The Mystery of Cao Cao’s Seventy-Two Suspicious Tombs

The Mystery of Cao Cao’s Seventy-Two Suspicious Tombs

Cao Cao was the first emperor in Chinese history to propose a "thin burial".

In 218, Cao Cao issued a "Final Order", which said:

Those buried in ancient times must live in barren land. On the west plain of the Ximen Temple is the Shouling Mausoleum. Because it is high as the base, it cannot be sealed or planted. According to the Rites of Zhou Dynasty, the cemetery was in charge of the tomb people. All the princes lived in the front on the left and right, and the ministers and officials lived in the back. In the Han system, it was also called accompanying the tomb. His ministers and generals who have made meritorious deeds should accompany him to the Shouling Mausoleum. His vast territory will be a sign of good fortune, so that he can be compatible. ?

The "Final Order" clearly stated that after death, there should be no heavy burial, but one should be buried on barren land, and the tomb should be made according to the original height. No soil should be piled on the mausoleum, and no trees should be planted on the mausoleum.

A year later, Cao Cao prepared four-season clothes for himself, which were placed in four boxes. Spring, summer, autumn and winter were written on them, and he left a will: "If you have any secrets, you can bury them at any time." , not a single piece of gold or jewelry can be given away. ?It means that if I die, please be buried in the clothes I wore at that time. Gold, jade, jewelry, copperware, etc. should not be buried with you. In the "Posthumous Order" quoted in the previous section, Cao Cao once again reiterated the requirement for a "small burial" after death, that is, after my death, those who still have the great clothes should not be left behind. ? And he was buried in the western hillock of Ye in his old clothes.

Emperors of all dynasties regard mausoleums as symbols of the country. Most of them ordered the construction of mausoleums from the day they ascended the throne, and most of these mausoleums were incredibly expensive. Why did Cao Cao do the opposite and advocate "a thin burial"? If you do a little research, it is nothing more than the following considerations.

The first and most important part is inseparable from his advocating frugality throughout his life.

At the end of 217, the weather was cold. One day, Cao Cao climbed onto the Tongque Tower and looked around. Suddenly, a young woman appeared in his sight. The woman wears ornaments on her head and silk silk, and is very gorgeous. After seeing this, Cao Cao became furious and immediately sent soldiers to interrogate him. The soldiers reported that this woman was the wife of Cao Zhi, Cao Cao's son. Cao Cao was speechless after hearing this. On the second day, an edict was sent to Cao Zhi's house. The content was that his wife had violated family rules, was not thrifty, and loved beauty, and asked him to commit suicide. Cao Zhi's wife had no choice but to hang herself. It turns out that Cao Cao, who was frugal all his life, had made family rules that stipulated that the clothes of concubines in the harem were not allowed to be embroidered with brocade and embroidery, and that the clothes of maids were not allowed to exceed the uppers of their shoes. The curtains and screens in the palace should be mended and used again after they are worn out. The quilts and mattresses covered by all personnel are not allowed to have patterns.

Not only did Cao Cao have strict requirements on his family and officials, he also lived a very frugal life. According to the "Biography of Cao Man": "Taizu was a man of great authority, good at music, and occasionally had excellent music by his side, and he often used the sun to reach the evening." He is dressed in light gauze and wears a small pouch to hold small things in his hands. Sometimes he wears a hat to meet guests. Every time he talks to others, teases and recites, he hides nothing, and laughs happily, until his head is buried in the cup, and the food and dishes are all cured of sweating and sweating. It is so easy. ?At that time, there were famines in the world, and cannibalism often occurred in the Central Plains. The army had no food, so they relied on picking mulberries and touching river clams to satisfy their hunger. Cao Cao issued the "Tuntian Order", mobilizing soldiers to farm and solving the food problem. Due to lack of resources, Cao Cao took the lead in developing clothes made of leather. Cao Cao suffered from head wind, and officials advised him to make a fur hat to protect him from the wind and cold. But he wore a silk hat, which was consistent with precedent. Under his influence, officials no longer wore fur hats.

