傳世麒麟考察初稿

明代將原產非洲的長頸鹿比附為麒麟，象徵聖王出世的麒麟，就成為下西洋期間的重要搜求對象。永樂十二年，榜葛剌貢麒麟，長頸鹿初次來到中國。翰林院修撰沈度撰〈瑞應麒麟頌〉，配上圖繪，成為藏台北故宮博物院的〈明人畫麒麟沈度頌〉。本文分析此幅題款書法，認為可能並非進呈獻皇帝原件。本文另簡析其他麒麟圖六種，判定所有麒麟圖皆同出一源。

關鍵字

鄭和下西洋；麒麟貢；明人畫麒麟沈度頌；麒麟圖；長頸鹿

並列摘要

The giraffe grown in Africa was mistaken for the kylin (Chinese unicorn) in the Ming Dynasty. Kylin, being a symbol of the Holy Emperor on the throne, became the target of Zheng He's scouting navigation. In 1414, Bangladesh paid the kylin as tribute, that's the first time the giraffe appeared in China. The member of the Imperial Academy Shen Du wrote a eulogy to commemorate this event. Somebody made a giraffe painting in addition to the eulogy, and became the so-called Kylin Drawn by Some Ming Painter with Shen Du's Eulogy collected in the Palace Museum in Taipei. Analyzing the inscription and calligraphy of the painting in this paper, we believe that this work may be not the original presented to the emperor. We also study other six kylin paintings, and we can say that all these giraffe paintings come from the same origin.