Wen 丨 Wang Shuangshuang (Editor-in-Chief of Fangtang Media's "Rediscovering Henan")
In April 1998, Xu Yuchao, a farmer in Anyang County, accidentally found an epitaph in the field while taking soil and burning bricks, which was bluestone and contained 126 characters. However, it was these 126 characters, 11 years later, that became the key clues and evidence for the discovery, excavation, research and confirmation of Cao Cao's tomb, and at the same time, it once became the focus of controversy over the "true and false Cao Cao tomb".
This epitaph is the "Lu Qian Epitaph".
1
Twelve years of Cao Cao's tomb true and false
On December 27, 2021, Anyang City held a promotion meeting on the integration of cultural and creative development and an academic seminar on new achievements in archaeology and historical research in Cao Cao Gaoling, and announced the major news that "the Anyang Cao Cao Gaoling Site Museum plans to be fully opened to the public on May 1, 2022".
As soon as the news was announced, it caused many people to discuss.
In fact, since the news of the "discovery of Cao Cao's Tomb in Xigaoxiao Village in Anyang" was first made public 12 years ago, the debate over the "authenticity of Cao Cao's tomb" has never stopped. During this period, whenever there is any new development in the "Anyang Cao Cao Gaoling Ruins", it will cause a wave of discussion climax of "true and false Cao Cao Tombs".
Cao Cao was a famous historical figure in the mainland, the founder of the Cao Wei regime during the Three Kingdoms period, Wen Tao was good at martial arts, and his life was full of legends. Regarding the place of his tomb, it was not a secret at first, and there is a "testament" of Cao Cao in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which clearly records the place and specifications of the tomb after his death: "The burial of the ancients will live in a barren land." Its rule Ximen Leopard Ancestral Hall on the west plain is the ShouLing Tomb, because the height is the base, not sealed and not tree. "That is, buried in the hills west of the West Gate Leopard Ancestral Hall west of Yecheng, without sealing the soil and building a mausoleum."
Moreover, many poets of the Tang Dynasty left poems to worship Cao Cao when passing through Yecheng, such as Wang Bo's "Looking Northwest of Gaotai, Running Nose to Qingsong", Liu Yuxi's "Sun Ying Xiling Pine Branch, Descending from the Stage to Take Care of Each Other", Shen Qi's "Looking toward the West Mausoleum, Looking at the West Mausoleum at sunset". Hope is gone, and the moon is fifteen again. It can be seen that people at that time were clear about Cao Cao's tomb site.
However, after the Song Dynasty, Cao Cao's image took a sharp turn, and later, along with the circulation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao's image of a white-faced adulterous male was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. At this time, Cao Cao's tomb site has become a mystery, and even the folk legend of "Seventy-two Doubtful Tombs" has been circulated.
Until December 27, 2009, the news of "discovering Cao Cao's Gaoling in Anyang's West Gaoxiao Village" was so shocking that it triggered the whole society, and some villagers living nearby or loyal fans of the Three Kingdoms rushed to see Cao Cao's "true face". Along with them, there was an overwhelming barrage of doubts.
Although the news was confirmed by relevant scholars in the Chinese archaeological community and finally identified by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, there are still many scholars, experts and social figures who do not recognize it. For example, Xu Pingfang, an archaeologist and member of the expert group of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Yuan Jixi, an expert in Wei and Jin Dynasties literature and vice dean of the National College of Chinese Min University, Fang Beichen, professor of the School of History and Culture of Sichuan University and a well-known expert in the study of the Culture of the Three Kingdoms, and Ni Fangliu, a scholar of chinese tomb robbery history and a member of the Jiangsu Archaeological Society, respectively raised questions or opinions from the aspects of tomb owner, region, location, etiquette, and profession.
Of course, there are also many experts who support the tomb found in Anyang's Xigao Cave Village, which is the tomb of Cao Cao, and many of these experts come from archaeology majors. For example, Pan Weibin, captain of Cao Cao's Gaoling Archaeological Team, Liu Qingzhu, former director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Wang Wei, director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Zhu Yan, director of the Hantang Archaeological Research Office of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Qian Guoxiang, director of the workstation of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. They determined that the owner of the tomb was Cao Cao from the perspective of the shape of the mausoleum, the characteristics of the excavated cultural relics, the age of the male bones unearthed, and the stone tablets and stone pillows with the inscription "King Wu of Wei".