Of course, Cao Cao is Cao Cao after all, not Li Cao, Wang Cao, Zhu Cao, Mao Cao or any other messy and unreliable Cao. Another important reason why Cao advocated thin burials was to prevent theft. Although the rise of tomb robbing in Chinese history began in the Spring and Autumn Period, neither the Qin people, who took the lead, nor Xiang Yu, who was motivated by revenge and struck later, did not blatantly set up officials to dig up graves. They just took advantage of the chaos of war to plunder. . But things were completely different after Dong Zhuo's Rebellion. The various armies vying for supremacy were seriously short of funds and started robbing tombs one after another. Cao Cao is no exception. Lu Xun mentioned in his article "Qingming Season" that Cao Cao set up "Mojin Xiaowei" to specialize in tomb robbing, which was first seen in "An Message Against Cao". In 200, Yuan Shao sent troops to attack Xuchang and crusade against Cao Cao. Chen Lin, one of the "Seven Sons of Jian'an", wrote an "Essay" on behalf of Yuan Shao to crusade against Cao Cao. There was a paragraph in which he accused the old and treacherous Cao Amo of not only establishing the "Mojin Xiaowei" In addition to similar official positions, the same type of official position of "Faqiu Zhonglang General" was also created.

As the name suggests, Faqiu means tomb robbing, but this kind of business is done in the capacity of an official. This kind of open excavation is an out-and-out official robbery. In order to show his importance to this industry, Cao Cao personally directed the excavation of the tombs of ancient emperors and exchanged the unearthed gold treasures for worldly money to support his increasingly large army. The "Essay" once said: "King Xiao of Liang, the mother-brother of the late emperor, is honored in his tomb and surrounded by pines, cypresses and mulberry trees. It is still appropriate to be respectful and solemn." Cao led his officers and men to excavate the corpse in person, broke open the coffin and plundered the corpse, and plundered the gold and treasure. To this day, the holy court sheds tears and the soldiers and the people feel sad. He also ordered General Qiu Zhonglang to touch the captain Jin, and all the battles he passed were destroyed and no bones were exposed. ? ("Book of the Later Han Dynasty? Biography of Yuan Shao") Although this incident was caused by Cao Cao's enemies in the form of scolding, which is exaggerated, the official position of tomb robbers established by the Cao family must not be groundless.

It is said that Cao Cao broke out in a cold sweat when he saw this "Exhortation". His headache suddenly improved, so he laughed and said: "Although Chen Lin's literary work is good, what is the shortcoming of Yuan Shao's military strategy?" ?Although Cao Cao did not take the Confucian scholar Chen Lin and the common man Yuan Shao seriously, he did not defend himself against the accusations that he set up officials to rob tombs. In the eyes of onlookers, this seemed not worth mentioning, and it seemed to be acquiescence. However, since it is a "Call to Cao Cao", it cannot be as nice as a letter of praise. The main function is to list Cao Cao's crimes. Therefore, some researchers in later generations believe that this passage may be exaggerated. However, judging from various historical records, Cao Cao did engage in tomb robbing. Cao Cao has been regarded as a hero for thousands of generations in history, but his behavior was despised by future generations. Some people commented: "Cao Cao was unethical. He ordered dozens of officers, including Qiu Zhonglang and Mojin Xiaowei, to be buried in tombs all over the world without questioning. Old and new, when the bones were excavated, they littered the fields, and everyone was sad. It's so cruel and cruel! ?

It was precisely because he had witnessed many scenes of tombs being stolen, with corpses strewn about and objects in a mess, that he did not want to repeat the same mistakes, so Cao Cao repeatedly requested a thin burial.

