Each of the three statements makes sense. It seems that no one can tell exactly where Cao Zhi is buried in space. It is generally believed that Dong 'a is its real grave. This is the conclusion according to the record of the biography of the Three Kingdoms Cao Zhi, which has the status of "official history". However, the author thinks this is not enough. We don't want to take Cao Cao's burial place as an example for a simple analysis. According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms Wei Wudi Ji and Cao Cao's Legacy Order, Cao Cao was buried in Gaoling (now Linzhang County, Hebei Province) after his death. The actual situation is that according to the information recorded in Linzhang, Hebei Province, Cao Cao's tomb has never been found, and there is no legend about it in the local area. On the contrary, in Cao Cao's former residence (now Bozhou, An Wei), the story of four burials in Bozhou City and Cao Cao's burial in 72 suspected graves was widely circulated. Therefore, some people study and infer that it is actually an illusion to bury Cao Cao in Gaoling after his death. The real tombs are in 72 suspected tombs in Bozhou, and in Caosidui, Xue Jia and Guanyinshan in Bozhou, it is still unknown who the owner of the tomb is tied to the national key cultural relics protection unit. Preventing people from poaching is the starting point of all this. After all, Cao Zhi is a generation of princes, and grave robbery should also be his first consideration. So, is "being buried in a fish mountain" also an illusion? Let's make a further investigation of these two graves. In Cao Zhiling's China Zhongsheng Dictionary (edited by National Cultural Heritage Administration, published by Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House), there are two entries that introduce the scenic spots in Dong 'e, Shandong Province. The two entries introduce the same card, that is, the "tombstone" on Cao Zhiling's side (also known as Chen Miaobei), not Cao Zhiling. Its monument was built in Sui 13. The inscription has 22 lines and 43 words. The combination of official script and official script shows the transition of China calligraphy from official script to official script, and its value and reasons for being listed as a scenic spot are also here. That is to say, in the tomb of Cao Zhi in Yushan, East Afghanistan, it is the "monument" built by the Sui Dynasty that has protection value, not the "tomb" built by the Three Kingdoms. As a result, the authenticity of the East Cao Zhi Mausoleum had to be greatly reduced. According to local legend, this tomb was stolen in the past, and there was only a sword of Cao Zhi in it. Therefore, whether this tomb is Cao Zhi's weapon burial remains to be verified (most of the suspected burials are crown burials and weapon burials). As for the tomb of Cao Zhi in Huaiyang, it was "unearthed" in the summer of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, and it has been confirmed that this tomb is Cao Zhi's cenotaph. So, where is the space buried after Cao Zhi's death? After the author's in-depth investigation, we have to focus on the tomb of Cao Zhi, which started in Changzhi Town, Tongxu. First of all, let's start with the discovery of Qibu Cao Zhi's mausoleum. According to Cao Zhi's Mausoleum Rebuilding the Kannonji Monument (written by Ming Dynasty, the original monument was destroyed, but the existing monument was copied later, and the monument civilization Jiajing was recorded in Tongxu County Records): "... Chenghua Geng, the waves were excited. The mountains in the north are full of water. In winter, the water returns to the road, the cave is secluded, and the stone gate cannot be used. The walls are all red and chalk. When a stone is erected, the theme is: Wei's Tomb. ..... "This clearly tells people that the tomb of Qibu Cao Zhi was discovered only after Cao Zhi's death 1240.
And this discovery is very accidental, because the Yellow River burst. The flood of Gengyin Gorge in Chenghua is recorded in Qixian annals and Tongxu annals, which shows that the Yellow River breach does exist. If it weren't for the flood, I didn't know there was a tomb of Cao Zhi here. Then, we can't help asking, if Cao Zhiling's tomb in Shangqi is a "fake tomb" (some people say it is a cenotaph), then what is the significance of it as a fake tomb? What is a fake tomb (like a cenotaph)? In addition to a certain commemorative significance, most of them are designed to hide people's eyes and ears, confuse the audience, confuse the real with the fake, in a word, to steal. Also, if it is a fake tomb (or a cenotaph), why should a stone be buried "underground"? What's the significance of this stone? From this point of view, if Qibu Cao Zhiling is a "fake tomb", then it is meaningless to build this tomb at the beginning.
Because of this, it is obvious that the seven-step Cao Zhiling is the real Cao Zhi Mausoleum. In addition, the shape of tombs at that time was further discussed. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, extravagance and waste have prevailed in the upper class, and mourning for filial piety has flourished. Cao Cao advocated thin burial and practiced it, and specially issued the last order: "Ancient burial must live in barren land, and its rule is that the west of Ximen Bao Temple is Shouling, because the height shall prevail, no trees shall be sealed." It is clearly pointed out that tombs should choose barren land (occupy less fertile land) like the ancients, and according to the original terrain, no soil is sealed and no monuments are erected. Cao Cao also stressed many times not to bury with gold and silver, the tomb should be deep, the tomb should not pile soil for the grave, and no special signs should be left on the ground.
