Smithsonian Journeys Dispatches

Body of General Cao Cao discovered 1,700 years after death


Chinese general and Han Dynasty Chancellor Cao Cao was buried in central China after his death in CE 220. His tomb in China's Henan province was first excavated in late 2008, and archeologists have since unearthed more than 250 artifacts. After following a passage of more than 100 feet, workers recently came upon the underground chamber where Cao Cao was buried with his wife and a younger woman, possibly a servant. Cao Cao fathered 25 sons and was also a celebrated poet and author, but had a reputation as a cruel and merciless tyrant. Whatever the case, click here for more on his very eventful life.

If you're a teenager thinking about what to do next summer (or looking for something for your teenagers to do), consider your own eventful trip to China for our High School Study Abroad program. Here's your chance to learn a bit of Chinese, hang out with some Chinese teenagers, go to the Great Wall, see the Terra Cotta Warriors, and even do some volunteer work in Beijing.

If you were an archeologist, what would you want to unearth?