BEIJING – The Chinese government has banned the use of “negative historical figures or literary works” to boost tourism, a new decree says.

The Ministry of Culture and the state Administration of Cultural Heritage also said places cannot claim to be the birthplaces or hometowns of characters from fiction or legend, Xinhua, the official government news agency, said. The decree also bans the construction of fake historic buildings.

Tourism based on historic figures deemed to be of bad character is now out.

A hometown hero can be big business. The recent excavation of the tomb of Cao Cao, a general from the Three Kingdoms Period after the collapse of the Han Dynasty, is expected to bring as much as $62 million to Anyang in Henan province.

But government officials say rival claims to be the birthplace of characters from fiction or legend can become unseemly.

Loufan in Shanxi recently claimed to be the birthplace of the Monkey King and plans to build a large tourist attraction, disregarding another older claim by Jiangsi to be the Monkey King’s hometown. The Monkey King or Sun Wukong is the hero of a novel, Journey to the West.

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The recent excavation of the tomb of Cao Cao, a general from the Three Kingdoms Period after the collapse of the Han Dynasty, is expected to bring as much as $62 million to Anyang in Henan province.
Loufan in Shanxi recently claimed to be the birthplace of the Monkey King and plans to build a large tourist attraction, disregarding another older claim by Jiangsi to be the Monkey King’s hometown.
The Ministry of Culture and the state Administration of Cultural Heritage also said places cannot claim to be the birthplaces or hometowns of characters from fiction or legend, Xinhua, the official government news agency, said.