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Original text of Yangcheng School/Xia Yang
Recently, the archaeological journal “Huaxia Archaeology” published the “2016-2017 Archaeological Excavation Brief for Anyang Gaoling Cemetery Ruins”. The topic of “Cao Cao Tomb” that has been paid attention to for ten years has appeared in the public eye again.
Staff in front of “Cao Cao’s Tomb” Photo/Xinhuanet
As a household name in China, Cao Cao’s past and afterlife were all very topical. Especially after his death, coupled with the legendary renderings of literary works and historical legends, it became more confusing. Legends such as “The Golden Captain” and “72 Suspicious Tombs” are the most talked about.
Stills/Data Pictures of the TV series “Jingjue Ancient City”
It is now 10 years since the initial discovery of “Cao Cao Cao’s Tomb”, although Cao Cao’s tomb has been officially recognized by the official since its beginning. But Babaylan was quite questioned, but later, with the discovery of the new Cao Wei tomb, the chain of evidence became more and more complete, and the voices of doubt gradually weakened.
The arch of the front room of “Cao Cao’s Tomb” Photo/Xinhuanet
After the past ten years of exploration and controversy, we look back and think about: Why did the process of discovering and identifying Cao Cao’s tomb bend be full of twists and turns? How should we view the legends in history? How did the mysteries surrounding Cao Cao’s tomb come into being?
Cao Cao in film and television dramas/data picture
The discovery of “Gaoling” caused a decade of controversy
Around 2008, a large tomb in Xigaoxue Village, Anyang, Henan Province was stolen. With the approval of the State Cultural Relics and Archaeology Bureau, the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology carried out a protective excavation. 2009 href=”https://comicmov.com/”>CinemaAmazing news came out at the archaeological discovery briefing held in Beijing in 2018: The tomb was initially confirmed to be “Cao Cao Gaoling”!
Archaeological discovery briefing/Southern Metropolis Daily
After experts’ demonstration, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage recognized this judgment, and the excavation project was also rated as “2009Cinema Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries in China”, became a national cultural heritage protection unit in 2013. However, at the same time, various doubts are like floods, and there are also criticisms from well-known professors and scholars.
Some of these doubts go beyond the scope of academic discussions, pointing to the local government’s rash conclusions on the “Cao Cao’s tomb” in order to seek economic benefits.
Photo of Cao Cao painted in the Ming Dynasty/Data picture
The tomb was severely robbed during archaeological excavation, but fortunately more than 200 objects remain. The most important ones are 7, engraved with inscriptions such as “The Tiger Halberds often used by King Wu of Wei” and “The Tiger Short Spears often used by King Wu of Wei”. Among the cultural relics recovered by the police from the tomb robbers, there is also a stone pillow engraved with “The Comfort Stones often used by King Wu of Wei”.
These are key cultural relics to determine the identity of the tomb owner. But some people questioned, how could there be a stone plaque for each burial object? In ancient times, bamboo slips were used to register burial objects.Cao Wei also used stone slabs. Could it be that history is regressing? Some people also proposed the title of “King Wu of Wei” to confuse Yin and Yang names, and some even questioned that the stone tablet was suspected of being faked!
The stone plaque unearthed from the tomb of Cao CaoKomiks” Picture/Oriental Daily
In addition, some gold, silver and jade products were unearthed in the tomb. So some people questioned that this was inconsistent with the historical records of Cao Cao’s promotion of burial, and they inferred that this was not Cao Cao’s tomb.
Faced with various aggressive doubts, the cultural relics and archaeology department chose to remain silent for a while to wait for more evidence to appear. After all, the identification of cultural relics requires objective and scientificity, and anyone can express different opinions when the evidence is insufficient.
Celadon jars were unearthed from the tomb Photo/Henan Business Daily
In 2016, another large Cao Wei tomb was found in Xizhu Village, Luoyang, but due to serious excavation, the identity of the tomb owner has not been determined. The tomb was built in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, but it is different from the north-south direction of the Eastern Han Dynasty imperial tombs, and is in the east-west direction like the “Cao Cao Tomb”.
The excavation site of Xizhu Village tomb Photo/Luoyang Evening News
As confirmed with the large tomb of Xizhu Village, a east-west Cao Wei noble tomb was found in the Han imperial tomb in Shandong, Luoyang in 2009. The unearthed bronze seal shows that the owner of the tomb was a famous general of Cao Wei, Babaylan, Grand Sima Cao Xiu, that is, Cao Cao’s nephew.
Cao Xiu/Data Picture in the TV series “Military Advisors Alliance”
The “Cao Xiu” bronze seal that proves the identity of the tomb owner/Xinhuanet
The most important information is that a large number of stone tablets were unearthed from the Xizhu Village tomb, the same as the stone tablets as the “Cao Cao Tomb” were unearthed. This cleared the suspicion of the stone plaque of “Cao Cao’s Tomb” as a forgery.
