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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’s Tomb” that has been paid attention to for ten years has once again appeared in the public eye.
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”
Cinema It has been 10 years since the initial discovery of the “Cao Cao’s Tomb”. Although Cao Cao’s tomb was officially recognized, it was questioned. 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” has caused ten years of controversy
Around 2008, a large number of Gaoxue Village, Anyang, Henan ProvinceThe tomb was stolen. With the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology carried out protective excavations. At the archaeological discovery briefing held in Beijing in 2009, shocking news came out: The tomb was initially confirmed to be “Cao Cao Gaoling”!
Instructions for Archaeological Discovery/Southern MetropolisCinemaCinemaCertification, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage recognized this judgment. The excavation project was also rated as the “Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries in China in 2009” and became a national cultural heritage protection unit in 2013. But at the same time, various doubts are like floods, and there are also voices of criticism from well-known professors and scholars.
Some of the doubts went beyond the scope of academic discussionsKomiks, pointing out that the local government colluded with archaeologists to “false” in order to seek economic benefits and made a rash conclusion on the “Cao Cao’s tomb”.
Photo of Cao Cao was painted in the Ming Dynasty/data picture
The tomb was severely stolen during the archaeological excavation, but fortunately more than 200 objects were left. The most important ones are 7, engraved with inscriptions such as “The tiger’s halberd often used by King Wu of Wei” and “The tiger’s halberd often used by King Wu of Wei” and other inscriptions. Among the cultural relics recovered by the police from the tomb robbers, there is also a stone pillow engraved with the “Stone of comforting the neck that King Wu of Wei often used.”
These are key cultural relics to determine the identity of the tomb owner. But some people questioned, how could I hold stone cards for every funeral item? In ancient times, bamboo slips were used to register burial objects, and Cao Wei also used stone tablets. Is it a regression in history? Some people also proposed the title of “King of Wei Wu”Komiks mixed the Yin name and the Yang name, and some even questioned that the stone tablet was suspected of being faked!
“Cao Cao”Stone plaque unearthed from the tomb Photo/Dongfangjin Daily
In addition, some gold, silver and jade products were unearthed in the tomb. Therefore, some people questioned that this was inconsistent with the historical records of Cao Cao’s promotion of burial, and it was inferred from this that this was not Cao Cao’s tomb.
Faced with various inclinations, 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 scientific, and anyone can express different opinions when the evidence is insufficient.
Celadon jars were unearthed from the tomb Photo/Henan Business Daily
In 201Cinema6 years, another large Cao Wei tomb was discovered 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 imperial tombs, and is the same as the “KomiksCao Cao Tomb”.
Xizhu Village tomb excavation site Photo/Luoyang Evening News
As confirmed with the Xizhu Village tomb, a tomb of an east-west Cao Wei nobleman was found in the Han imperial tomb in Shandong, Luoyang in 2009. The unearthed bronze seal shows that the owner of the tomb was Cao Wei’s famous general and Grand Marshal CaoBabaylan, who 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 informationYes, a large number of stone plaques were unearthed from the Xizhu Village tomb, which are the same as those of the “Cao Cao Tomb”. This cleared the suspicion of the stone plaque of “Cao Cao’s Tomb” as a forgery.
The low-value stone tablets unearthed from Cao Wei’s tomb are 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
The 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! Komiks
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 consistent with the saying that “dwelling with the current clothes” in Cao Cao’s order.
A small amount of jade agate products was unearthed. Photo/China News Service
The historical facts are clear, why is there still a legend of “72 doubts tombs”?
When the archaeological community identified the “Cao Cao’s Tomb”, BabaylanThe surging doubts from all walks of life are also related to the mystery of Cao Cao’s tomb itself. It is said that Cao Cao’s tomb has “72 doubts”. How can such a secret tomb be easily found? Therefore, there are natural oppositions in the official recognition of the people, and even doubts about the accuracy and objectivity of archaeological excavation information.
Tomb passage of “Cao Cao Cao’s Tomb” Photo/China News Service
Babaylan 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 on the other hand. href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Komiks said.
In history, Cao Cao was an outstanding politician, military strategist, and writer. But since the Northern Song Dynasty, due to political needs and literary preferences, 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: “When he was alive, he was out of control, and he set up a suspicious tomb after he died. ”
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 TV series “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”/Data picture
About Cao Cao’s tomb, there are four legends circulating among the people in Yecheng: one is said to be “72 suspicious tomb” west of Yecheng, the second is said to be Cao Cao’s tomb at the bottom of the Zhanghe River, the third is said to be outside Xuchang City, and the fourth is said to be under the bronze table in Yecheng.
