China's national television started to live broadcast an excavation on the Mausoleum of General Cao Cao, a legendary Chinese warlord during the Three Kingdoms period (208-280 A.D.),?Saturday morning to mark the fifth Chinese Cultural Heritage Day.

The scheduled three-hour live broadcast of the excavation by the China Central Television (CCTV) began at 9:00 a.m.

The discovery of the tomb was announced Thursday night by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage as one of the ten top archaeological findings in China in 2009.

"The announcement indicates that the Chinese academic world has generally endorsed the authenticity of the Mausoleum of Cao Cao in Anyang, as there are still many myths behind the legendary figure," said Sun Yingmin, deputy director of the Henan provincial bureau of cultural heritage.

The tomb is located near the Yellow River and the city of Anyang, where Cao Cao ruled the Kingdom of Wei from 208 to 220, when he died at the age of 65.

The Henan Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau announced the discovery of the tomb in December 2009.

Cao's exploits were immortalized in the 14th century historical novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", regarded as one of China's greatest literary works. He has been portrayed as intellectual but scheming arch-careerist in Chinese art works.