The low-value stone tablet unearthed from the Cao Wei tomb is also consistent with Cao Cao’s advocacy of thin burials. However, all three large tombs were excavated and damaged seriously, and the unearthed cultural relics were limited, so it is still difficult to draw conclusions in some information. However, some scholars infer that perhaps the burial objects written on the stone tablets in the Cao Wei tomb may be just a name and have not been buried in the physical objects.
Stone plaques unearthed from the tomb of Xizhu Village/Data picture
Other burial vessels in the tomb are mostly symbolic bright vessels, such as Gui and Bi, are made of stone, and the tripod is made of pottery. The burial tripod is the exclusive treatment of the emperor. Using a pottery tripod instead of a copper tripod is not only in line with the rules but also insignificant meaning of burial!
The ritual cauldron is made of ceramic pictures/@Henan Business Daily
The ritual utensils are made of stone pictures/Today’s Morning News
Do gold, silver and jade unearthed from “Cao Cao’s tomb” violate the style of burial? Archaeological experts explained that these are all accessories on the clothes of the tomb owner when he was buried, such as gold buttons, gold wire, etc., and are not burial objects. This is in Cao Cao’s orderThe theory of “burying with the clothes of the times” is consistent.
A small amount of jade and agate products were unearthed. Photo/China News Service
The historical facts are clear, why is there still a legend of “72 doubts”?
When the archaeological community identified the “Cao Cao Tomb”, there were many doubts from all walks of life, which was also related to the mystery of the Cao Cao tomb itself – LegendCinema said that Cao Cao’s tomb has “72 doubts”. How can such a secret tomb be easily found? Therefore, there is natural opposition in the official recognition of the public, and even doubts about the accuracy and objectivity of archaeological excavation information.
The tomb passage of the “Cao Cao’s Tomb” Photo/China News Service
Cao Cao Cao is famous in Chinese history and culture. There are many factors in this, from historical facts on the one hand, and from literary legends and folk legends.
Cao Cao in history was an outstanding politician, military strategist, and writer. However, since the Northern Song Dynasty, due to political needs and preferences for literary legends, the treacherous and suspicious side of Cao Cao’s personality was magnified, and his image was stereotyped as a treacherous hero. The unknown site of his tomb also made him take the blame, becoming a proof of his treacherous. The Song people Yu Yingfu’s poem “Cao Cao’s suspicious tomb” says: “I deceived the heavens and the Han dynasty during his lifetime, and deceived people and set up suspicious tombs after his death. ”
Statue of Cao Cao/Data Picture
In the Ming Dynasty, Luo Guanzhong’s “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” established Shu Han as orthodox, used literary techniques to exaggerate Cao Cao’s treacherous character, and designed the plot of Cao Cao’s last order setting up 72 suspicious tombs west of Yecheng. There is an article in Pu Songling’s “Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio” that follows this statement and said that Cao Cao’s tomb may add a layer of mystery beyond the “72 suspicious tombs”.
Stills from the TV series “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”/Data picture
About Cao Cao’s tomb, there are four legends circulating among the people of Yecheng: one says that “72 suspicious tombs” are located west of Yecheng, the second says that Cao Cao’s tomb is at the bottom of the Zhanghe River, the third says that Cao Cao’s tomb is outside Xuchang City, and the fourth says that it is under the Tongquetai in Yecheng.
At the Zhanghe River west of Yecheng, there are indeed ancient tomb groups distributed, which is the location of Cao Cao’s “72 suspicious tombs” (actually 134) legends from later generations. However, it has been confirmed that it belongs to the Northern Dynasties tomb group, and the tomb of the Lanling King is in it.
Lanling King in film and television dramas/data picture
Why is the theory of doubting the tomb widely circulated? Some scholars analyzed that this is related to people’s wishes. Because of the art of learning href=”https://comicmov.com/”>KomiksThe influence of art works and folk legends, ordinary people think that Cao Cao is treacherous, so they are willing to believe that he will set up suspicious tombs.
However, deciding tombs is a serious academic issue, requires a rigorous and scientific attitude. In the face of such issues, we must clarify the boundaries between literature, art, legend and official history, and return to history itself to explore historical figures.
The white-faced Cao Cao in Peking Opera Picture/International Online
In fact, if we look at Cao Cao’s tomb from a historical perspective, we will find that it is not mysterious and the clues are quite clear. Cao Cao issued the “End Order” in his later years to arrange his funeral, saying that “the west of Ximen Bao Temple is Shouling”; before his death, he also said in the “Legend of the Order” that “buried in the Xigang of Ye, which is similar to the Ximen Bao Temple.” Later historical materials show that Cao Cao was not a secret burial after his death, and no doubted tomb was set up. Records such as “The Three Kingdoms” and “The Book of Jin” said that Cao Cao died in Luoyang in 220 AD. His coffin was transported back to Yecheng and buried in the hills west of the Ximen Bao Temple in Yecheng.
The ruins of Yecheng are located in Linzhang, Hebei Province/Data map
Until the Tang Dynasty, people had no doubt about the location of Cao Cao’s tomb.Babaylan href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Babaylan. When Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin passed through Yecheng, he worshiped Cao Cao’s tomb and wrote a tribute. This shows that at least in the Tang Dynasty, the location of Cao Cao’s tomb was very clear.
