (S.T.E.M.), tombs.bukitbrown.org. Accessed [date].
Keywords: 曾秀烈, Zeng Xiulie, ST089, 海邑, 㳉考, 㳉, 清, 曾, Sungei Tiga Cemetery, Pulau Ubin, Singapore Chinese tomb inscriptions, Singapore Tombstones Epigraphic Materials, S.T.E.M.
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