For a time, the dispute over the authenticity of Cao Cao's tomb was raging.
On June 11, 2010, Cao Cao Gaoling in Anyang was selected as the first of the "Top Ten New Archaeological Discoveries in China in 2009", but the voices of doubters did not stop there. On August 21, 2010, the "National High-level Forum on The Culture of the Three Kingdoms" initiated by scholar Ni Fangliu was held in Suzhou, and 23 experts and scholars from all over the country refuted the authenticity of Cao Cao's tomb from all aspects, believing that in the process of discovery and excavation, there was artificial planning and deliberate fraud in the process of discovery and excavation of Cao Cao's tomb, and demanded that Cao Cao's tomb be cancelled The qualification of "2009 National Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries", and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage should send experts to conduct in-depth on-site investigation.
Li Luping, an expert in jinshi research, said at the meeting that the "Lu Qian's Epitaph" that proves the detailed location of Cao Cao's tomb and the stone tablets with the inscription "King Wu of Wei" and the consolation stone are all modern forgeries. It is believed that the characters "year" and "year" in the "Lu Qian's Epitaph" do not conform to the writing standards of the Lishu at that time; and for the "Euphorbia of Wei Wu often used by King Wu of Wei", "the big knife of the Tiger used by King Wu of Wei", and "the consolation stone often used by King Wu of Wei" unearthed from Cao Cao's tomb, the first two mistakenly wrote the "stop" of the word "Wu" to "Shan", and the latter "Wu" character was written in the same way as the first "Wu" character in the "Lu Qian's Epitaph", and mistakenly wrote the "Stop" part as the "Zhi" part.
Historian Lin Kuicheng believes that the title of the excavated cultural relic "King Wu of Wei" violates the etiquette system; Huang Zhenyun, doctoral supervisor of the department of Chinese of the China University of Political Science and Law and an expert in Wei and Jin literature, believes that the portrait stone in Cao Cao's tomb is a modern tool; Zhang Guoan, a doctor of history at Beijing Normal University, believes that from the perspective of the tomb shape system, Cao Cao's tomb is of the same specification as the tomb of his son Cao Xiu, which also does not conform to the etiquette system...
But Tang Jigen, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, synthesized his own research results and responded to the popular skepticism at the time, saying that Cao Cao's tomb could not have been faked.
First of all, through the analysis of the shell, dirt, scale and other traces on the stone stele, the stone plaque is denied to be counterfeited; second, find out the literature to illustrate the ancient title of "King Wu of Wei"; secondly, in response to the writing of the word "Wu", archaeologist Hao Ben said that in the turbulent historical stage from the late Eastern Han Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties of Wei and Jin, there were many aliases on the stele, "just like the oracle bone, more than 100 years ago, no one knew that there was such a script." But not knowing doesn't mean you can conclude that it doesn't exist at all? ”
The text of the "Lu Qian's Epitaph" proposed by the skeptics is similar to the font of Cao Cao's tombstone, which is the same person's forgery. Tang Jigen said that the development of epitaph content has gone through a long historical period, and we cannot measure the initial stage of the epitaph with today's eyes; according to the comparison of pictures, the font of Lu Qian's epitaph and the font of Cao Cao's tombstone plaque have many differences.
In May 2013, Cao Cao Gaoling became the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units; in June 2013, Cao Cao Gaoling and Yecheng ruins were shortlisted for the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan for the Protection of Great Sites" approved by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Ministry of Finance; in 2018, the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology released the archaeological findings of Cao Cao Gaoling in 2016-2017, and Cao Cao's remains were basically confirmed.
On January 5, Pan Weibin, the leader of Cao Cao's Gaoling Archaeological Team, said confidently in an interview with reporters at the "Member Channel" of the Fifth Session of the 12th CPPCC National Committee of Henan Province: "Due to many thefts, many people are worried about whether our exhibition can prove that this is Cao Cao's tomb. ”
2
A new imagination space for the development of Anyang Cultural Tourism
In our view, standing at a new time node, putting aside the distinction between true and false Cao Cao's tomb, it is foreseeable that with the opening of Cao Cao's Gaoling Site Museum, Anyang's cultural tourism pattern may usher in a new reshaping.
