Dead generals, live memes: China’s new heritage

Chinese families usually gather to burn paper offerings for their ancestors, honor the dead and safeguard the continuity of the family line during the Qingming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day). Yet this year’s Qingming carried a different note. Where the ritual once demanded strict decorum — incense, bows, burning paper — some young people now arrive at the tombs of historical figures with ibuprofen, plum wine, and high-speed train tickets. These offerings look nothing like tradition. But the sentiment is sincere. Why China’s Gen Z is leaving modern gifts at ancient tombs At the Cao Cao Mausoleum Museum in Anyang, Henan, the Qingming Festival felt unusually lively. Cao Cao was both a master strategist and a poet, a figure whose mix of ruthlessness and refinement has fascinated generations. But for all his power, he was tormented by fierce migraines. This year, visitors left boxes of ibuprofen at his shrine — some with handwritten notes advising him to “avoid alcohol after taking the pills.” One blister pack even had a pill missing: the giver had taken one first, as proof of safety for the famously suspicious warlord. At the tomb of Ming dynasty Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng in Jingzhou, Hubei, a tube of hemorrhoid ointment appeared among the tributes. According to popular legend, the tireless reformer suffered severely from hemorrhoids — rumored in some accounts to have hastened his death. Young visitors now leave tubes of Ma Yinglong, China’s best-known hemorrhoid treatment, a nod to his suffering rendered in the language of today. At Zhuge Liang’s tomb in Mian County, Shaanxi, admirers left a high-speed rail ticket from Chengdu to Xi’an. Zhuge Liang, the brilliant chancellor of the Shu Han kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period, made repeated, always thwarted, attempts to reach Chang’an — the enemy capital that represented his life’s unfinished ambition. The journey that once eluded him now takes around three hours by bullet train — the ticket a gentle gesture, meant to soothe an ancient regret. How cultural confidence is reshaping the way China’s youth engage with history Where historical figures were once placed on distant pedestals — flawless icons to be admired from afar — young people now see Cao Cao as a migraine sufferer and Zhuge Liang as a project manager obsessively chasing an impossible goal. These ancient personalities are no longer untouchable symbols but flesh-and-blood individuals with pain and regrets. The intimacy is telling: it speaks to a generation that has grown confident enough in its own heritage to engage with history on personal terms. This cultural confidence is reshaping how young people consume. Across China’s travel market, emotional value is increasingly outweighing simple sightseeing — travelers seek stories, moods, and experiences they can call their own. For brands and businesses, the trend is worth noting: cultural consumption is moving from grand narratives to something more intimate. Greatness is no longer revered for its distance, but for the cracks that make it human. On Weibo alone, related posts have drawn over 28 million views. What Cao Cao’s Mausoleum reveals about China’s emotional consumer economy The Cao Cao Mausoleum Museum in Anyang was among the first sites to embrace the trend. According to the museum’s official Xiaohongshu account, by the end of 2025 its offering cabinet had accumulated 776 boxes of ibuprofen, 103 bottles of Dukang liquor, 262 bottles of plum wine, 196 other spirits, and 2,492 handwritten letters. Rather than clearing the tributes away, staff reserved a dedicated display case — and posted thank-you notes written in Cao Cao’s voice. By recognizing visitors’ emotions and inviting them into the story, the museum turned casual tourists into enthusiastic advocates. For the many overlooked tomb sites across China, it points to a door newly opened. These sites have always been rich cultural assets, but dated displays and rehearsed scripts kept younger audiences away. Creative tomb offerings have changed that dynamic, turning visitors from passive observers into active participants. Attention alone is not enough. The challenge for site operators is converting emotional engagement into lasting commercial value. Those that can harness the energy of these new rituals — developing thoughtful products and immersive experiences around them — stand to transform dormant heritage sites into drivers of local economic activity, without diminishing their cultural meaning. This Qingming Festival, the museum hosted a series of themed events: scholar talks on the Three Kingdoms period, a letter-writing activity addressed to Cao Cao, and period costume photography sessions. These programs reflect a broader industry shift — from selling sights to selling feelings. When cultural products are built around genuine empathy rather than spectacle, heritage sites stop being places people visit and start being places people return to. For operators paying attention, the commercial logic is straightforward: the brands and venues that can meet young consumers in the register of humor and intimacy will be the ones that turn sleeping history into living business.

Dead generals, live memes: China’s new heritage

China’s luxury interlude that never really was

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Dead generals, live memes: China’s new heritage

China’s luxury interlude that never really was