Warring States period's Chinese literature contains early mentions of Xianbei, as in the poem The Great Summons in the anthology Chu Ci^[33] and possibly the chapter "Discourses of Jin 8" in the Guoyu.^[34][35][a] However the early appearance of the word xianbei in the Chu ci refers to a belt buckle rather than a people.^[49]

The first time the Xianbei people appeared in recorded history was in the Book of the Later Han, compiled in the 5th century. According to the Book of the Later Han, the Xianbei were originally a branch of the Donghu people together with the Wuhuan (or Wuwan) and "the language and culture of the Xianbei are the same as the Wuhuan".^[49][50] When the Donghu "Eastern Barbarians" were defeated by the Xiongnu leader Modu Chanyu around 208 BC, the Donghu splintered into the Xianbei and Wuhuan.^[51] The Xianbei were driven into the Khingan Mountains in northeastern Inner Mongolia. The Xianbei practiced some agriculture, or at least more than the Xiongnu. They wielded bows made of horn and produced fur garments made of sable and other pelts. Archaeological remains of a Han dynasty Xianbei site in northeastern Inner Mongolia include skeletons of roebuck, deer, wild pigs, and hunting tools.^[52]

Since the Xianbei are described as identical to the Wuhuan in culture and language, it can be assumed that descriptions of the Wuhuan apply to the Xianbei as well. According to a description of the Wuhuan by a Chinese historian who died in 266, they were nomads who moved to find new land for herds to graze, although they also practiced some agriculture. They took the personal names of their strongmen as their surnames. Family life was matriarchal except when it came to warfare. However these might just be stereotypes to reinforce a non-Chinese "other" by the authors.^[53]

The first significant contact the Xianbei had with the Han dynasty was in 41 and 45, when they joined the Wuhuan and Xiongnu in raiding Han territory.^[54]

In 49, the governor Ji Tong convinced the Xianbei chieftain Pianhe to turn on the Xiongnu with rewards for each Xiongnu head they collected.^[54]

In 54, Yuchouben and Mantou of the Xianbei paid tribute to Emperor Guangwu of Han.^[55]

In 58, the Xianbei chieftain Pianhe attacked and killed Xinzhiben, a Wuhuan leader causing trouble in Yuyang Commandery.^[56]

In 85, the Xianbei secured an alliance with the Dingling and Southern Xiongnu.^[54]

In 87, the Xianbei attacked the Xiongnu chanyu Youliu and killed him. They flayed him and his followers and took the skins back as trophies.^[57]

In 91, the Northern Xiongnu were defeated by the Han dynasty and the Xianbei began occupying the Mongolian Plateau, absorbing 100,000 Xiongnu tribes and increasing their strength.^[58]

In 109, the Wuhuan and Xianbei attacked Wuyuan Commandery and defeated the local Han forces.^[59] The Southern Xiongnu chanyu Wanshishizhudi rebelled against the Han and attacked the Emissary Geng Chong but failed to oust him. Han forces under Geng Kui retaliated and defeated a force of 3,000 Xiongnu but could not take the Southern Xiongnu capital due to disease among the horses of their Xianbei allies.^[59]

The Xianbei under Qizhijian raided Han territory four times from 121 to 138.^[60] In 145, the Xianbei raided Dai Commandery.^[61]

Around the mid-2nd century, a chieftain, Tanshihuai, unified the Xianbei tribes and established an imperial court at Mount Danhan (in present-day Shangyi County, Hebei). When he was 14 or 15 years old, another tribe stole cattle and sheep from his family. He pursued the thieves and retrieved their livestock. He became a great chieftain and eventually united the tribes covering all the former Xiongnu lands.^[58]

Claiming the title of Daren (大人; "Elder"), Tanshihuai attacked the Wusun in the west and repelled the Dingling from the north and Buyeo from the east. He divided the Xianbei empire into three sections, each governed by an appointed chieftain.^[1][2][3]

Tanshihuai of the Xianbei divided his territory into three sections: the eastern, the middle and the western. From the You Beiping to the Liao River, connecting the Fuyu and Mo to the east, it was the eastern section. There were more than twenty counties. The darens (chiefs) (of this section) were called Mijia 彌加, Queji 闕機, Suli 素利 and Huaitou 槐頭. From the You Beiping to Shanggu to the west, it was the middle section. There were more than ten counties. The darens of this section were called Kezui 柯最, Queju 闕居, Murong 慕容, et al. From Shanggu to Dunhuang, connecting the Wusun to the west, it was the western section. There were more than twenty counties. The darens (of this section) were called Zhijian Luoluo 置鞬落羅, Rilü Tuiyan 曰律推演, Yanliyou 宴荔游, et al. These chiefs were all subordinate to Tanshihuai.

