The Cao Cao Mausoleum, also known as the Gaoling Mausoleum of Wei and the Xigaoxue Tomb No. 2, is a tomb in Xigaoxue Village, Anfeng Township,

Anyang County Anyang County () is a county in the north of Henan province, China. It is under the administration of Anyang Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi ...

, Anyang City,

Henan Province Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It is purported to be the burial site of

Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...

(155–220 CE), a prominent warlord who lived in the late

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

. The discovery of the tomb was reported on 27 December 2009 by the Henan Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau. In 2013, the tomb became part of the seventh batch of

Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level A Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National LevelEnglish translation for "全国重点文物保护单位" varies, it includes Major Site (to Be) Protected for Its Historical and Cultural Value at the National Level, Major Histo ...

in China.

Historical background

(155–220 CE) was a warlord and politician who rose to prominence towards the

end of the Han dynasty The end of the Han dynasty was the period of Chinese history from 189 to 220 CE, roughly coinciding with the tumultuous reign of the Han dynasty's last ruler, Emperor Xian. During this period, the country was thrown into turmoil by the Yellow ...

( 184–220 CE) and became the ''de facto'' head of government in China during that period. In 216 CE, he received the title of a

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

king – King of Wei () – from

Emperor Xian Emperor Xian of Han (2 April 181 – 21 April 234), personal name Liu Xie (劉協), courtesy name Bohe, was the 14th and last emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. He reigned from 28 September 189 until 11 December 220. Liu Xie was a so ...

, the figurehead Han emperor whom he controlled. Through his military conquests, he laid the foundation for what was to become the state of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' <

Middle Chinese

: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

(220–266 CE), which was established by his son and successor,

Cao Pi Cao Pi () ( – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the eldest son ...

. Cao Cao died in 220 CE in

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

at the age of 65 and was posthumously honoured as "King Wu" (武王; literally "martial king") by Emperor Xian. The location of Cao Cao's tomb has been a mystery over the centuries. According to his official biography in the ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' (''Sanguozhi''), he was interred in the Gaoling (高陵; literally "high mausoleum") about one month after his death. However, he was also believed to be buried elsewhere. Other purported burial sites of Cao Cao include: Xu (許; present-day

Xuchang Xuchang (; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province of China, province in Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe to the s ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

), the capital of the Han dynasty at the time; beneath the

Zhang River The Zhang River is a tributary of the Wei River in China. The river commences at the confluence of the rivers Qingzhang (or Clear Zhang, 清漳河) and Zhuozhang (or Turbid Zhang, 浊漳河), where between She county of Hebei and Linzhou of ...

; below the

Bronze Sparrow Platform The Bronze Bird Terrace () was an iconic structure in the city of Ye built in AD 210 by Cao Cao, the prominent warlord of the late Eastern Han dynasty. Despite reconstructions after Cao Cao's time that exceeded his in scale, the Bronze Bird Ter ...

, a terrace in Ye (in present-day

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

), the capital of Cao Cao's vassal kingdom. Another legend, which originated in the

Northern Song dynasty Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

(960–1127) and was popularised by the works of

Luo Guanzhong Luo Ben (c. 1330–1400, or c.1280–1360), better known by his courtesy name Guanzhong (Mandarin pronunciation: ), was a Chinese writer who lived during the Ming dynasty. He was also known by his pseudonym Huhai Sanren (). Luo was attri ...

Pu Songling Pu Songling (, 5 June 1640 – 25 February 1715) was a Chinese writer during the Qing dynasty, best known as the author of '' Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio'' (''Liaozhai zhiyi''). Biography Pu was born into a poor merchant family from Z ...

and others in later periods, says that Cao Cao had 72 tombs constructed to serve as decoys and protection against grave robbers. The Northern Dynasty Tombs in

Ci County Ci County or Cixian () is a county of Hebei, China. It is under the administration of Handan City. Administrative Divisions Towns: * Cizhou (), Xiguanglu (), Gaoyu (), Yuecheng (), Guantai (), Lintan (), Huangsha (), Baitu (), Jiangwucheng ...

were initially believed to be the 72 tombs, but archaeologists later confirmed that they belonged to the imperial families of the

Eastern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Eastern Wei (), was an imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei dynasty. One of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period, the Eastern Wei ...

and

Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China ...

dynasties and have nothing to do with Cao Cao.

