King Yuri (38 BC – 18 AD, r. 19 BC – 18 AD) was the second ruler of Goguryeo , the northernmost of the Three Kingdoms of Korea . He was the eldest son of the kingdom's founder Jumong . As with many other early Korean rulers, the events of his life are known largely from the Samguk sagi .
107-500: Yuri is described as a powerful and militarily successful king. He conquered a Xianbei tribe in 9 BC with the help of Bu Bun-no. In 3 BC, Yuri moved the capital from Jolbon to Gungnae . The Han dynasty was overthrown by Wang Mang , who established the Xin dynasty . In 12 AD, Wang Mang sent a messenger to Goguryeo to ask for troops to assist in the conquest of the Xiongnu. Yuri rejected
214-723: A Murong Xianbei cemetery in Lamadong, Liaoning , China ca. 300 AD. They were determined to be carriers of the maternal haplogroups J1b1 , D (three samples), F1a (three samples), M , B, B5b , C (three samples) and G2a . These haplogroups are common among East Asians and some Siberians. The maternal haplogroups of the Murong Xianbei were noticeably different from those of the Huns and Tuoba Xianbei. Proto-Mongols The proto-Mongols emerged from an area that had been inhabited by humans as far back as 45,000 years ago during
321-695: A brief period at the beginning of the 7th century, a new consolidation of the Göktürks, under the Western Göktürk ruler Tardu, again threatened China proper. In 601 Tardu's army besieged Chang'an (modern Xi'an), then the capital of the Sui dynasty. Tardu was turned back, however, and, upon his death two years later, the Göktürk state again fragmented. The Eastern Göktürk nonetheless continued their depredations, occasionally threatening Chang'an. From 629 to 648,
428-633: A direct contact with the Han dynasty, residing to the north of the Wuhuan. In the first century BC, the Xianbei began actively engaging in the struggle between the Han and Xiongnu, culminating in the Xianbei replacing the Xiongnu on the Mongolian Plateau in 93 AD. In the mid-2nd century, the chieftain, Tanshihuai unified the Xianbei and waged war against the Han dynasty. His confederation threatened
535-651: A dynastic name in the Chinese fashion; their rule was known as the Liao dynasty (916–1125). The period of the 11th and 12th centuries was one of consolidation , preceding the most momentous era in Mongol history, the era of Genghis Khan . During those centuries, the vast region of deserts, mountains, and grazing land was inhabited by people resembling each other in racial, cultural, and linguistic characteristics; ethnologically they were essentially Mongol . The similarities among
642-534: A force of 3,000 Xiongnu but could not take the Southern Xiongnu capital due to disease among the horses of their Xianbei allies. The Xianbei under Qizhijian raided Han territory four times from 121 to 138. In 145, the Xianbei raided Dai Commandery . Around the mid-2nd century, a chieftain, Tanshihuai , unified the Xianbei tribes and established an imperial court at Mount Danhan (彈汗山; in present-day Shangdu County , Inner Mongolia ). Under Tanshihuai,
749-505: A member of their tribe based on their character and abilities. Even as they established their states on the Central Plains and adopted the Chinese hereditary system, influential brothers, uncles and cousins of the Xianbei rulers often posed as rival claimants to the throne. Art of the Xianbei portrayed their nomadic lifestyle and consisted primarily of metalwork and figurines. The style and subjects of Xianbei art were influenced by
856-587: A multilingual, multi-ethnic confederation consisting of mainly Proto-Mongols (who spoke either pre-Proto-Mongolic, or Para-Mongolic languages ), and, to a minor degree, Tungusic and Turkic peoples. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into the Wuhuan and Xianbei when they were defeated by the Xiongnu at the end of the third century BC. Following the split, the Xianbei people did not have
963-431: A proto-Mongolian origin. There are several other theories about the ethnolinguistic identity of the Xiongnu, such as Turkic, Yeniseian, Iranian, Uralic, multiethnic. There are many cultural similarities between the Xiongnu and Mongols such as yurt on cart , mounted use of the composite bow , board game , horn bow and long song . The Mongolian long song is believed to date back at least 2000 years. A mythical origin of
1070-764: A reunited China proper under the Tang dynasty (618-907) destroyed the power of the Eastern Göktürk north of the Gobi; established suzerainty over the Khitans, a semi-nomadic proto-Mongol people who lived in areas that became the modern Chinese provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin ; and formed an alliance with the Uyghurs , who inhabited the region between the Altai Mountains and Lake Balkash. Between 641 and 648,
1177-890: A source of embarrassment for its rulers, who surreptitiously encouraged the Kirghiz and the Karluks to attack the Uyghurs, driving them south into the Tarim Basin. As a result of the Kirghiz action, the Uyghur empire collapsed in 846. Some of the Uyghurs emigrated to the Turpan Depression , where they established the Kingdom of Qocho that freely submitted to Genghis Khan several centuries later. Ironically, this weakening of