Throughout his reign, Tanshihuai aggressively raided the Han dynasty's northern borders, with his first recorded raid being in 156. In 166, he allied with the Southern Xiongnu and Wuhuan to attack Shaanxi and Gansu. These raids devastated the border commanderies and claimed many lives. Though the Han was able to repel them at times, they were concerned that they would not be able to subdue Tanshihuai. The Han attempted to appease him by offering him the title of King, but Tanshihuai rejected them and continued to harass their borders. By 168, there were annual raids on the Han frontier.^[58]

In 177, Xia Yu, Tian Yan and the Southern Xiongnu chanyu, Tute Ruoshi Zhujiu led a force of 30,000 against the Xianbei. They were defeated and returned with only one-tenth of their original forces.^[62] A memorial made that year records that the Xianbei had taken all the lands previously held by the Xiongnu and their warriors numbered 100,000. Han deserters who sought refuge in their lands served as their advisers and refined metals as well as wrought iron came into their possession. Their weapons were sharper and their horses faster than those of the Xiongnu. Another memorial submitted in 185 states that the Xianbei were making raids on Han settlements nearly every year.^[63]

Despite the constant raids, the loose Xianbei confederacy lacked the organization of the Xiongnu Empire, and they were struggling to sustain their growing population.^[64] Tanshihuai died in 181 and was succeeded by his son, Helian, but he lacked his father's abilities and was killed in a raid on Beidi during the last years of Emperor Ling of Han.^[65] Helian's son, Qianman was too young at the time of his father's death, so the chieftains elected his nephew, Kuitou, to succeed him. Once Qianman came of age, however, he challenged his cousin to succession, destroying the last vestiges of unity among the Xianbei.^[66]

Kebineng was initially from a minor Xianbei tribe. He rose to power west of Dai Commandery by taking in Chinese refugees who helped him drill his soldiers and make weapons and armor. After the Wuhuan's defeat in 207, he sent tribute to Cao Cao, and later provided assistance against the rebel Tian Yin. In 218, Kebineng killed Fuluohan, absorbing his followers and Wuhuan allies. In 218 he allied himself to the Wuhuan rebel Nengchendi but they were heavily defeated and forced back across the frontier by Cao Zhang. In 220, he acknowledged Cao Pi as Emperor of Cao Wei, but soon turned on Wei for impeding his advances on another Xianbei chieftain, Suli. Kebineng conducted raids on Wei before he was assassinated by a Cao Wei agent in 235, after which his confederacy disintegrated.^[68][69]

The Xianbei tribes carried on with their southward migration, with some becoming vassals of Cao Wei and the succeeding Western Jin dynasty. In 258, the Tuoba tribe settled near the frontier and occupied the abandoned city of Shengle, north of the Yin Mountains.^[17] To the east of them, the Yuwen tribe began living between the Luan River and Liucheng, while the Murong tribe were permitted by the Chinese court to move deeper into the Liaodong Peninsula. In Liaoxi Commandery, a Xianbei ex-slave of the Wuhuan founded a tribe known as the Duan. In the far west, an offshoot of the Murong migrated into northern Qinghai and mixed with the native Qiang people, later becoming the Tuyuhun.^[54] The Qifu tribe gradually moved into the Longxi basin, while a branch of the Tuoba, the Tufa tribe, roamed the Hexi corridor. In 270, the Tufa chieftain, Shujineng, led the various ethnic tribes in the northwest in a rebellion against the Jin dynasty in Qin and Liang provinces but was defeated in 279 by Ma Long.^[1][70] By 280, the increase in the number of non-Han people in northern China was observable. An official warned that they lived as far south as Xi'an and Anyang, about three days away from the capital of Luoyang on horseback.^[71]

During the War of the Eight Princes, the Xianbei, primarily the Duan, were brought in to fight in the civil wars of the Jin princes. When the Xiongnu of Shanxi rebelled and founded the Han-Zhao dynasty in 304, the Tuoba also lent their assistance to combat the rebels. On 5 June 306, Chang'an was captured by a Wuhuan and Xianbei army led by Ji Hong under the Jin dynasty (266–420) general Wang Jun.^[72]

The Xianbei's horsemanship and access to steppe horses as well as the development of the stirrup allowed them to assemble and lead the most formidable cavalry forces of the period. The Jin became reliant on the Xianbei to quell the widespread unrest in northern China, bestowing them with ducal titles for their loyalty and services. However, due to their own internal strife, the Xianbei were later forced to withdraw from the conflict, leaving the Jin to be overwhelmed by the Han-Zhao. A mass exodus of Chinese officers, soldiers and civilians fled to southern China to join the Eastern Jin, but a number of them also turned north to seek refuge with the Xianbei duchies.

For the next century, the Xianbei founded several of the Sixteen Kingdoms in northern China. Although the Tuoba later became the most important Xianbei faction, the Murong of Liaodong were the most prominent Xianbei people for the most part of the 4th century. The Murong were chieftains of the central portion of Tanshihuai's Xianbei empire. After Kebineng's death in 235, the Murong assisted the Cao Wei dynasty in ending the control of the Gongsun warlords in Liaodong in 238. The Murong chieftain was awarded with the title "Prince Acting in Accordance with Justice". The Murong settled in Liaodong and for the next generation assisted Cao Wei in their campaigns against Goguryeo. In 281, the Murong chieftain was awarded the title "Chanyu of the Xianbei".^[73]