Cao Cao's idea was even passed down to his son Cao Pi. In 222, Cao Pi requested in the "Final System" that his Shouling Mausoleum should be built as a mountain, with no sealing of trees, no sleeping halls, gardens and towns, and divine passages. There should be no reeds, charcoal, or gold, silver, copper and iron. One is a pottery vessel. ?The coffin has been painted three times, but the rice contains no pearls and jade, and the jade box has no pearls and lining. ?Why do this? Cao Pi believed that, from ancient times to the present, there is no country that is immune to destruction, and there is no country that has not failed to dig its tomb. Since the Ming Dynasty, all the tombs of the Han family have been excavated, and even the jade box and gold thread were obtained by chance, and the bones were all taken together. This is the punishment of burning Ru, isn't it very painful! The trouble is due to the thick burial and sealing tree. ?

While advocating and practicing "thin burial", it is said that Cao Cao also took extraordinary measures, that is, setting up suspicious tombs.

According to the research of good people, the earliest doubtful tombs in China appeared in the Yin and Shang Dynasties. At that time, some slave-owning nobles created several fake tombs after their death, making it difficult for future generations to distinguish the true from the false. During the Spring and Autumn Period, with the popularity of tomb robbing, the art of doubting tombs was further developed. When it came to the Three Kingdoms where Cao Cao lived, it reached a peak.

The main purpose of Cao Cao's setting up the suspicious tomb is, of course, to prevent tomb robberies. But it may also be related to his always cunning and suspicious character during his lifetime.

"Taiping Guangji" once recorded such a story: When Cao Cao was young, he played a prank with his later enemy Yuan Shao. There was a family getting married, and the couple worshiped together in the bridal chamber at night. Cao Cao asked Yuan Shao to "stand guard" and sneaked into his master's house to peek at the bride and groom's bed. Unexpectedly, while he was watching enthusiastically, he was discovered by the owner and shouted: "A thief is coming!" ?So the master’s servants surrounded the garden, and Cao Cao was surrounded. But Cao Cao was not at all alarmed by this. He pulled out a sharp knife from his sleeve and grabbed the bride with one hand. The master trembled when he saw this and did not dare to move. Instead, he begged him to let her go. At this time, Cao Cao pointed at Yuan Shao who was hiding behind the tree and said: "The thief is here, why don't you chase him?" When Yuan Shao heard this, he turned around and ran away. The master also hurriedly led his servants to catch up. At this time, Cao Cao let go of the bride and walked away as if no one was around.

Cao Cao's suspicious character is not only the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but also has many historical materials to confirm: Cao Cao had a fellow countryman named Heng Shao, and he had a personal enmity with him in the past. After Cao Cao succeeded, Heng Shao begged him and knelt in front of the court. Cao Cao said: "Kneel down and die?" ?In the end, he was killed. "Book of Wei? Biography of Zhang Xiu" records that one of Cao Cao's nephews was killed by Zhang Xiu. Later, in order to defeat Yuan Shao and get rid of his military disadvantage and passive position, Cao Cao had to express his grudges to attract Zhang Xiu and make him a marquis. Thousands of households. But as soon as Yuan Shao was eliminated and the territory was consolidated, Cao Cao's son Cao Pi threatened Zhang Xiu to commit suicide. Before Cao Cao died, he killed Zhang Xiu's son Zhang Quan to avoid future troubles. Cao Cao was suspicious of anyone who had an old grudge, and would not let him go until his death. Therefore, the "Biography of Cao Man" said that most of the "old friends and old grudges" were killed by Cao Cao in revenge.

Cao Cao's naturally suspicious character was also reflected after his death. Legend has it that on the day Cao Cao was buried, all the city gates of Yecheng were opened, and 72 coffins were carried out from the city gates from the east, west, north, and south directions at the same time. Since then, an eternal mystery has been raised: Which of the seventy-two suspected tombs is the real one?

The Song Dynasty poet Yu Yingfu was very disdainful of Cao Cao's behavior. In his poem "Seventy-two Doubtful Tombs", he wrote in a disgusting tone:

When he was alive, he deceived heaven and eliminated the Han Dynasty, and after his death, he deceived others and set up doubtful graves.