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#17327986075851284-524: A step further by decreeing the change of Xianbei names to Han names , even changing their own family name from Tuoba to Yuan. Xiaowen also moved the capital to Luoyang in the Chinese heartlands away from Pingcheng near the northern frontiers. While the population in Luoyang were open to accepting the policies, the population near the old capital were more conservative and held on to their Xianbei culture. Marriages to Han elite families were encouraged, and
1391-558: A usurper. However, due to the lack of conclusive evidence either way, it is only speculation. Yuri's surname was Hae (解), while Jumong's surname was Go (高). According to the Samguk sagi , Jumong is said to have been the son of Hae Mosu born in Buyeo. Later, Jumong is said to have fled Buyeo, leaving Yuri behind before he was born. Jumong may have changed his surname name from Hae to Go when he founded Goguryeo after leaving Buyeo, while Yuri kept
1498-420: A variety of influences, and ultimately, the Xianbei were known for emphasizing unique nomadic motifs in artistic advancements such as leaf headdresses, crouching and geometricized animals depictions, animal pendant necklaces, and metal openwork . The leaf headdresses were very characteristic of Xianbei culture, and they are found especially in Murong Xianbei tombs. Their corresponding ornamental style also links
1605-452: Is also possible that the Xianbei spoke more than one language. However, there are no remaining works written in Xianbei, which are thought to have been written using Chinese characters . Only a few words remain, such as 啊干 'elder brother'. According to Du, et al. (2024), some historians believe that the Xianbei could have had "exotic" features such as high nose bridges, blond hair and thick beards. However, other scholars have suggested
1712-702: Is not yet known whether they were proto-Mongols. The Xiongnu were a group of nomads who dominated the Asian steppe from the late 3rd century BC for more than 500 years. The Xiongnu invasions prompted the kingdoms of North China to begin erecting what later became the Great Wall . The identity of the ethnic core of Xiongnu has been a subject of varied hypotheses and some scholars, including A. Luvsandendev, Bernát Munkácsy , Henry Hoyle Howorth , Bolor Erike , Alexey Okladnikov , Peter Simon Pallas , Isaac Jacob Schmidt , Hyacinth and Byambyn Rinchen , insisted on
1819-496: 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." 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
1926-787: The Di -led Former Qin dynasty before it fell apart not long after its defeat in the Battle of Fei River by the Eastern Jin. In the wake of the Former Qin's collapse, the Tuoba formed the Northern Wei dynasty and eventually reunited northern China, ushering China into the Northern and Southern dynasties period. The Northern dynasties , all of which were either led or heavily influenced by
2033-795: The Former Yan (337–370), Later Yan (384–407) and Southern Yan (398–410), as well as the Western Yan (384–394; not listed among the Sixteen Kingdoms). The Murong dominated the northeast and at one point vied to unify China, but fell short due to family infighting, corruption and weak rulers. Meanwhile, in Gansu , the Qifu established the Western Qin (385–431) while the Tufa established
2140-533: The Han dynasty , the Xianbei began occupying the Mongolian Plateau , absorbing 100,000 Xiongnu tribes and increasing their strength. In 109, the Wuhuan and Xianbei attacked Wuyuan Commandery and defeated local Han forces. 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
2247-535: The Korean Peninsula in the east, across the northern parts of China to present-day Kazakhstan and to the Pamir Mountains and Lake Balkash in the west. During most of recorded history, this has been an area of constant ferment from which emerged numerous migrations and invasions to the southeast (into China), to the southwest (into Transoxiana —modern Uzbekistan , Iran , and India ), and to
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#17327986075852354-524: The Northern Wei dynasty (386–535), becoming the first of the Northern dynasties (386–581). The Northern Wei grew in power after they defeated and supplanted the Later Yan on 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 . The Northern Wei unification
2461-911: The Oroqen people . A genetic study published in the Russian Journal of Genetics in April 2014 examined the mtDNA of 17 Tuoba Xianbei buried at the Shangdu Dongdajing cemetery in Inner Mongolia, China. The 17 samples of mtDNA extracted belonged to haplogroups D4 (four samples), D5 (three samples), C (five samples), A (three samples), G and B. A genetic study published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology in November 2007 examined 17 individuals buried at
2568-509: The Sixteen Kingdoms in northern China. The Murong of Liaodong were the most notable clan of this period. Having adopted the Jin governing system and customs, they rose to prominence during the fall of Western Jin by providing refuge and cooperating closely with the Chinese exiles, eventually establishing Xianbei rule over the Central Plains after they defeated the Ran Wei in 352. They founded
2675-569: The Southern Liang (397–414). The Tuoba retained their fiefdom of Dai (310–376), which was elevated to a kingdom in 315, before they were eventually conquered by the Di -led Former Qin dynasty . With the fall of Dai, northern China was briefly unified under the Qin, but as they rapidly collapsed following a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Fei River in 383, the Tuoba restored their state as