In 294, Murong Hui (269–333) and some 10,000–20,000 followers moved to Jicheng near modern Jinzhou in Liaoning and started adopting Han-style institutions. According to Chinese histories, the Murong became almost "as Chinese as the Chinese emperors themselves". Murong Hui's son and heir established a Chinese school for the children of officials and personally supervised the exams. Despite adopting Han culture and actively associating with Han people, power over the military was securely held by only the Murong Xianbei and they maintained conscious of their own separate identity. This separation of role and class was articulated in 401 by a Southern Liang commander who recommended settling Han people in the cities and encouraging them to take up farming while "we practice the methods of war to punish those who have not yet submitted". In other sectors of government, the Southern Liang had become a Chinese-style dynasty with reign periods, government institutions, and a Confucian school for the elite. The 4th century kingdoms that the Xianbei established (Former Yan (337–370), Duan Qi (350–356), Later Yan (384–407), Western Yan (384–394), Southern Liang (397–414), Western Qin (385–431) and Southern Yan (398–410)), presented themselves as both Han and Xianbei to different audiences. To tribal chieftains, their rulers were the chanyu while to the Han, their rulers were emperors.^[74]

The Murong state of Former Yan attacked Goguryeo in 342 and sacked its capital, taking the king's mother, wife, and even the corpse of the previous ruler along with 50,000 captives. The Murong also defeated the Duan in 338 and the Yuwen in 344. Five thousand Yuwen camps were relocated to the Murong stronghold while their chieftain fled to Goguryeo. The influx of Goguryeo and non-Murong people into Former Yan can be seen in the variety of burial styles in Liaodong after 289, however a native Murong style was dominant and could be seen even in tombs of known Han people.^[75]

Regardless of the identity of the ruling class and ruler, the assumption of Chinese titles and symbolic institutions was the norm as well for non-Xianbei states that neighbored them. After the ruler of Former Yan proclaimed himself emperor in 352, the Former Yan themselves were conquered by the Former Qin in 370. The Former Qin were led by a Di ruler but upon triumphing over Former Yan, the Qin celebrated by making sacrifices to Confucius. A number of Yan revivalist regimes followed, including the Northern Yan (409–436), which was ruled by a person of Han ancestry who had assimilated into Xianbei culture. The Murong were able to remain independent for a time before being conquered by the Tuoba.^[76]

According to an inscription discovered at Gaxian Grotto in Oroqen Autonomous Banner in 1980, the Tuoba imperial ancestors used the title khan and khatun and it is speculated that the Tuoba were the first to use those titles.^[77]

According to a Tuoba legend in the Book of Wei, the Tuoba moved south from their original homeland to a "great marsh" that is believed to be Lake Hulun. In Tanshihuai's time in the 2nd century AD, the Tuoba moved south again to the Yin Mountains at the top of the Yellow River's northward loop. In 248, Tuoba Liwei killed the chieftain of the local tribe and absorbed them into his following. They moved to the northeastern corner of the Yellow River loop and built their capital city Shengle near modern Hohhot. The Tuoba established grazing lands between modern Datong and Taiyuan in Shanxi. This region came to be known as Dai (after a Chinese administrative unit) and formed the core of the later Northern Wei dynasty.^[78]

In 261, Tuoba Liwei sent his son as hostage to the court of Cao Wei where he stayed for six years. The son was later killed by his own people because they became suspicious of his behavior, which had become Chinese-like.^[79]

In Bing province, from his base at Jinyang by present-day Taiyuan, the Jin governor Liu Kun obtained the aid of the Tuoba. In 310 he sent his son as hostage to the Tuoba to obtain their troops and he became increasingly dependent on the chieftain Tuoba Yilu. In 314 the two Liu-Tuoba forces sent aid to Jin forces at Chang'an, and Tuoba Yilu was awarded the title "King of Dai". Two years later, Tuoba Yilu was assassinated and his clansmen broke the alliance with the Jin. Liu Kun fled northeast to the Duan Xianbei but was killed there in 318.^[72]

The Tuoba duchy of Dai (310–376) was elevated to a kingdom in 315. In 321, the Tuoba ruler was assassinated by the wife of another chieftain. The woman dominated Tuoba affairs for years before Tuoba Shiyiqian, a son of the assassinated leader, returned from being a hostage of Later Zhao and proclaimed himself King of Dai in 338. Having been exposed to Chinese institutions, Tuoba Shiyiqian (r. 338–376) established some Chinese-style official titles and a basic law code. Based on archaeological evidence, Tuoba material culture was still fairly similar to that of the Xiongnu at the start of the 4th century, but by the end of the century, the graves of the Tuoba elite near Hohhot were almost the same as contemporary Han tombs. However, despite adopting some Chinese practices, contemporary texts in the late 4th century still describe the Tuoba as rough and uncultured people who lacked even steel armor and sharp weapons.^[80]

Dai was conquered by the Di-led Former Qin in 376. The fall of Dai saw northern China briefly unified under the Qin, but as Qin collapsed following the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Fei River in 383, Tuoba Gui (grandson of Tuoba Shiyiqian) restored their state as the Northern Wei dynasty (386–535). Northern Wei was the first of the Northern dynasties (386–581), and they rose to power from the northern grasslands after invading and ejecting the Later Yan from the Central Plains. In 439, they conquered the last of the Sixteen Kingdoms, thereby unifying the north and completing the transition into the Northern and Southern dynasties period.^[81][82][83]