Life ends with wisdom, so there is no chance to reach Qiulong.

I don’t doubt people who say they doubt the tomb. I have a way to tell you.

If all the tombs are covered with straight beards, there must be one tomb where the emperor’s body is hidden.

This clever poet Yu still didn’t know much about Cao Cao’s character and strategy. How did he know that Cao Cao’s body was buried in these seventy-two tombs? How do you know that it will not be buried beyond the seventy-two tombs? In this regard, Lu Xun once said in "Lace Literature: Qingming Festival": "According to legend, Cao Cao was afraid that his grave would be dug up after his death, so he built seventy-two doubtful tombs, which made it difficult for people to start. So a later poet said: "After digging up seventy-two doubtful graves, there must be one grave where the king's body is buried." ?The later commentators then said: ?Ah Hao is an old treacherous person. How can I know that his body is not among the seventy-two? There is really no way to think about it.

?Also said: ?Although Ah Man is a treacherous person, I think that the people who suspect the tomb may not have arranged it. However, most of the ancient tombs have been excavated, and the main names of the people in the tombs are rarely confirmed. , Mangshan, Luoyang, there were many grave diggers in the late Qing Dynasty. Even in the tombs of famous officials and ministers, the results were mostly a stone and messy pottery. It is probably not that there were no valuable burial objects, but that someone had dug them long ago. It was taken away, no way of knowing when. In short, it was from the time after the burial to the day of the excavation in the late Qing Dynasty. After Cao Cao was buried, the tomb robbers were not fooled by the claim of a "thin burial", nor were they deterred by the number of suspicious tombs. However, despite all their efforts and hard work, they could not see even a single hair of Cao Cao. So, where are Cao Cao's bones buried?

According to the "Final Order" left by Cao Cao, Cao Cao's tomb should be located west of the Leopard Temple at the west gate of ancient Ye City, which is equivalent to the area from the west of Santai Village in Linzhang County, Hebei Province to Ci County today. Along the river. This is an ancient cemetery, with hills and ridges dotted all over the place. The tall ones are like mountains, and the low ones are like hills. This is where the legendary seventy-two tombs of Cao Cao are located. As a poem puts it: The Zhanghe River is like a mountain with seventy-two high hills. Zhengping is only three feet away from the grave, and it rests on Parrot Island for eternity. ?

The legend of the seventy-two doubtful tombs has left future generations at a loss. According to historical records, Fan Chengda, a poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, dismounted here and paid a visit to Cao Cao's mausoleum in 1170. However, because he could not figure out which one was the real tomb of Cao Cao, he had to pay homage to the first suspected tomb on the west side of Jiangwu City under the guidance of local people. However, he had no idea whether he had paid homage to the real tomb. end. Facing the dotted graves, he could only sigh: "How can one coffin be like a forest of tombs, and all the graves are like this?" ?

Later generations continued to pursue it, but always to no avail, giving the Seventy-Two Suspicious Tombs a layer of mystery. The local people's various legends about the tomb make the tomb even more mysterious and mysterious. According to local people, the tombs in the Jianwucheng area often glow purple during thunderstorms. Others say that during the modern warlord era, an antique merchant named Husseimi from the East India Company hired a group of migrant workers from Zhengzhou to dig up suspected tombs near the Zhang River one by one in an attempt to find the true identity of Cao Cao. Tomb, dig for treasure. As a result, migrant workers dug more than a dozen tombs and found nothing inside except earthenware pottery and earthen jars. As they tried to continue digging, news spread about foreigners robbing the tomb. The angry local people, armed with knives and axes, drove Husseimi and his hired migrant workers out of the Zhanghe River.

There is another legend, which is very bizarre.

