The reporter learned from the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology that the National Social Science Fund project "Comprehensive Research on Cao Cao's Gaoling and Cemetery" recently published new research results. The building site of the Song and Yuan Dynasties found on the west side of Cao Cao's Gaoling may be the tomb guard house set up for Cao Cao's Gaoling in the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhou Ligang, an associate researcher of the Henan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, said that archaeologists found brick underground drainage facilities and architectural relics of the Song and Yuan Dynasties at a place 200 meters west of Cao Cao's Gaoling, and unearthed a large number of porcelain, coins, entertainment appliances and building components including dice, Go, and pottery balls. Zhou Ligang said that according to the chronological characteristics of the unearthed porcelain, it can be judged that the building here may have been built in the early Northern Song Dynasty and has been used until the Yuan Dynasty. Most of the more exquisite utensils and entertainment appliances are in the Jin Dynasty, reflecting the frequent public entertainment activities in this period. In addition, the discovered drainage facilities are exquisite in technology, neatly stacked, and may be more than tens of meters in length, forming multiple cross drainage networks. The excavation results confirmed that the drainage facilities and architectural relics were not directly related to the layout of Gaoling cemetery, but the characteristics of the relics and unearthed relics provided important clues for finding the tomb guards set up for Gaoling in the early Northern Song Dynasty. "According to the unearthed architectural relics and the characteristics of drainage facilities, as well as the numerous and varied porcelain, it is speculated that the buildings here are not ordinary residential buildings," Zhou Ligang said. In addition, the glazed pottery bibcock architectural components unearthed here are also found in the sacrificial buildings of the Han Qi family cemetery and the Lantian Lu family cemetery in the Northern Song Dynasty, so this building may be related to the sacrificial activities of the tombs in the Northern Song Dynasty. "In combination with the literature records, here may be the tomb guard households set up for Cao Cao's Gaoling in the Northern Song Dynasty." Zhou Ligang said that Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, paid a visit to the Gaoling on the way to Koguryo. Zhao Kuangyin, Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty, issued an edict in 963 AD to set up tomb guard households for the tombs of former emperors and celebrities, including Gaoling, and set up three tomb guard households. After the Northern Song Dynasty, the imperial court moved south, and the tomb guards might be abandoned, so the original buildings were used for other purposes. "The changes in the characteristics of archaeological relics also show that the buildings of the suspected tomb guards here have undergone great changes from the Northern Song Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty, and may be used as public entertainment places in the Jin Dynasty," Zhou Ligang said. At present, the sorting and research of the early excavation data have been completed. "The next step of field archaeological work is expected to provide more clues for this speculation, and also provide new materials for the study of the changes of the historical environment around Cao Cao's Gaoling," Zhou Ligang said. (Xinhua News Agency)