After Tuoba Gui (Emperor Daowu of Northern Wei) came to power, he started settling the Xianbei tribes in fixed locations. In 395, the Murong Xianbei attacked Northern Wei, but they were defeated and within three years, the Northern Wei had conquered Murong Later Yan dynasty, taking most of what is now Shanxi and Hebei.^[84]

In 398, Tuoba Gui was formally enthroned as emperor. He built a new capital called Pingcheng (modern Datong) and relocated 360,000 Murong and Goguryeo people to populate it, as well as an additional 100,000 artisans. Over the next 50 years, more than a million people were forced to relocate to the region around Pingcheng to increase its agricultural base. As Tuoba Gui expanded Northern Wei's territory further south, he integrated Han elites and parts of their culture into his government. In 399, Tuoba Gui ordered for book collections to be acquired throughout the realm and for Erudites (boshi) to teach the Chinese classics. Students in the Taixue increased. ^[85]

Tuoba Gui started the practice of killing the mother of the heir apparent which would last for over seven generations. He became increasingly erratic later in his life, possibly due to taking a "cold food powder", a popular medicine at the time composed of five different minerals. Sometimes he did not eat for days and had trouble sleeping at night. In 409, Tuoba Gui was contemplating killing the mother of one of his sons in preparation for his role as heir apparent. The son broke into the palace at night and killed his father.^[86]

By the reign of the third Northern Wei emperor, Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei (r. 424–452), all of northern China had been conquered. The rise of Xianbei military power was based on cavalry, which benefited from the double stirrup that is first attested to in a Northern Yan tomb dated to 415, as well as the use of heavy armor. The sight of over a thousand Xianbei cavalry in colorful armor was said to have intimidated a southern rebel army in 410.^[87] The Tuoba consolidated their power over the Central Plains by maintaining a Xianbei-dominated military class. As the general Gao Huan put it, the Chinese "bring you [the Xianbei] your supplies and clothing", and the Xianbei "fight for you [the Chinese] and enable you to have peace and order."^[88]

For a century after Tuoba Gui's formal accession as emperor in 398, 73% of all official posts were held by the Xianbei and 93% were held by people from the Dai region around the capital. Nomadic traditions such as livestock herding and hunts still played a major role in the early Northern Wei period and the third emperor, Taowu, reportedly possessed two million horses, a million camels, and countless sheep and cattle to the west of the Yellow River. In 450 he emphasized the importance of cavalry to the Xianbei.^[89]

At the same time, a number of Han people rose to prominence in the dynasty and the Chinese histories are replete with mentions of how the Xianbei emperors praised the Han for their literary accomplishments. Taiwu noted that Cui Hao's cultural and literary abilities exceeded those of armored soldiers. Cui Hao was entrusted with writing the history of Northern Wei but was later put to death for describing the Tuoba's barbarian origins. Taiwu's successor, Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei (r. 452–462) remarked that the Xianbei nobility should feel ashamed for merely holding bow and blade while his Han official administered the country with a writing brush.^[90]

Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei (r. 471–499) rejected the customs associated with his Xianbei ancestors and implemented reform policies to reconfigure the Northern Wei as a state based on Han culture. The policies of Xiaowen's reign are commonly attributed to his step-grandmother and also foster mother, Empress Dowager Feng (Wenming). Wenming came from a frontier family of probably mixed Han-Xianbei-Goguryeo descent.^[91] She was well learned in the Chinese classical tradition and inculcated in Xiaowen a sense of "filial piety" (xiao). Unlike previous Tuoba monarchs, Xiaowen fully obeyed his step-mother and often it was she who had final say on matters of administration. She maintained strict control over him. At one point when he was a boy, she considered him too smart and wise to be of use to her, so she locked him up in an unheated room during winter without food for three days. She was going to replace him with his brother after he died but was convinced by two courtiers to abandon this course. When Wenming died in 490, Xiaowen mourned her by abstaining from water and food for five days and then entered an elaborate mourning period according to Confucian norms.^[92] Xiaowen's posthumous name means "filial and cultured emperor".^[93]

Prior to Xiaowen, his grandfather Emperor Taiwu had exhibited an ad hoc approach to promoting Han culture such as sponsoring a Taoist sect and Confucian Academy based on the suggestion of Cui Hao, a Han minister. However, Taiwu also made an effort to maintain solidarity with the non-Han men that made up his army.^[94] Unlike Taiwu's policies, Xiaowen's sinicizing reforms were a forced culture change through rigid systematization and bitterly resisted. Xiaowen endeavored to reorganize the Tuoba Xianbei society along the lines of a Han patrilineal family and to prevent the consolidation of militarized communities with a shared sense of privilege.^[95] At least part of the reason for the implementation of reforms to curtail elite monopolization of land and military power was declining revenues. Income from military adventures had declined or even become unprofitable, causing the treasury to almost empty. There was also no system of regular salary for government officials, leading to corruption.^[96]

In 483, marriage between those with the same surname was banned according to Chinese marriage customs.^[91]

In 484, the government started paying civil officials a salary, which greatly benefited Han officials in the lower tiers without connections to the military.^[97]

