Chinese archaeologists 'discover' tomb of notorious pantomime villain Cao Cao
• Henan dig 'yields bones' of warlord depicted as tyrant
• Sceptics say more tests needed to confirm find
[...]Cao Cao, also known as the Emperor Wu of Wei, was a politician, general and poet whose brilliance as a military strategist and wordsmith was tarnished forever by the novel The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
In that classic, he is portrayed as a scheming, merciless tyrant who is so suspicious of everyone he meets that he mistakes a plan to slaughter a pig in his honour as an assassination plot – and responds by killing everyone involved, including women and children.
In Peking opera he is almost unique as a emperor with a white face, which signifies betrayal. A common saying, "speak of Cao Cao and he appears", is the the equivalent of the English phrase "speak of the devil" [...]