Discovery

The tomb was discovered in December 2008 when workers at a nearby

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...

were digging for mud to make bricks. Its discovery was initially not reported. The local authorities found out only after they seized a stone tablet bearing the inscription 'King Wu of Wei' – Cao Cao's posthumous title – from grave robbers who claimed to have stolen it from the tomb. Over the following year, archaeologists recovered more than 250 relics from the tomb, including stone paintings depicting social life in Cao Cao's time, stone tablets bearing inscriptions of sacrificial objects, and several items labelled as "personal belongings" frequently used by Cao Cao, including weapons and stone pillows. The bones of three persons were also unearthed and identified to be those of a man in his 60s, a woman in her 50s and another woman in her 20s. The tomb, made of bricks, faced east and formed a shape resembling the Chinese character ''jia'' () when viewed from above. It covered an area of roughly 740 square metres and its deepest point was about 15 metres below the ground. The underground tomb has two main chambers (front and back), four side chambers and connecting passages. An inclined passage 39.5 metres long and 9.8 metres wide leads to the underground chambers. The discovery of the tomb was confirmed by archaeological officials on 27 December 2009.

Controversy

Since the tomb was discovered, many sceptics and experts have pointed out problems with it and raised doubts about its authenticity. Yuan Jixi, a vice dean of the

Renmin University of China The Renmin University of China (RUC; ) is a national key public research university in Beijing, China. The university is affiliated to the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. RUC ...

's School of Chinese Classics, suggested that the items in the tomb cannot be guaranteed as authentic because the tomb had been greatly disturbed by grave robbers. Yuan also noted that the most important pieces of evidence – namely the artefacts bearing the inscription 'King Wu of Wei' – may have been deliberately placed in the tomb for deceptive purposes.

31 December 2009 seminar

On 31 December 2009, the Henan Provincial Institute of Archaeology invited experts from the

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese research institute and think tank. The institution is the premier comprehensive national academic research organization in the People's Republic of China for the study in the fields of ...

's Institute of Archaeology,

Zhengzhou University Zhengzhou University (), colloquially known in Chinese as Zhèngdà () and abbreviated as ZZU is a public university located in Zhengzhou, Henan, China. Zhengzhou University is the largest university in China in terms of number of students (aroun ...

, and

Henan University Henan University () is one of the oldest public and Double First Class Universities in China. It was founded in 1912. In the beginning, its name was the Preparatory School for Further Study in Europe and America. In 1942, its name was changed to ...

to join its researchers in a seminar to discuss the findings from the tomb and respond to queries from the press. The most popular topics discussed at the seminar include: * Whether the tomb was a decoy (one of the 72 tombs mentioned in legend): The experts said that the legend of the 72 tombs is not reliable as compared to information from historical sources, and that the legend should not be regarded seriously. They cited the case of the Northern Dynasty Tombs in Ci County, Handan, Hebei, which were previously mistakenly believed to be the 72 tombs. * Whether to believe the tomb robbers or archaeologists: One of the eight stone tablets bearing the inscription 'King Wu of Wei' was retrieved by the authorities from tomb robbers, while the other seven were unearthed directly from the tomb by professionals. The authenticity of the tablets remain in question. * Whether DNA testing can confirm the identity of the male: According to the experts, the use of

ancient DNA Ancient DNA (aDNA) is DNA isolated from ancient specimens. Due to degradation processes (including cross-linking, deamination and fragmentation) ancient DNA is more degraded in comparison with contemporary genetic material. Even under the bes ...