In 485, a Han official recommended implementing the equal-field system, a census and land allocation program fusing social control and extraction of production. Although the proposal was officially accepted by Xiaowen, it was Wenming who read the proposal in court and she who made the decision to implement it. Government officials were sent out to assign every male over the age of 15 to 6.5 acres of agricultural land. Women were allotted half the land given to men. Additional land was also given to slaves and oxen. The tax system was reworked so that each husband-wife unit owed the state 13 bushels of grain and 7 bolts of fabric yearly with additional smaller levies for unmarried inhabitants, slaves, and oxen. Corvée service in the form of military service was also owed. By the end of the Northern Wei dynasty, some 5 million households were being taxed.^[98]

In 489 a Confucian temple was constructed in the capital and seasonal sacrifices were carried out in the in the spirit of Confucius.^[99]

In the spring of 524 a rebellion erupted among among six frontier garrisons. A chieftain of the Qihu people named Erzhu Rong brought an end to the rebellion in the name of the dynasty by 528, but he then turned on Northern Wei and massacred over a thousand members of the court. Erzhu Rong was killed in 530 by the Northern Wei emperor, who was then killed by one of Erzhu Rong's nephews. An associate of Erzhu Rong named Gao Huan mobilized the six garrisons and other forces against the Erzhu family and succeeded in placing a puppet emperor on the throne. Gao Huan was a common soldier who, according to records, came from a Han lineage that had assimilated into Xianbei culture over three generations. He was bilingual in both Chinese and Xianbei languages, but when he enthroned the Northern Wei emperor in 532, he revived the old Tuoba tradition of seven men carrying the ruler on a black felt and facing west to salute the end of the day.^[118]

The puppet emperor fled to Xi'an in 535 under the protection of the local strongman Yuwen Tai. Gao Huan established a new emperor and relocated to Ye in what is now Linzhang County. This division of Northern Wei came to be known as the Eastern Wei (534–550) and Western Wei (535–556) regimes. In 550, Gao Huan's descendants usurped the Eastern Wei throne and founded Northern Qi (550–577) while Yuwen Tai's descendants usurped the Western Wei throne in 557 and founded the Northern Zhou (557–581).^[119]

The Eastern Wei regime absorbed the greater portion of the Xianbei military class and preferred to deploy them over Han soldiers. The Western regime however lacked the manpower to forego Han recruits and made significant use of them in their campaigns.^[120] The utilization of Han troops eventually led to the triumph of the Western Wei's successor regime, Northern Zhou, over the Eastern Wei's successor, Northern Qi. Despite having the larger population base, the eastern Xianbei elite hailed from the northern garrisons which opposed sinicizing policies at the capital. They treated the Han with disdain and distrust, refusing to incorporate them into their military structure. The Han population reciprocated this sentiment and did little to help their overlords in times of need. In the west, the Xianbei had no choice but to rely upon not just the Han, but also the Qiang, for they lacked the numbers to stand up to their eastern counterpart. The result was a new hybridized northwestern aristocracy of Xianbei, Han, and Qiang descent that gave birth to the Sui and Tang dynasties.^[121]

While Eastern Wei and its successor Northern Qi reasserted Xianbei dominance to a greater degree than Western Wei and Northern Zhou, Xianbei customs and language throughout the north experienced a revival in the 6th century. In 549, the Western Wei ordered people who had taken Han Chinese names to revert back to their old Xianbei surnames and bestowed Xianbei surnames upon the Han elites. Discrimination against the Han was commonplace and Han people were used as fodder in cavalry battles between the two regimes, driven before the two sides as human shields. However it is uncertain if Han in this context always meant ethnically Han Chinese people. In 571, an unsuccessful coup attempt resulted in the death of a court figure named He Shikai in Northern Qi. A general attempted to placate the emperor, saying that He Shikai was merely a Han person and therefore unworthy of being mourned. The dynastic history describes He Shikai's background as a non-Han merchant hailing from the Western Regions. Individuals of Han descent could also labelled as non-Han simply for being from certain areas. This was the case with the Han scholar Xu Zunming (475-52), who was labelled as a Qiang (historical people) person because he was from the Shaanxi region.^[122]

Despite the reassertion of Xianbei identity, the line between Xianbei and Han continued to blur. In 536, Gao Huan sent his oldest child, Cheng (d. 549), to govern the imperial capital at Ye. Gao Cheng built a following around himself consisting of mostly Han literati. A defector of non-Han descent later described Gao Cheng as a mere "Xianbei child". Gao Cheng was assassinated in 549 and his brother Yang succeeded him. Gao Yang (Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi) usurped the Eastern Wei throne and founded Northern Qi. He departed from previously established norms and made a Han lady his formal empress. He also chose certain Han men of exceptional bravery for military service, an occupation formerly reserved for the Xianbei.^[123]

Gao Yang died in 559 and within four months, his son was overthrown by one of Gao Yang's brothers, who then became a puppet emperor while real power was wielded by the military class. Continuing friction between the military and civilian sectors in the east and rebellions weakened the eastern dynasty, leading to its conquest by the western regime's Han-Xianbei army in 577. The choice to incorporate larger numbers of Han recruits into the army did not happen willingly immediately in the west. After suffering a significant defeat in 543, Western Wei began recruiting local militias commanded by Han strongmen. In 550, civilians considered capable of fighting were organized into garrison militians (fubing). In preparation for a final battle with the eastern regime, in 573 Northern Zhou eliminated household registrations for civilians and recruited them into the military. At the same time, Yuwen Tai and his successors promoted Confucianism as a civilizing force against the "rude customs of the Xianbei". Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou (r. 561-578) favored Confucianism and launched a purge of Buddhism in 574 on the grounds that Buddhism was foreign to China.^[124]