As one of the eight ancient capitals of China and the hometown of Oracle, Anyang has rich cultural and tourism resources. According to public reports, Anyang has more than 1,700 humanistic tourism resources, more than 600 natural tourism resources, 26 national key cultural relics protection units, and 71 cultural relics protection units in Henan Province.
The 14th Five-Year Plan for the National Economic and Social Development of Anyang City and the Outline of Long-term Goals for the 2035 Years released in 2021 summarizes the Cultural Tourism Industry in Anyang during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, "The development of the cultural tourism industry is poised to develop, and the city has received 190 million domestic and foreign tourists, with a total tourism income of 188.12 billion yuan." ”
Combined with the number of tourists, tourism revenue and network communication index of major cultural tourism scenic spots in Anyang, at present, the Anyang cultural tourism market can be roughly divided into two major blocks - the western region dominated by Linzhou and the central region dominated by urban areas.
Let's first look at the western region dominated by Linzhou. According to public reports, during the Spring Festival in 2020, Anyang (including Huaxian County) received a total of 1.4759 million tourists and tourism revenue of 706 million yuan, of which Linzhou received 938,500 tourists and 358 million yuan of tourism revenue, accounting for 63% and 51% of the city's total, respectively.
The main scenic spots in Linzhou are hongqiqu and Taihang Grand Canyon. Taking the data of the 2016 National Day holiday as an example, the Hongqiqu Scenic Area received 67,760 tourists and tourism income of 3,677,100 yuan, and the Taihang Grand Canyon Scenic Area received 82,140 tourists and 5,311,000 yuan of tourism income. The remaining part is mostly small and medium-sized scenic spots with the Taihang landscape as the carrier.
The central area centered on the urban area is mainly the Yinshang cultural tour and the ancient city cultural tour. Since the successful application in 2006, Yin Ruins has become the head scenic spot of Anyang. In 2009, the Chinese Character Museum located in the eastern section of Anyang People's Avenue opened its museum, facing Yin Ruins from east to west, and has become a must-visit place for everyone who comes to Anyang to visit.
In the middle of the Yin Xu Museum and the Chinese Character Museum, there is the old town of Anyang. In recent years, Anyang has built two characteristic blocks around the rejuvenation of the old city, net red Cangxiang Street and Xianqian Street. According to incomplete statistics, during the Spring Festival in 2020, the two neighborhoods received more than 300,000 tourists.
In addition, the tourism market in the southern region dominated by the ancient town of Huaxian Daokou, the central and southern region dominated by the Tangyin Yue Fei Temple, and the western region dominated by Long'an Zhangwu Xiaonanhai is also gradually developing. However, due to the distance from the city, and the attractions are relatively single, the industrial development is relatively weak, and they are not strong enough in brand construction and operation, and they cannot be compared with the first two major regions. However, as part of the anyang cultural tourism market, it has made a very big contribution to meeting the tourism needs of local tourists and tourists from surrounding cities.
The emergence of Cao Cao's Gaoling just filled the gap in the cultural tourism resources in northern Anyang.
According to media reports, Cao Cao Gaoling will be fully built into a Three Kingdoms Cultural Heritage Park for the study of the Culture of the Three Kingdoms and the history of the Han and Wei Dynasties, and the Cao Cao Gaoling Museum, which will be opened this year, is mainly used for the display of Cao Cao's life deeds and cultural relics. Liu Qingzhu, a famous archaeologist and former director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, served as the honorary director of the museum, and the position of executive director was open to recruitment nationwide.
At present, the museum has entered the installation stage.
Unlike most museum exhibits, the museum's exhibits highlight the sense of presence. Pan Weibin, the host of the excavation of the "Cao Wei Gaoling" in Anyang County's Xigao Cave, once said in an exclusive interview with the media, "Most of the cultural relics exhibitions in some museums are more traditional, and our cultural relics exhibition will be a 360-degree all-round display, background introduction, use method, function introduction, and some problems that can reflect the burial system at that time, which may not be seen in other museums, the content is relatively rich, the language is popular, and the audience can understand it at a glance at the scene." ”
In our view, the resource development and research carried out for Cao Cao's Gaoling not only contains very high academic value, but also contains very huge economic value.
