湖南勇古蹟園 The cemetery of Hunan Braves

  「滬尾湖南勇古墓」於1998年8月29日公告為市定古蹟，有清湖南兵勇古墓六座、觀音山石墓碑六方，碑首均刻有「擢勝左營」字樣。修復工程於2020年8月完工，命名為「湖南勇古蹟園」。

 擢勝營為清湖南勇營之一，係因臺灣牡丹社事件，為籌辦海防由漳州鎮總兵孫開華所募，計分五營，勇員約2525人。擢勝中、左營為1880年為新建基隆沙灣礮臺及改建滬尾舊有露天礮隄而新編，次年1881年擢勝左營部分勇丁因故客死滬尾，未能於黔軍接防時趕回閩省，為擢勝左營留下歷史的見證。其中孫開華尤以第四次功勳最為顯著，是為1884年於滬尾參與清法戰爭戰勝法方，始其一躍成為抗法名將，且使擢勝營聲名耀然於史。

 古墓墓區面積721.40平方公尺(約218.22坪)，墓碑排列分散無一定秩序，但墓碑銘文刻法及內容則相當一致，左題刻有立碑朝代、年月份，皆為1881年，不同處為墓立月份，分別有8月一位、9月兩位、10月三位，大約是連續死亡擇地下葬；右題刻有墓主祖籍，5座屬「善化」，1座屬「永定」，均在湖南；墓碑中央刻有墓主身分及姓名，均刻「故勇」，意為已故勇丁，無頭銜及諡號，是勇營中最低階級，反映平民階級平實特色；墓主姓名分別為：李、袁、張、胡、嚴等，其中李姓占兩位；字體由上而下直書，特色為均以陰刻行書，大小均衡、刻痕不深、成鈍刀形、字跡相似，係出自同一人之手，可能是營勇中較具筆墨常識之勇員所為。

  “The Cemetery of Hunan Braves” was designated as a municipal monument on August 29, 1998. There are six ancient graves. All were engraved with “ZhuoSheng Zuoying”, the left wing of ZhuoSheng battalion. The restoration was completed in August, 2020.

  ZhuoSheng battalion was one of the five Hunan battalions in the Qing army. The Hunan battalions were commanded by Sun Kaihua, a Brigade General at Zhangzhou in Fujian, to reinforce the coastal defense force because of the Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1874). In 1881, some soldiers of the ZhuoSheng battalion died and were buried in Tamsui. The victory in Battle of Tamsui during Sino -French War earned Sun Kaihua instant fame and made the battalion a legend.

  All of the inscriptions on the gravestones reveal that those soldiers died in different months of 1881. Their names, ancestral home Hunan Province, and "Guyong", ( “gu” means the deceased and “yong” means the lowest military rank) were also engraved.

  Inscriptions were engraved with recessed letters, with similar calligraphy style and size. Presumably, they might have been crafted by the same soldier.