In the 480s, the Northern Wei royal family started promoting marriages between their women and Han men from elite families in the provinces to integrate their wealth into the state-controlled political and economic structure.^[24][125] Of the 50 recorded Northern Wei princesses, around half married southern Han Chinese men. Among these men, half were from aristocratic or royal families from the Southern dynasties who defected and moved north to join the Northern Wei.^[126] Several daughters of Emperor Xiaowen were married to Han elites. The Liu Song royal Liu Hui married Princess Lanling,^{[127][128][129][130][131]} Princess Huayang was married to Sima Fei, a descendant of Jin dynasty (266–420) royalty, Princess Jinan to Lu Daoqian, and Princess Nanyang to Xiao Baoyin, a member of Southern Qi royalty.^[132] Emperor Xiaozhuang's sister the Shouyang Princess was wedded to the Liang dynasty ruler Emperor Wu of Liang's son Xiao Zong.^[133]

A genetic analysis of the remains of Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou (r. 560–578) confirms the presence of Yellow River ancestry (associated with Han Chinese) at ~32%. This can likely be explained by Emperor Wu's grandmother who had the surname Wang and was considered to be of Goguryeo descent, but was probably from the prominent Han Chinese Wang clan of Lelang Commandery. In comparison, the genetic analysis of Wu's wife, Empress Ashina, shows almost completely Ancient Northeast Asian ancestry with no Yellow River admixture.^[134] Genetic analysis of a single Xianbei individual from the period when Pingcheng was still the capital shows strong affinity with Chinese farming communities in the Central Plains as well as southern East Asians such as the Miao people.^[135]

The Xianbei continued to serve as soldiers during the mid-6th century and descendants of Northern Wei's royal family survived into the Tang dynasty. Those among them include the chancellor Zhangsun Wuji (d. 659) and poet statesman Yuan Zhen (779–831). In the 8th century Turkic Orkhon inscriptions, the Tang dynasty and China are referred to as Tabγač (Tuoba) according to the Old Turkic pronunciation. It is usually anglicized as Tabgach or Tabgatch. Although both the Sui and Tang dynasties entrenched themselves in Chinese terms, the groundwork for their governments and armies was based on institutions created in the preceding northern Xianbei dynasties.^[136][137]

Both the royal families of the Sui and Tang dynasties originated from ethnically mixed Han-Xianbei lineages. The first emperor of the Sui dynasty, Yang Jian (Emperor Wen of Sui), was a general of the last Xianbei dynasty in China, the Northern Zhou. In 581, Yang Jian forced his grandson, the last emperor of Northern Zhou, to abdicate before he established himself as emperor of the Sui. Despite his Xianbei heritage, once Yang Jian was in power, he made a point of emphasizing his Han cultural identity by promoting Han surnames, banning "barbarian" music, and building a bureaucracy based on the Qin and Han dynasties. The capital of Chang'an was built on a Han dynasty template. He limited the power of the elite families by reassigning land using the Equal-field system and consolidated power over the northwestern aristocracy and the central government.^[138][139]

The first Tang emperor, Li Yuan (Emperor Gaozu of Tang), was related to both the Sui and Northern Zhou royal houses. He was a cousin of Emperor Yang of Sui and his mother was the sister of three Northern Zhou emperors. These powerful ties gave him the positions that led to his ascendance as emperor. Under the Sui dynasty, Li Yuan held several prefectural appointments in modern Shaanxi and Anhui. He then became the commander of two prefectures in Henan and Shanxi before taking the position of military officer at the palace in Chang'an. He served as an overseer of logistics in the Goguryeo–Sui War and as a commander-in-chief in anti-rebel suppression campaigns before becoming Garrison Commander in Taiyuan.^[140]

The second Tang emperor, Li Shimin (Emperor Taizong of Tang), had 5th and 6th generation ancestors who were both generals in Northern Wei (Li Xi and Li Tianci). His great grandfather, Li Hu, was a military commander who worked with Yuwen Tai to establish Western Wei and was honored as one of the bazhuguo (Eight Pillars of State). When Yuwen Tai's son became emperor of Northern Zhou, Li Hu was given the posthumous title "Duke of Tang", which passed onto his descendants. Both of Li Shimin's grandmothers were from aristocratic Xianbei lineages. His paternal grandmother, Li Bing's wife, was a daughter of the Xianbei general Dugu Xin (another one of the Eight Pillars). Two other daughters of Dugu Xin married the second emperor of Northern Zhou and the first Sui emperor, making Li Yuan the nephew of both royal houses as well as a cousin to the second Sui emperor.^[141]