However, because Cao Cao’s tomb was “not sealed or not trees”, there was no obvious sign on the surface, and it gradually disappeared in the mountains and fields over time, and the specific location was difficult to explain. Especially the Ximen Bao Temple, which is used as a reference for the location, was later lost to the ground, which made Cao Cao’s tomb a mystery.
Schematic diagram of the location of “Cao Cao’s tomb”/data picture
Strive to counter tradition and lead the trend of “thin burial” for 400 years
Cao Cao advocated thin burial. Before his death, he issued the “Legislative Order”, requiring him to “bury with the current clothes” and “no hidden place after his death. href=”https://comicmov.com/”>CinemaGolden and Jade Treasures”. His son followed his will. Cao Pi’s “State Article” and Cao Zhi’s “Essay” describe the funeral and burial situation. He wore the clothes he had repaired during the burial.
The scene of Cao Cao’s burial in film and television dramas/data photo
Cao was a hero of a generation and “used the emperor to command the princes”. In fact, Komiks was the master of the Han world. Although he was only the “King of Wei” during his lifetime, he actually enjoyed the treatment of an emperor. Shortly after his death, his son Cao Pi deposed Emperor Xian of Han and established the Cao Wei regime, and posthumously named him “Emperor Wu of Wei”. There is indeed a similar manifestation in the information of the tomb in Xigaoxue Village. The scale of the tomb did not reach the imperial level, but he buried the emperor.The “die” exclusive to the emperor.
Xigaoxue Village Tomb Cinema Photo/Xinhuanet
Cao Cao advocated thin burials, showing the spirit of a generation of heroes. After all, Chinese culture respects filial piety, and emperors “govern the world with filial piety”, so descendants always have to bury their ancestors to show their filial piety.
The tradition of grand burials of emperors in China has a long history. Qin Shihuang’s underground Terracotta Warriors and Horses shocked the world. Emperor Wu of Han used one-third of the world’s taxes to repair Maoling. Liu Sheng, the princes of the Han Dynasty, wore golden jade clothes to be buried. The underground palace of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty Zhaoling was “not different from the world”…
The Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang in Xi’an Photo/Visual China
Why did Cao Cao advocate thin burial? There are many reasons. Objectively speaking, there were many wars and chaos in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and the people’s livelihood in the Central Plains was in decline. “The army was in the fifteenth and the army was in the eightyth,” and “the bones were exposed in the wild, and there was no rooster crowing thousands of miles away.” Cao Cao’s advocacy of burial is to be sympathetic to the people and deserves praise.
The wars and chaos in the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty/Data picture
In fact, as the founder of the Cao Wei regime, Cao Cao had a high position and was worthy of money, so he should not lack money. The reason why he advocated thin burial against tradition is related to his personal value tendency. The Book of Wei said that Cao Cao was “elegant and frugal, not fancy,” so it was natural for him to propose “small burial” in his late years.
Cao Cao’s practice has opened up the 400-year burial style of burial for the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that the tradition of grand funeral was restored.
Cao Cao in history is very frugal/Data picture
Of course, Cao Cao’s promotion of burial is not unrelated to the saying of “the lieutenant of gold”. In order to raise food and money, Cao Cao set up the positions of “Golden Crown Captain” and “Faqiu General” in the army, and specialized in digging graves and plundering gold and silver to fill military money. Therefore, Cao Cao was known as the “ancestor of the Mojin School” in later generations. This statement is mentioned in Chen Lin, one of the “Seven Sons of Jian’an”, a famous article “Expression to Yuzhou for Yuan Shao”.
Stills from the movie “The Dragon Search” / Data Picture
Cao Cao, who is so familiar with tomb robbers, naturally thought that behind him might be “treated by the way he is to treat others.” He knew that tomb robbers were seeking money, and that tomb robbers who did not follow the Komiks‘s funeral objects were not very interested. Therefore, it is recommended to bury the poor and deliberately leave records. This is inevitable that there is the consideration of fear of being disturbed by tomb robbers behind me.
Cao Cao in the TV series “Military Advisors Alliance”/Data Picture
What Cao Cao didn’t expect was that although he advocated “thin burial” and later generations helped him interpret the “72 suspicious tombs”, he ultimately failed to escape the embarrassment of being disturbed by later tomb robbers!
The ancestor of tomb robbers also encountered the embarrassment of being robbed by tombs/data photo
The road to discovering and identifying the “Cao Cao Tomb” in Xigaoxue Village, Anyang has been going through ten years. As an academic issue, although we have basically the same views at present, we still need to continue to maintain an open mind and accept various views. After all, taking every possible doubt rigorously will help us to keep getting closer to the historical truth and finally reach the truth!
Only enough evidence can be sufficient to dial the Babaylan open the historical fog/data picture
Source｜Yangchengpai
Column host｜Xia Yang
Editor｜Xie Zhe