technology in archaeological research has yet to be fully developed so there may be technical difficulties. Besides, the male skeleton was not well preserved so the DNA extraction procedure may be very complicated. Even if the technology is fully functional, scientists still require DNA samples from a verified living descendant of Cao Cao to confirm the results. It is very difficult to find a living descendant of Cao Cao and verify that he/she is really a descendant of Cao Cao. * The identities of the two females: Researchers believe that the older female is Lady Bian, who, according to her historical biography in the ''Sanguozhi'', was buried in the Gaoling (高陵; literally "high mausoleum") – the same place as Cao Cao. The younger one is believed to be a servant.However,it is impossible for older woman remains to be lady Bian as she passed away at the age of 69 in 230AD in her grandson Cao Rui reign. * Whether the adjacent tomb, called the "Xigaoxue Tomb No. 1", was Cao Cao's tomb: The experts said that the first tomb is unlikely to be Cao Cao's tomb because its dimensions are smaller than the second tomb.

Endorsement by the SACH

In early January 2010, in light of the controversy over the authenticity of the tomb, Han Fuzheng, a lawyer from

Cangzhou Cangzhou () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. At the 2020 census, Cangzhou's built-up (''or metro'') area made of Yunhe, Xinhua districts and Cang County largely being conurbated had a populatio ...

, made a freedom of information (FOI) request to the

State Administration of Cultural Heritage The National Administration of Cultural Heritage (NCHA; ) is an administrative agency subordinate to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China. It is responsible for the development and management of museums as well ...

(SACH) for the disclosure of the information and assessment standards used in confirming the tomb. On 28 January, the SACH stated that the procedures associated with the excavation process, archaeological research and verification, publishing of results, etc., were all in accordance with the rules of archaeological work. This statement by the SACH effectively served as a legal endorsement of the results from the research conducted throughout 2009 which suggest that the tomb was Cao Cao's.

August 2010 forum

In August 2010, 23 experts and scholars presented evidence at the National High-Level Forum on Culture of the Three Kingdoms Period held in

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

to argue that the findings and the artefacts of the tomb are fake. During the forum, Lin Kuicheng, a historian and member of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, pointed out that Cao Cao should not be referred to as "King Wu of Wei" before 220 CE. After Cao Cao died in March 220 CE, his

king title – "King of Wei" – was inherited by his son,

, who continued to hold the title until around December when he forced

, the last emperor of the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

, to abdicate in his favour. Since Cao Cao was buried about one month after his death and his funeral was most likely presided over by Cao Pi, it would be

taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

to refer to Cao Cao as "King Wu of Wei" because the "King of Wei" (Cao Pi) was still living then. Furthermore, when Emperor Xian relinquished his throne to Cao Pi, he referred to Cao Pi and Cao Cao as "King of Wei" and "King Wu" respectively in his official abdication edict; Cao Cao was never referred to as "King Wu of Wei" in the edict.

Cao Huan and Cao Yu

On 12 September 2010, the Henan Provincial Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage and the Anyang County Cultural Centre published an article in the journal ''

Kaogu ''Kaogu'' () is a peer-reviewed monthly academic journal of Chinese archaeology, published by the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. History The predecessor to what would become Kaogu was published from 1934-193 ...

'' (''Archaeology'') about the tomb. In the article, they claimed that the tomb and the adjacent one (the Xigaoxue Tomb No. 1) actually belonged to

Cao Huan Cao Huan () (245/246–302/303), courtesy name Jingming, was the fifth and last emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. On 4 February 266, he abdicated the throne in favour of Sima Yan (later Emperor Wu of the Jin dyn ...

(the fifth and last Wei emperor) and his father

Cao Yu Cao Yu (, September 24, 1910 — December 13, 1996) was a Chinese playwright, often regarded as one of China's most important of the 20th century. His best-known works are ''Thunderstorm'' (1933), ''Sunrise'' (1936) and ''Peking Man'' (1940). ...