The early wives and empresses of the Sui and Tang dynasties were also Xianbei, such Yang Jian's wife, Dugu Qieluo, Li Yuan's wife, Duchess Dou and Li Shimin's wife, Empress Zhangsun.^[142] Li Shimin's married Empress Zhangsun (601–636) when they were 17 and 13 years old respectively. She was the daughter of Zhangsun Sheng (551–609), a descendant of the third brother of Emperor Xianwen of Northern Wei, who served as a general in the Sui dynasty.^[143]

By 495, when Emperor Xiaowen decreed that the Northern Wei court should only speak Chinese, the Chinese language had probably already become an important language in court because it would have been impossible to switch on such short notice. Many of their subjects spoke Chinese and all documents were written in Chinese. However, the Xianbei language did not immediately disappear after the ban on non-Chinese languages by Northern Wei. Its successor states and their rulers reasserted Xianbei identity and reverted their names back to the old Xianbei names and even bestowed Xianbei names on their subjects. The Sui-Tang imperial families, being descended from Xianbei royalty, probably also spoke the Xianbei language. However, even before Yang Jian (Emperor Wen of Sui) formally usurped the Northern Zhou throne, he had already ordered for those who had been given Xianbei names to revert to their Han names. According to the Book of Sui, completed in 636, the Xianbei people of the Central Plains had become so Chinese that many of them no longer understood the Xianbei language. The Tongdian, finished in 801, records that of 53 Xianbei songs, only 6 could still be understood.^[144]

In addition to reverting to Han Chinese names, the Sui-Tang dynasties also removed military institutions that were tied to Xianbei identity. In 590, Emperor Wen decreed that most soldiers should retire and become regular farmers, doing away with the hereditary military class. The Xianbei-style heavy cavalry that was so prevalent in previous centuries became less prominent as the early Tang shifted away from heavily armored warhorses to Turkic-style light cavalry.^[145]

Material conditions between the Han and Xianbei were likely indistinguishable by the time of the Sui-Tang dynasties. Based on studies of Northern Qi (550–577) tombs, James Watt concluded that "there is no discernable difference in the tombs of the Xianbei aristocracy and that of the Han families".^[122]

Descendants of the Xianbei aristocracy continued to play a leading role in the Tang dynasty. As late as the mid-8th century, knowledge of their Xianbei origin was still widespread. But this did not mean acceptance or promotion of Xianbei identity. By this time it had become "bad form to refer explicitly to these families' Inner Asian origins". While the Xianbei people living in the Central Plains merged with the Han population, the Xianbei who remained behind in the northern grassland evolved into or were absorbed by tribes of the Rouran Khaganate and Khitan people. However, the Khitans were noticeably different from the Xianbei, at which point the Xianbei identity disappeared completely.^[146]

In the west, the Tuyuhun remained independent until it was defeated by the Tibetan Empire in 670. After the fall of the kingdom, the Tuyuhun underwent a diaspora over a vast territory that stretched from the northwest into central and eastern parts of China. Murong Nuohebo led them eastward into central China, where they settled in modern Yinchuan, Ningxia.

The leaf headdresses were characteristic of Xianbei culture, and are found especially in Murong Xianbei tombs. Their corresponding ornamental style also links the Xianbei to Bactria. These gold hat ornaments represented trees and antlers and, in Chinese, they are referred to as buyao ("step sway") since the thin metal leaves move when the wearer moves. Sun Guoping first uncovered this type of artifact, and defined three main styles: "Blossoming Tree" (huashu), which is mounted on the front of a cap near the forehead and has one or more branches with hanging leaves that are circle or droplet shaped, "Blossoming Top" (dinghua), which is worn on top of the head and resembles a tree or animal with many leaf pendants, and the rare "Blossoming Vine" (huaman), which consists of "gold strips interwoven with wires with leaves."^[152] Leaf headdresses were made with hammered gold and decorated by punching out designs and hanging the leaf pendants with wire. The exact origin, use, and wear of these headdresses is still being investigated and determined. However, headdresses similar to those later also existed and were worn by women in the courts.^[151][152]

Another key form of Xianbei art is animal iconography, which was implemented primarily in metalwork. The Xianbei stylistically portrayed crouching animals in geometricized, abstracted, repeated forms, and distinguished their culture and art by depicting animal predation and same-animal combat. Typically, sheep, deer, and horses were illustrated. The artifacts, usually plaques or pendants, were made from metal, and the backgrounds were decorated with openwork or mountainous landscapes, which harks back to the Xianbei nomadic lifestyle. With repeated animal imagery, an openwork background, and a rectangular frame, the included image of the three deer plaque is a paradigm of the Xianbei art style. Concave plaque backings imply that plaques were made using lost-wax casting, or raised designs were impressed on the back of hammered metal sheets.^[154]

Horses played a large role in the existence of the Xianbei as a nomadic people, and in one tomb, a horse skull lay atop Xianbei bells, buckles, ornaments, a saddle, and one gilded bronze stirrup.^[155] The Xianbei also made art depicting horses. A recurring motif was the winged horse. It has been suggested by archaeologist Su Bai that this symbol was a "heavenly beast in the shape of a horse" because of its prominence in Xianbei mythology.