At the side of the Zhang River west of Yecheng, there are indeed groups of ancient tombs distributed, which is the location of Cao Cao’s “72 doubts tombs” (actually 134) legendary. However, it has been confirmed that it belongs to the Northern Dynasties tomb group, and the tomb of the Lanling King is among them.
The Lanling King in the film and television dramas/data picture
Why is the theory of doubting the tombCinema widely circulated? Some scholars analyzed that this is related to people’s wishes. Influenced by art works and folk legends, ordinary people think Cao Cao is treacherous, so Babaylan is willing to believe that he will set up a suspicious tomb.
However, tombs are considered serious academic issues and should be kept rigorous and scientific. In the face of this kind of problem, 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. In his later years, Cao Cao issued the “End Order” to arrange his funeral, saying that “the west of Ximen Bao Temple is Shouling”; before his death, he also said in the “Legendary Order” that “buried in Xigang in Ye, similar to the Ximen Bao Temple.”
Historical materials from later generations show that Cao Cao was not a secret burial after his death, and no doubt was set up. Records of “The Three Kingdoms” and “Book of Jin” and other records that in 220 AD, Cao Cao died in Luoyang, and his coffin was transported back to Yecheng and buried in the hills west of the Leopard Temple in the West Gate of Yecheng..
The ruins of Yecheng are in Linzhang, Hebei Province/Data map
Until the Tang Dynasty, people had no doubt about the location of Cao Cao’s tomb. When Emperor Taizong Li Shimin passed Yecheng when he was expeditioning to Goryeo, he also worshiped Cao Cao’s tomb and wrote a tribute to the tomb. This shows that the location of Cao Cao’s tomb was very clear at least in the Tang Dynasty.
However, because Cao Cao’s tomb is “not sealed or treed”, there is no obvious sign on the surface, and it gradually disappeared in the mountains and fields over time, and the specific location is difficult to explain. Especially the Ximen Bao Temple, which is used as a reference for its location, was later completely gone. Babaylan, 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 he died, he issued the “Legislative Order”, requiring him to “bury with his time clothes” and “no gold and jade treasures” after his death. His son followed his will. Cao Pi’s “Classic Articles” and Cao Zhi’s “Essays” describe the funeral and burial situation, and he wore repaired clothes during the burial.
The scene of Cao Cao’s burial in film and television dramas/data picture
Cao CaoBabaylanAs a generation of heroes, he “used the emperor to command the princes”, he was actually the master of the Han world. Although he was just the “King of Wei” during his lifetime,Actually enjoying 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 it was buried with the emperor’s exclusive “die”.
The Tomb of Xigaoxue Village Photo/Xinhuanet
Cao Cao advocates thin burial, 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, the princes of the Han Dynasty, wore golden jade clothes when they were 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 was very frugal/Data picture
Of course, Cao Cao’s advocacy of burial was not unrelated to the saying “the lieutenant of the gold”. In order to raise food and money, Cao Cao set up the positions of “the lieutenant of the gold” and “the lieutenant of the Faqiu General” in the army, and specialized in digging graves and searching for gold and silver to fill military salary. Therefore, Cao Cao was known as the “the lieutenant of the gold school” in later generations. This statement was mentioned in Chen Lin, one of the “Seven Sons of Jian’an”, a famous article “The Election for Yuan Shao for Yuzhou”.
Stills/Data Pictures of the movie “Looking for Dragons”
Cao Cao, who is so familiar with tomb robbers, naturally thought that he might be “restrained by the way of others”. He knew that tomb robbers were seeking money, and the tomb robbers who did not have burial objects were not very interested. Therefore, he advocated burial and deliberately left records. Among them, he was afraid that he would be disturbed by tomb robbers behind him.
Cao Cao in the TV series “Military Advisors Alliance”/Data Picture
What Cao Cao did not 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 the tomb robbers in his long sleep!
The ancestor of tomb robbers also encountered the embarrassment of being robbed by tombs/data photo
The road to discovery and identification of the “Cao Cao Tomb” in Xigaoxue Village, Anyang has been going through ten years. As an academic issue, although Babaylan we have basically the same views at present, but we still need to continue to maintain an open mind and accept various opinions. After all, treating every possible doubt is more conducive to us constantly approaching the historical truth and finally reaching the truth!
Only enough evidence can clear away the fog of history/data image
Source｜Yangchengpai
Column host｜Xia Yang
Editor｜Xie Zhe