On the one hand, in recent years, the mainland cultural and expo market has developed rapidly. According to the "Museum Blue Book: Report on the Development of Chinese Museums (2019-2020)", museums across the country received 1.227 billion visitors in 2019, an increase of 17.53% year-on-year. According to data from the China Tourism Research Institute, during the Spring Festival in 2019, the mainland reached 415 million tourists in seven days, of which more than 40% of the tourists went into the museum.
Taking the Henan Museum as an example, in 2021, the Henan Museum ranked second on the list of the top ten popular scenic spots in the Qingming Dynasty; the cultural and creative product it developed, the archaeological blind box, once set a record of more than 500,000 sales on the 5-day line. It can be seen that the spring of the cultural market has arrived.
At present, Anyang has a total of 16 museums and memorials such as the Chinese Character Museum and the Anyang Museum, in this context, the development of Cao Cao Gaoling and the construction of its museum will become an important part of the Anyang cultural and expo market, and even become a new economic growth point of Anyang cultural tourism industry.
On the other hand, Cao Cao, as a well-known cultural IP, has a strong popular base. His story-full and legendary life experience has given unlimited possibilities for the development of his cultural tourism industry. In the process of moving from IP to super IP, Cao Cao Gaoling has natural advantages that many other cultural tourism resources cannot match.
Therefore, it is not difficult for us to imagine that once the Cao Cao Gaoling Museum is opened to the public, it will play a great role in the economic development and regional construction of the northern region of Anyang.
First of all, with the gradual deepening of the development and construction of Cao Cao Gaoling, the local infrastructure construction and ecological environment governance will certainly be strengthened. Cao Cao Gaoling is very close to the Zhanghe River, according to the Henan Business Daily, Cao Cao Gaoling environmental remediation scope of about 40 hectares, investment estimated at 197.8 million yuan, mainly including buildings, structures, road transformation, environmental landscape, environmental greening, ecological parking lot construction and other governance tasks.
In addition, the development and construction of Cao Cao Gaoling will also have a very huge impact on the local industrial ecology. Some of the villagers who originally went out to work will stay in their hometowns to build a certain link of Cao Cao's Gaoling "eating, living, traveling, shopping and entertainment". In today's rapid development of the mainland cultural tourism industry, the development of cultural tourism resources is not just "resources" to become "scenic spots", especially archaeological cultural tourism resources, such resources must be fully developed from all aspects of the cultural tourism industry chain, in order to make resources "alive", and even "fire".
Finally, after the success of Yin Hui's "application for heritage" in 2006, In 2007, Anyang City received more than 10 million tourists for the first time, including more than 30,000 foreign tourists, and the annual comprehensive tourism income exceeded 4.027 billion yuan for the first time. Therefore, we may wish to expect that after the opening of the Cao Cao Gaoling Museum, it may bring greater breakthroughs to the growth of the Anyang cultural tourism market, and may trigger the reshaping of the cultural tourism development pattern in Anyang and even the entire northern Henan region.
Resources:
1, "23 scholars across the country questioned the fraud of Cao Cao's tomb and will publish evidence (pictured)" Source: Yangzi Evening News Link: https://news.qq.com/a/20100823/000297.htm
2, "Scholars of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences respond to the three major questions of Cao Cao's tomb: there is no possibility of counterfeiting" Source: Beijing Times Link: https://news.qq.com/a/20100829/000079.htm
3. "Henan cultural relics experts refute the counterfeiting of Cao Cao's tomb one by one" Source: Dahe News Link: http://zhuanti.hebnews.cn/2010/news/2010-08/27/content_615105_2.htm
4. "Henan Anyang pushes 29 free scenic spots to promote economic circulation with tourism consumption" Source: China News Network Link: https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1683162627802703401&wfr=spider&for=pc
5. "Anyang Cultural Tourism Undertaking Enters the Fast Lane" Source: Anyang Daily Link: http://www.sohu.com/a/471033598_134149
6. "In May 2022, the tomb of Cao Cao in Anyang will be officially opened to the public" Source: The Paper Link: https://m.gmw.cn/baijia/2021-12/28/1302739695.html
Editor: Yuan Yuan 丨 Editor: Xu Fengchao 丨Design: Sun Yueyuan