Xianbei figurines help to portray the people of the society by representing pastimes, depicting specialized clothing, and implying various beliefs. Most figurines have been recovered from Xianbei tombs, so they are primarily military and musical figures meant to serve the deceased in afterlife processions and guard their tomb. Furthermore, the figurine clothing specifies the according social statuses: higher-ranking Xianbei wore long-sleeved robes with a straight neck shirt underneath, while lower-ranking Xianbei wore trousers and belted tunics.^[156]

Xianbei Buddhist influences were derived from interactions with Han culture. The Han bureaucrats initially helped the Xianbei run their state, but eventually the Xianbei became Sinophiles and promoted Buddhism. The beginning of this conversion is evidenced by the Buddha imagery that emerges in Xianbei art. For instance, the included Buddha imprinted leaf headdress represents the Xianbei conversion and Buddhist synthesis since it combines both the traditional nomadic Xianbei leaf headdress with the new imagery of Buddha. This Xianbei religious conversion continued to develop in the Northern Wei dynasty, and ultimately led to the creation of the Yungang Grottoes.^[151]

• Tanshihuai (檀石槐, 136–181), Xianbei leader who led the Xianbei confederation
• Kebineng (軻比能, died 235), Xianbei chieftain who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms period
• Tufa Shujineng (禿髮樹機能, died 279), Xianbei chieftain who lived during the Three Kingdoms period

• Tuoba Gui (拓跋珪, 371–409), founding emperor of the Northern Wei
• Tuoba Tao (拓跋燾, 408–452), third emperor of the Northern Wei
• Tufa Poqiang (禿髮破羌, 407–479), a paramount general of the Northern Wei
• Yuwen Tai (宇文泰, 507–556), a paramount general of the state Western Wei, a branch successor state of Northern Wei
• Dugu Xin (独孤信, 503–557), a paramount general of the state Western Wei
• Yuchi Jiong (尉遲迥, died 580), a paramount general of the states Western Wei and Northern Zhou
• Lou Zhaojun (婁昭君, 501–562), an empress dowager of the state Northern Qi
• Lu Lingxuan (陸令萱, died 577), a lady in waiting in the palace of the state Northern Qi
• Yuwen Hu (宇文護, 513–572), a regent of the state Northern Zhou
• Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei (魏孝靜帝, 524-550) founder and only emperor of the state Eastern Wei
• Mu Tipo (穆提婆, 527–577), a paramount official of the state Northern Qi
• Mu Yeli (穆邪利, 557–577), an empress of the state Northern Qi
• Gao Anagong (高阿那肱, died 580), a paramount official and general of the state Northern Qi
• Queen Dugu (獨孤王后, 536–558), a queen of the state Northern Zhou
• Yuwen Yong (宇文邕, 543–578), emperor of the state Northern Zhou

• Dugu Qieluo (獨孤伽羅, 544–602), formally Empress Wenxian (文獻皇后), an empress of the Sui dynasty
• Yuchi Yichen (尉遲義臣, died 617), a prominent general of the Sui dynasty
• Yuwen Shu (宇文述, died 616), a paramount general of the Sui dynasty
• Yuwen Huaji (宇文化及, 569–619), a paramount general of the Sui dynasty
• Yuwen Zhiji (宇文智及, 572–619), a general of the Sui dynasty

• Empress Zhangsun (長孫皇后, 601–636), an empress of the Tang dynasty. She was the wife of Emperor Taizong
• Zhangsun Wuji (長孫無忌, died 659), a paramount official who served both as general and chancellor in the early Tang dynasty
• Yuchi Jingde (尉遲敬德, 585–658), a famous general who lived in the early Tang dynasty, Yuchi Jingde and another general Qin Shubao are worshipped as door gods in Chinese folk religion
• Qutu Tong (屈突通, 557–628), a general in the Sui and Tang dynasties of China. He was listed as one of 24 founding officials of the Tang dynasty honored on the Lingyan Pavilion due to his contributions in wars during the transitional period from Sui to Tang
• Zhangsun Shunde (長孫顺德, ?–?), a general in the early Tang dynasty
• Yuwen Shiji (宇文士及, died 642), an official who served both as general and chancellor in the early Tang dynasty
• Yu Zhining (于志寧, 588–665), a chancellor of the Tang dynasty, during the reigns of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Gaozong
• Dou Dexuan (竇德玄, 598–666), a chancellor of the Tang dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong
• Yuwen Jie (宇文節, ?–?), a chancellor of the Tang dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong
• Lou Shide (婁師德, 630–699), a scholar-general of the Tang dynasty, during the reign of Wu Zetian
• Doulu Qinwang (豆盧欽望, 624–709), a chancellor of the Tang dynasty, during the reign of Wu Zetian
• Dou Huaizhen (竇懷貞, died 713), a chancellor of the Tang dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong
• Yuwen Rong (宇文融, died 731), a chancellor of the Tang dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong
• Yuan Qianyao (源乾曜, died 731), a chancellor of the Tang dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong
• Yu Di (于頔, died 818), a general and official of the Tang dynasty
• Tutu Chengcui (吐突承璀, died 820), a paramount eunuch official of the middle Tang dynasty
• Yuan Zhen (元稹, 779–831), a poet and politician of the middle Tang dynasty
• Yu Cong (于琮, died 881), a chancellor of the late Tang dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Yizong
• Doulu Zhuan (豆盧瑑, died 881), a chancellor of the late Tang dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Xizong