During the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a local orphan named Zhu Yuer who had lost his parents since childhood. Being helpless, he had no choice but to make a living by tending sheep for the landlord's family. One day, Zhu Ya'er was collecting firewood in Pengcun, southeast of Jiangwu City. This Peng Village, also called Pengcheng Village, was an artificial lake in ancient times. During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao named it Xuanwu Pond and specially trained sailors here. Later, due to the lack of dredging for many years and the continuous drought in the Central Plains, the water in the pond dried up. The Xuanwu Pond gradually became silted up, became overgrown with reeds, and turned into land. Zhu Yaer was collecting firewood here when he suddenly discovered a large tomb in the tall wormwood bushes, with a stone tablet lying on its side in front of the tomb. Zhu Ya'er was illiterate and curious, so he asked a private school teacher to identify it. When the private school teacher read the inscription, it turned out that this was the tomb of Cao Cao, Emperor Wu of Wei. So, they informed the Cizhou County Yamen. After the county magistrate learned about it, he immediately rushed to Pengcun in a sedan chair. But strangely, when he led people to clear away the weeds, the big tomb was gone. The county magistrate was very angry, thinking that the private school teacher had deceived him, and ordered his soldiers to beat him three hundred times. However, the young man was never found again.

As mentioned before, Yu Yingfu, a poet of the Song Dynasty, once conceived a way to deal with the seventy-two suspected tombs of Cao Cao: If all seventy-two tombs are found, there must be one tomb hiding the emperor's body. ?Unfortunately, this method has been proven to be ineffective in practice. Since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, these tombs have been stolen one after another, but Cao Cao's body has not been found. This is in line with what Lu Xun said: How can I know that his body is not among the seventy-two? There is really no way to think about it. ?

On March 8, 1988, the first page of "People's Daily" published an article titled "The Mystery of Cao Cao's Seventy-Two Suspicious Tombs Revealed". The article said,? The Seventy-Two Suspicious Tombs are actually a large group of ancient tombs in the Northern Dynasties, and the exact number of tombs is not 72, but 134. The full text of this article is as follows:

The ancient tombs in Ci County, Hebei Province, which are famous both at home and abroad, were recently listed by the State Council as the third batch of national key cultural relics protection units. In the past, this ancient tomb was considered to be the "Seventy-two Suspicious Tombs of Cao Cao" in folklore. It has now been found that it is actually a large group of ancient tombs from the Northern Dynasties. The exact number is not 72, but 134.

Cixian County is located in southern Hebei, with many tombs scattered over a land area of ​​more than 30 kilometers. The fourth chapter of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" records that Cao Cao ordered seventy-two suspicious tombs to be set up outside the military camp in Zhangde Prefecture, so that future generations would not know where he was buried, for fear of being discovered by others. ?In recent years, archaeologists have conducted many investigations on these "Cao Cao's suspected tombs". Based on the research of many epitaphs and tomb-shaped construction structures, as well as murals, pottery figurines, ancient coins and other artifacts, it has been shown that from 424 to 578, The Eastern Wei Dynasty and the Northern Qi Dynasty successively established their capitals in Ci County and Ye Town, Linzhang. During this period, relatives of the emperors and emperors' courtiers were buried here, gradually forming a large group of ancient tombs.

According to the epitaphs unearthed in Ci County, the owners of the tombs were all from the Northern Wei Dynasty, Eastern Wei Dynasty, and Northern Qi Dynasty. Therefore, "Cixian County Chronicles" recorded this: Since the Republic of China, most of the epitaphs unearthed by people were from the Northern Dynasties. Important person? The theory of doubting the tomb is self-defeating. ?

At this point, the story about Cao Cao’s setting up of the seventy-two doubtful tombs can come to an end. But the story about where Cao Cao's bones were buried does not end.

As the mystery of the Seventy-Two Suspicious Tombs fades away, another mysterious story surrounding the Zhanghe River will unfold. When the theory of the suspected tomb was shattered, some people suggested that Cao Cao's real tomb was not built on the ground, but at the bottom of the Zhang River.

The evidence for those who hold this view is that after Cao Cao's son Cao Pi deposed the Han Dynasty and proclaimed himself emperor, he wrote an edict entitled "Edict of the Marquis of Linzi to Plant Art to Sacrifice the Ancestor King", which wrote: ?I want to pay homage to the late king and go up the river. I look up and down and feel deeply sad. ?

