[Above: an old house in Tainan 姑爺庄 where 鄭婉 and her husband 楊瑞璉 supposedly settled; they lived in the No 33 house]Except for a prominent few, ladies were rarely mentioned in Taiwan history . It is unknown how many Koxinga sisters were there. In Taiwan, local lore of them, both named and unnamed, abounded. The most popular ones are those on 鄭婉Cheng Wan. While Ursola de Bargas can be found in the Franciscan documents, 鄭婉 never appeared in any official or family records. Different versions of her stories, however, have been re-told in southern Taiwan for the past 340 years. For example,
(1) that she had married 楊瑞璉 and the couple followed Koxinga to Taiwan. Koxinga rewarded them by asking Yang to ride a fast horse for 3 days and 3 nights, and the lands along the way that he had traveled were all his to own. [There is, however, no record of Yang in Ming-Cheng history.]
(2) that 鄭婉 traveled by a sedan-chair from 姑爺庄 to Tainan. In the evening when in 麻豆, she was ambushed by bandits. She scolded them vowing retaliation. The bandits, upon learning her identity, murdered her and dumped her body in a creek. Overnight, a grave appeared in the middle of the creek. Even flooding could not destroy it.
姑爺庄 [literally the "village of Koxinga's brother-in-law"] is located in 新營, Tainan County. It made news in recent years:
1. 新營楊姑爺 古墓藏傳奇(http://www.dajiyuan.com) 8/14/2005 8:29:10 AM
This piece of news reiterated variations of the old stories except that investigation by the Township office revealed that 鄭婉 might have been married to 黃, not Yang. Also, her grave site was still present in 1951; although it has since disappeared.
【大紀元8月14日訊】〔自由時報記者楊金城╱新營報導〕台南縣新營市姑爺庄「楊姑爺古墓」傳說，在正史上並無記載楊姑爺此人，只有地方耆老代代相傳的楊姑爺和其古墓的歷史傳說，與楊家祠堂內記載有鄭成功之妹和其夫婿「楊姑爺」楊瑞璉的祖宗牌位來「佐證」。
楊姑爺和其古墓傳說是否屬實，300年來成了歷史謎團，姑爺古墓挖掘計畫能否就此解開答案，傳說吸引人注目。
新營市姑爺里的開基祖楊瑞璉，相傳是鄭成功的妹婿，鄭成功的妹妹鄭婉下嫁楊瑞璉，人稱「楊姑爺」，姑爺里（俗稱姑爺庄 )即因他而得名。
在楊姑爺最膾炙人口的傳說中，相傳當年鄭婉下嫁時，鄭成功允諾楊瑞璉縱馬3日3夜，所到之處盡為封土；目前楊家後代住在姑爺庄的尚有30多戶。
但新營市誌提到，楊瑞璉是個謎一般的人物，遍查鄭藩下官爵表中，並未提到楊瑞璉此人，至今無法正名。推測有可能是過去史冊文獻重男輕女，對鄭婉記載散佚，以致無從考據楊姑爺其人其事。
不過，楊家後代對楊姑爺的傳說深信不疑，耆老們還說，老一輩曾提及相傳鄭成功曾賜一「下馬牌」巨匾給楊姑爺，文武百官途經入庄，須下馬以示尊敬，但「下馬牌」至今無蹤影。
地方也傳說，約在343年前，鄭婉由楊瑞璉的部將護送回府城娘家，回程時在今下營鄉境的下橋頭港遇上土匪被殺害。
鄭婉的墓塚，在吳新榮的震瀛採訪紀錄中有記載到她的墓跡在民國40年初尚存，後來也不見了。
楊姑爺死後則葬在姑爺庄的東側，地處急水溪河床地，因河水氾濫，致深埋地下。
姑爺庄的人傳說，姑爺墓佔地3分多，墓前有12生肖和戰士石雕像，被埋入地下後，地上農作物長不好，另有傳說逢雨夜，在墓地上空會有金光閃爍射向天空。
為了這次考古挖掘，公所還派人查據史料，初步查知有鄭婉此人，但可能嫁給黃姓人士。
不過，楊姑爺歷史傳說言之鑿鑿，是否屬實？有待挖掘解開傳說之謎。
2. In a China Times report on May 19, 2007, the tomb of the husband of Koxinga's sister is slated for excavation in June:
中國時報 2007.05.19
三百年物換星移 傳說中 鄭成功妹婿古墓 6月開挖
陳易志/南縣報導
傳說逾三百年的鄭成功妹婿楊瑞璉墳墓，即將開挖揭開謎底。位在新營市姑爺里的一筆農地上，有塊約兩百坪的不毛之地，跟周遭雜草叢生截然有別，地主林慶長說，卅年來這塊地沒長出什麼植物來，懷疑就是楊瑞璉墓地所在。
相傳鄭成功的妹妹鄭婉，下嫁新營市姑爺里楊瑞璉，楊氏後代子孫開枝散葉，多數搬離這個沒落的農業部落，楊家古厝歷大火翻修，門牌號碼編為卅三號，仍屹立在村落內。
楊家古厝大廳內仍供奉「楊瑞璉、鄭婉」名字並列的神主牌，但除了此處香火外，其餘房間空蕩蕩。姑爺里長黃朝錶說，楊家子孫逢年過節都會回來拜拜。
傳說中的楊瑞璉墓地，坐落在古厝東側的一筆農地上，村內耆老相傳，楊氏墓園不小，墓前有石頭雕刻的十二生肖，種植參天巨木，曾經是村內小孩玩耍的場所。
這些口耳相傳的故事場景，距今約三百四十年，歷經滄海桑田，如今只看到廣袤農地，現在的地主林慶長於卅年前從他人手中購買這筆農地，栽種甘蔗、稻子、番薯等農作物，紛紛枯萎，存活率等於零。
目前這片農地處於休耕狀態，周遭叢生的雜草包圍其中一塊不毛之地，格外顯眼，估算這塊長不出植物的土地面積約兩百坪，也是地方人士推敲楊瑞璉墓地所在位置。
黃朝錶指出，疑為楊瑞璉墓地的農地，在遠古時代為急水溪河床，地貌隨著時代更迭而改變，墳地是否也因而異動移位，仍不無疑問，只是不長草的異相，與傳說中的墳墓位置吻合，值得探究。
地方人士決定依社區營造方式，企畫開鑿工程，新營市長李宗智支持開挖作業，預計最早於六月動工，挖掘開來如果真的發現墳墓，而且碑石上刻的是楊瑞璉，就可印證傳說不假。
一旦開挖成功，將進一步掘開墓穴找出陪葬飾物等，新營市所將呈報文建會，作更細膩的規畫，以免文物遭破壞。
We are not aware of any follow-ups regarding the excavation of Yang's tomb since this news report.
Then there are stories on Koxinga's other unnamed sisters. One was executed for bringing too many valuables while evacuating to Taiwan from Amoy. Another traveled to Taiwan to visit Koxinga, and on her way back through Peng-hu, her ship was blocked by two battling beings, one a serpent and the other a turtle. Both were slain by Koxinga leaving a streak of blood on the bottom of the sea that can still be seen today.
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