A Mausoleum of a Legendary Warlord – The Cao Cao Gaoling Site in Anyang

The Gaoling in Anyang is located in a village within Anyang County. After eight years of verification, it has been identified as the tomb of Cao Cao, and is listed as one of the top ten archaeological discoveries. The exact location of Cao Cao's mausoleum has been a mystery that persisted for a thousand years. The cunning and suspicious warlord set up seventy-two decoy tombs to ensure a peaceful eternal rest, making it a secret burial noted in historical records. The academic world has also debated over this for many years, but now the dust has settled. The Gaoling site museum, which was only opened last year, is vast in size. The dominant black and red color scheme of the Three Kingdoms era exudes a powerful and imposing atmosphere. The exhibition area simulates and restores the main body of the tomb, the spirit road, architectural foundations, encircling moats, and accompanying tombs, allowing visitors to walk inside. Looking at the burial objects excavated and displayed in the museum, compared to other emperors, Cao Cao's collection seems rather modest, almost embarrassingly so. This is partly because the tomb was heavily looted, and partly because Cao Cao was known to live a frugal life and advocated for simple burials, so there are no dazzling treasures to be found. Who would have thought that even after the death of such a formidable warlord, his legacy would still be outwitted by thieves.