Many later generations agree with this statement. For example, Liu Tingqi, a native of the Qing Dynasty, once wrote a poem "Bronze Bird Prostitute", which goes: "The bronze bird palace is surrounded by dust, and the mausoleum of the main garden of Wei is on the waterside of Zhangzhou." Even though looking west is still meditative, what’s more, there was no one singing in the past! ?

In his book "Jin Jian's Records", Shen Song of the Qing Dynasty cited "The Continuation of Jian Hu" and narrated an anecdote that happened at the bottom of the Zhang River to prove this theory. The story goes like this:

During the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, a drought occurred in the Zhanghe River, the river water dried up, and the sand bed collapsed. One day, a fisherman was fishing in a puddle on the river bed. Suddenly, he found a large stone slab exposed on the river bed. There was a crack on the side of the stone slab, barely enough for a person to enter. The fisherman looked into the cave and found that the cave was very long and unfathomable. He thought, maybe there are fish in it. So, he first stretched his feet into the hole, then tightened his body and got in. After entering, after walking for dozens of steps, he was blocked by a large stone door in front of him. He pushed the door hard, but it wouldn't budge. In desperation, he returned to the ground. This strange thing made the fisherman very excited, and he told his neighbors after he returned. After hearing this, everyone decided that this was an opportunity to make a fortune, so they agreed to go and see it together the next day.

The next day, they came to the big stone gate one by one. After a lot of effort, the big stone gate was finally pushed open. Everyone rushed to the door and took a look, and were immediately stunned by the sight in front of them: they saw that the stone house was full of beauties, all of them stunningly beautiful and stunning. Some of them are sitting, some are leaning on each other, and some are lying down, arranged in two rows, each one lifelike. But this beauty did not last long. In an instant, these female corpses turned into dust and lay exhausted on the ground. The stone house is huge. When I walked into the inner room, I saw a stone bed in the middle. Lying on the bed was an old man, wearing an official hat and court clothes, like a prince. In front of the prince's stone bed, there is a stone tablet. A literate person among the fishermen came forward and took a look. It turned out that the dead body wearing an official hat and court uniform was Cao Cao, Emperor Wu of Wei. In their view, Cao Cao was a white-faced traitor. So the fishermen picked up harpoons and sticks and stabbed the corpse randomly to vent their anger.

At the end of the narrative, Shen Song analyzed this phenomenon. He believed that the beauties in the tombs at the bottom of the Zhang River were suffocated to death and buried alive. Due to the condensation of earth energy in the tomb, when they opened the stone door, they looked like people who had just expired. However, when the fisherman entered the room, the earth energy leaked out, so they turned into dust as soon as they entered. Only Cao Cao used mercury to bury his body, so his skin did not rot.

Just when people had not yet had time to verify the authenticity of Shen Song’s narrative, another Qing man, Pu Songling, wrote in his book "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" that Cao Cao was discovered at the bottom of the river. The story of the mausoleum, but the difference this time is that the location he wrote was Xuchang, not Linzhang. The article reads:

The water is turbulent outside Xuchang City, and the cliff is deep and dark. In midsummer, someone was taking a bath, and suddenly his body was torn apart by swords and axes. When he emerged, the same person appeared, looking surprised. When the governor of the city heard about it, he sent people to sluice the upper stream and drain the water. He saw a cave under the cliff with a wheel in the middle, and sharp blades like frost on the wheel. After going round to attack, there is a stele with all the characters written in Han Dynasty. If you look closely, you will see that Cao Mengde is also there. The coffin was broken and the bones were scattered, and all the gold and treasures that had been sacrificed were taken.

In addition, there are many discrepancies in the locations, so the authenticity of the story is undoubtedly greatly compromised. Based on the above reasons, it is difficult to determine whether Cao Cao's tomb must be near the Zhanghe River.