It is thought that Cao Cao forbade any grand tombs but that his son Cao Pi ignored his wishes and built one anyway. Cao Cao was the final chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, before going on to form his own state during the political turmoil of the Three Kingdoms period. The common saying in Chinese 'speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives' is the equivalent of the English expression 'speak of the devil'. History records that Cao Cao was buried with his wife, who died aged between 70 and 80, but the two corpses are of one woman in her fifties and one in her twenties. The common saying in Chinese 'speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives' is the equivalent of the English expression 'speak of the devil'

Source: Daily Mail March 28, 2018 15:24 UTC