(a son of Cao Cao) respectively. The defining piece of evidence was a

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

that was initially thought to be a simple official seal, but was later discovered to be actually a seal bearing the tomb owner's name. When the seal was first revealed after it was excavated from the tomb, it was presented upside-down so the Chinese character inscribed on it in

seal script Seal script, also sigillary script () is an ancient style of writing Chinese characters that was common throughout the latter half of the 1st millennium BC. It evolved organically out of the Zhou dynasty bronze script. The Qin variant of seal ...

did not make any sense. After the error was corrected, archaeologists recognised that the Chinese character on the seal is ''huan'' (), hence they deduced that the tomb was Cao Huan's. When compared with the Chinese characters inscribed on a bronze seal belonging to

Cao Xiu Cao Xiu (died 29 September 228?), courtesy name Wenlie, was a Chinese military general of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. A distant younger relative of the warlord Cao Cao, Cao Xiu started his career in the late Easte ...

(whose tomb's discovery was announced and confirmed in May 2010), archaeologists noticed that the Chinese character on the seal from the Xigaoxue tomb bore some slight resemblance to the Chinese character ''cao'' (). According to the ''Wei Shipu'' (魏世譜; ''Genealogy of Wei''), Cao Huan died at the age of 57, which was rather close to the age at which the man in the tomb died. Fang Beichen, a

Sichuan University Sichuan University (SCU) is a National university, national National Key Universities, key public university, public research university in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. The university is wholly funded by Ministry of Education of the People's Republic ...

history professor who specialises in the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

period, published an essay on his personal blog about the findings from the Xigaoxue tomb and the pieces of evidence which point out that the tombs are actually the mausoleums of Cao Huan and Cao Yu.

Current status

In 2010, the tomb became part of the fifth batch of

in China. The excavation of the two tombs was completed by the end of 2010, with over 400 artefacts unearthed and 100 damaged relics restored by the provincial archaeologist team. To enhance the protection of the tomb, the local government in

Anyang Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively. It had a ...

has established a special committee to oversee and manage the tomb. , the tomb is not open to the public yet even though preparatory works for its opening are underway. The government has also built a temporary exhibition hall and a supporting ring corridor. , it has been announced that the government is constructing a museum on the original site of the tomb which will be named 'Cao Cao Mausoleum Museum' (). On 12 November 2012, a private museum in

Zhengzhou Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the National ...

donated a

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

to the Cao Cao Mausoleum. Media reports from 2018 describe the tomb complex as having an outer rammed earth foundation, a

spirit way A spirit way () is the ornate road leading to a Chinese tomb of a major dignitary. The term is also sometimes translated as spirit road, spirit path or sacred way. The spirit way is lined on both sides by a succession of statues, pillars, and ...

, and structures on the east and south sides. Archaeologists have also noted that the tomb's exterior and perimeter appear to be deliberately left unmarked; there are neither structures above the ground around the tomb nor massive piles of debris in the vicinity. This indirectly confirms historical records that

had ordered the monuments on the surface to be systematically dismantled to honour his father's wishes to be buried in a simple manner in a concealed location, as well as to prevent tomb robbers from finding and looting the tomb. Archaeologists also found another tomb next to Cao Cao's that was built around the same time. The other tomb, however, contains only clothes and no human remains were found inside. Experts believe that this tomb belongs to Cao Cao's eldest son,

Cao Ang Cao Ang () ( 177 – February or March 197), courtesy name Zixiu, was the eldest son of Cao Cao, a warlord who rose to power towards the end of the Han dynasty and laid the foundation of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of Chi ...

, who was killed at the Battle of Wancheng and his body was never found.

References

{{reflist * Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms () by Pei Songzhi (372-451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After leaving his native land, Pei ...

'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). Mausoleums in China Family of Cao Cao Anyang Archaeological sites in China Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Henan 2008 archaeological discoveries