Cao Chong claimed that there are many doubts about whether the elephant story is true or not. The most important thing is where did the elephant come from?

『曹冲称象』is a well-known story in China.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Chong was only six years old.

used the physical principle that the "gravity" of an object floating on the water is equal to the "buoyancy" of the water on the object,

solved a problem with many problems. Educated adults have a big problem at their disposal.

However, the authenticity of this story has been questioned since ancient times. The most important question is: Where did

come from?

[Ancient China has elephants]

Until the Shang Dynasty, there were elephant groups in the Yellow River Basin. Ivory and ivory bones can be seen in the Yin Ruins. Ancient books such as "Lu Shi Chun Qiu", "Zuo Zhuan" and "Han Fei Zi" also wrote about elephants. After about the Zhou Dynasty, the climate became cold and the environment became unsuitable, and the elephant was forced to move south.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Xu Shen called the elephant "Southern Big Beast" in "Shu Wen Jie Zi".

At the time of Cao Chong, elephants were not native to the Central Plains and became foreign goods.

[Records of the Three Kingdoms]

The story comes from "The History of the Three Kingdoms‧Weishu‧Wuwenshi Wanggongzhuan": "(Cao Chong) was born five or six years old, as far as the wisdom and intention can be reached, and is as intelligent as an adult. When 孙权曾致巨象, Taizu wanted to know his weight, and under the group of interviews, Xian couldn't make sense. Chong said: Put the image on the big ship, and engrave it where the water mark reaches, and weigh the object to carry it, then the school can know that the Taizu Joy is the implementation of Yan. 』

【Why does Sun Quan present the elephant? 】

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao "holds the emperor to order the princes", 汉 Xian帝 is like a puppet in his prime,

Finally Cao Cao won in the north.

Sun Quan sent the elephants because the ancients admired rare birds and animals and believed that rare birds and animals could bring luck to the country.

At that time, Cao Cao was far more powerful than Sun Quan, and it was indeed necessary for Sun Quan to resort to some diplomatic solicitation methods.

[Jiangdong Overlord]

Sun Quan was assassinated with his father and brother Sun Gequan at the time in 200 AD At the age of, he took over as the overlord of Jiangdong.

Some scholars believe that when Cao Chong called Xiang Sun Quan is 会济太守, even before Cao Chong’s death at the age of twelve, Sun Quan only owned the six counties in eastern Jiangxi, which is approximately part of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Anhui. Sun Quan cannot have elephants from the South Vietnam region.

Actually, scholars mistaken Sun Quan as a magistrate in Chengping period. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, warlords all over the world respected themselves, and Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty had no binding force on them. Although Sun Quan's title of prefect is not big, it does not affect the fact that he is the overlord of Jiangdong.

Jiaozhou is located in the south of Sun Quan’s power, and its jurisdiction includes present-day Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan and northern Vietnam. Shi Xie, the overlord of Jiaozhou, has been in peace for a long time. In order to celebrate Sun Quan's reign and maintain friendly relations, it is very possible to give an elephant that is a specialty of Jiaozhou. This time also coincides with the later Sun Quan's gift to Cao Cao.

[Jiaozhou Shixie Regime]

Jiaozhou Overlord Shixie (137-226), served as 055889# Jiaozhou Prefect 0d1a in 187#, the governor of Jiaozhou at that time Zhu Fu collected heavy taxes from all over the country and caused resistance and was killed. Shi Xie stepped forward to quell the chaos and was appointed 潤南中郎将. He actually ruled all counties in Jiaozhou and was there for the next 40 years. For an independent government.

During the great chaos in the Central Plains at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Jiaozhou became a relatively stable area under Shi Xie’s rule.

Many people from the Central Plains moved into the area.The introduction of culture into Jiaozhou is of great help.

After the Eastern Han Dynasty died in 220 AD, Shi Xie sent his son to Wu as a hostage, and contributed local treasures to maintain his regime every year. Sun Quan named him General Zuo. Shi Xie has always been friendly to Sun Quan, but after Shi Xie's death in 226 AD, Sun Quan sent his general Lv Dai to invade Jiaozhou and destroy the "shijia regime."

[The place where the elephant is called]

The place where Cao Chong called the elephant has two versions: Handu 许昌, 邺城.

"Three Kingdoms" did not mention the place where the elephant was called. According to its records, Cao Chong was five or six years old at that time, and he should have been in Xuchang.

Cao Cao moved his political center north to Yecheng, Jizhou (now the outskirts of Linzhang County, Hebei Province) in 204 AD. There is a place called "Maoxiangbei" in the northeast of Yecheng. According to records, during the Cao Wei period, it was in Yecheng. Several large gardens have been built outside the city, and there are giant elephants given to Cao Cao by Sun Quan. "Linzhang County Annals" contains: "Maoxiangbei is twenty miles northeast of the county and five miles around. The ancient animal elephant Yubei".

is calculated based on Cao Chong’s age. In 204, he was eight years old, which does not conform to the record of "Three Kingdoms"; however, it seems more reasonable for an eight-year-old child to have this intelligence. In addition, when Cao Cao entered Yecheng and became the overlord of the north, Sun Quan gave an elephant as a gift which was more reasonable.

(Yecheng plan restoration map, this scale was considered a big city at the time)

in India Elephant story

There may be stories about the principle of buoyancy in the whole world. India also has similar stories about "calling elephants". The Buddhist scripture "Miscellaneous Treasures" contains: "The gods also asked: How many catties does this big white elephant weigh? But the group of officials discussed together, the incompetent, and then the minister asked his father, the father said: Put the image on the boat, in the big pond, paint the boat with the water, and the depth is a little bit, that is, the boat is used to measure the stone, and the water is not even to paint. That is to answer the gods with wisdom. 』

When Cao Chong said that the elephant was written in "Three Kingdoms", the Buddhist classics about the story of saying the elephant had not been introduced to China.

shows that Cao Chong said that the elephant should be a native Chinese story.