Shen Yue, a poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, once wrote: "Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, funerals have been extremely extravagant, with stone chambers, beasts, inscriptions and other things. Cao Cao, ten years after Jian 'an, ordered not to be buried again and not to erect a monument. Cao Pi, Cao Rui, Cao Fang, Cao Mao, etc. It has always been pursued that there should be no inscriptions on the graves after the death of princes and ministers. ".Investigating the shape of Qibu Caozhi Mausoleum is basically consistent with this. As a prince, Cao Zhi's "Seven Steps Tomb" ... a stone stands up, and the theme is back: the tomb of ... ",obviously, because there is this stone in front of the tomb in the cave, there will be no monument in front of the tomb (or outside the tomb). And this is just a "stone", and there is only a simple name of the tomb owner, and there is no inscription. However, the tomb is built on the mountain, and it is hidden underground (in the mountain) because of water, so it is not necessary to seal the soil, which is in line with the legal requirements of "no sealing, no trees". The tomb should be deep, and the tomb should not be piled with soil, and no special signs should be left on the ground. As mentioned above, if it is not made of water, its tombstone will not only exist in the world, but also the Seven-step Cao Zhiling will never be known, which also meets the basic requirements of concealment and confidentiality of tombs. What really interests the author is yet to come. According to Ming Louliang's Rebuilding the Kannonji Monument, "... south of the city gate, you can't enter, and its tunnel reaches Changzhi ..." ... That is to say, in the cave washed out by the flood, people found the stone gate of Cao Zhi's mausoleum. On the south side of the tomb gate (actually opposite), there is a deep and long tunnel leading to Changzhi, four kilometers away. This tunnel, from 1470, when the flood came out, to 1479, when the author wrote this inscription, "The buried tunnel still exists today" ("Rebuilding Kannonji Monument"). It can be seen that this tomb, this tunnel, is not only asked by the author of the inscription, but also seen by himself. The inscription was written by Lou Liang, Yi himself. His young family is poor and lonely. In the seventh year of Ming Dynasty (1442), he was a scholar, an official and deputy governor in Gansu and other places. Later, he was discharged from Liangzhou, Gansu. He is an honest and upright official, cool, and suddenly far away and near, and the soldiers and civilians shed tears and chased him for hundreds of miles. After returning to China, he lived in a thatched cottage in the countryside and was buried in Sanligang, the east of Tongxu County (now north of the Martyrs Cemetery in Tongxu County, the original site has disappeared). These records can be found in Henan Tongzhi and Tongxu County Records. Lou Liangjie is noble, and the epitaph he wrote is authentic (see Chapter 5, Tombstone of Cao Zhi, for the full text of reconstructing the epitaph of Kannongji). According to relevant data, the existence of this tunnel is confirmed on the other hand. First of all, Liu Yichun, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, wrote in his poem "Building a Tomb by Hanging Seven Steps": "There is an empty lane in the dark, and years are wasted", which clearly mentioned this tunnel.
Furthermore, in the 1980s, when the Geographical Names Office of Tongxu County Government compiled the Compilation and Catalogue of Geographical Names of Tongxu County, Henan Province, the investigation concluded: "Before liberation (this is a vague concept, even earlier. There is a cave in the northeast corner of Changzhi school, which is very deep. It is said that Cao Zhi took refuge before his death ... ". The so-called "refuge and hiding place" is either a street rumor or a cover-up. Because King Tsao Zhi of Qiu Yong is more than 20 kilometers away from here, how did Cao Can choose this place as his refuge and hiding place? If there is an emergency, how can you hide for forty or fifty miles? Accordingly, the author made an in-depth and wise investigation on this statement. There are two hills in the north, east and west of Changzhi School. The cave mentioned above is on the hill in the east. According to the survey, most villagers in their sixties and seventies said that when they were young, they heard adults say that "the mound in the northeast corner of the school leads to the Qibu Cao Zhiling". Further questioning, but can't say much, just say it's a legend. Surprisingly, according to retired veteran cadre Wang Shijie (local, 74 years old) and other old people, the two hills are not too far apart, but the soil structure is different. The soil layer of the western mound is upright, which is the original state of crustal change. On the other hand, the soil layer of the eastern mound (that is, the mound with caves) is horizontally accumulated, which is obviously accumulated later. By analyzing the accumulation process of this mound and the source of earthwork, it is believed that the soil accumulated in this mound should come from this cave leading to the tomb of Qibu Caozhi, and the answer to the earthwork problem of this cave with a length of more than 4,000 meters is just found. Therefore, the author thinks that this cave echoes the tunnel mentioned above, and the cave in Changzhi should be another exit of the seven-step Cao Zhi mausoleum tunnel. This tunnel (or cave) is actually an underground tunnel leading to Cao Zhi's mausoleum. Its function should be used to build Cao Zhi's mausoleum and the back passage for Cao Zhi's descendants to pay homage to Cao Zhi's walking. Because of this, the concealment of Cao Zhi's mausoleum can be guaranteed.
Qibu Cao Zhiling is more than four kilometers away from Changzhi. According to the productivity level at that time, building this underground tunnel was not a small project. The author once visited the underground grain transportation road built by Cao Cao in Bozhou, Anhui Province. As a national key cultural relics protection unit announced by the State Council, Cao Cao's underground troop transport road is known as the "underground Great Wall", and its value "far exceeds keeping a complete ancient city pool on the ground". In addition to the complicated structure, this underground troop transport road is only nearly 6000 meters from east to west, north and south, which is not much longer than the tunnel from Cao Zhiling to Changzhi. Therefore, if the tomb of Qibu Cao Zhi is just a cenotaph, did Zhi and his descendants build such a huge building for a fake tomb? Also, if Cao Zhi's tomb is not here, what is the significance of building this underground tunnel? All these problems cannot but arouse our thinking. There is only one close-to-real explanation for all these problems, that is, the real tomb of Cao Zhi is not elsewhere, but in Qibugou Tong.