2782-614: The Tang dynasty (618–907). Both Sui and Tang were founded by families who identified with their Han Chinese heritage, and were backed by an alliance of Chinese and Xianbei nobles from the Northern Zhou who sought to protect their common interest. Through these political establishments, the Xianbei who entered China were largely merged with the Chinese, examples such as the wife of Emperor Gaozu of Tang , Duchess Dou and Emperor Taizong of Tang 's wife, Empress Zhangsun , both have Xianbei ancestries, while those who remained behind in
2889-779: The Tuoba tribe settled in the abandoned city of Shengle , north of the Yin Mountains . To the east of them, the Yuwen tribe settled between the Luan River and Liucheng , while the Murong tribe were allowed to move deeper into Liaodong . The Duan tribe was founded in Liaoxi within the Great Wall by a Xianbei ex-slave along with a group of exiles. In the west, an offshoot of the Murong moved into northern Qinghai and mixed with
2996-810: The Upper Paleolithic . The people there went through the Bronze and Iron Ages , forming tribal alliances, peopling, and coming into conflict with early polities in the Central Plain . The proto-Mongols formed various tribal kingdoms who fought against one other for supremacy, such as the Rouran Khaganate (330–555) until it was defeated by the Göktürks , who founded the First Turkic Khaganate (552–744), which in turn
3103-701: The Western Jin dynasty during the War of the Eight Princes and the Upheaval of the Five Barbarians before eventually distancing themselves and declaring their autonomy as the Jin was pushed to the south. During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, the Xianbei founded several short-lived states in the north and established themselves on the Central Plains . The Xianbei were at one point all subjected to
3210-597: The Wuhuan at the Battle of White Wolf Mountain in 207, Budugen, Fuluohan, Kebineng and others paid tribute to him. In 218, Fuluohan met with the Wuhuan chieftain Nengchendi to form an alliance, but Nengchendi double crossed him and called in Kebineng, who killed Fuluohan. Budugen went to the court of Cao Wei in 224 to ask for assistance against Kebineng, but he eventually betrayed them and allied with Kebineng in 233. Kebineng killed Budugen soon afterwards. Kebineng
3317-621: The 3rd century AD, suzerainty was limited primarily to the Gansu corridor. The Xianbei were able to make forays into a China beset with internal unrest and political disintegration. By 317 all of China north of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) had been overrun by nomadic peoples: the Xianbei from the north; some remnants of the Xiongnu from the northwest; and the Chiang people of Gansu and Tibet (present-day China's Xizang Autonomous Region) from
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3424-564: The Altai Mountains, where many of the Türk were serfs working the iron mines. Thus, from the outset of their revolt, they had the advantage of controlling what had been one of the major bases of Rouran power. Between 546 and 553, the Göktürks overthrew the Rouran and established themselves as the most powerful force in North Asia and Inner Asia. This was the beginning of a pattern of conquest that
3531-646: The Central Plains and give pushback on the Wei's sinicization policies. The Northern Qi was ruled by the Gao clan, a Xianbeified Han Chinese family who relied on the Xianbei elites and favoured their traditions. Meanwhile, the Northern Zhou was ruled by the Yuwen clan of Xianbei ethnicity. Ruling over a predominantly Chinese population, the military reforms of the Western Wei and Northern Zhou saw an attempt to revive
3638-408: The Donghu had split, along geographical lines in two: the proto-Mongolic Xianbei in the north and the Wuhuan in the south. After the Xiongnu were driven back into their homeland by the Chinese (48 AD), the Xianbei (in particular) began moving (from apparently the north or northwest) into the region vacated by the Xiongnu. By the 2nd century AD, the Xianbei had begun attacking Chinese farms south of
3745-439: The Eastern Han Chinese pronunciation of 鮮卑 is /sian pie/, and he does not reconstruct syllables ending in -r for this stage. He reconstructed the Later Han pronunciation of 室韋 as /śit wui/. On the one hand, *Särpi may be linked to the Mongolic root *ser ~ *sir which means "crest, bristle, sticking out, projecting, etc." (cf. Khalkha сэрвэн serven ), possibly referring to the Xianbei's horses (semantically analogous with
3852-429: The Five Barbarians . For their services, the Duan and Tuoba were granted the duchies of Liaoxi and Dai , respectively. However, for varying reasons, most of the Xianbei eventually withdrew from the conflict, allowing the remnants of Jin to be quickly overwhelmed. Mass number of Chinese officers, soldiers and civilians fled south to join the Eastern Jin or north to join the Xianbei duchies. The Xianbei founded several of
3959-401: The Great Wall, established an empire, which, although short-lived, gave rise to numerous tribal states along the Chinese frontier. Among these states was that of the Tuoba , a subgroup of the Xianbei, in modern China's Shanxi Province . The Wuhuan also were prominent in the 2nd century, but they disappeared thereafter; possibly they were absorbed in the Xianbei western expansion. The Xianbei and
4066-412: The Hae surname. However, alternative theories suggest that their surnames are different because Yuri was a usurper from a different family, with the above story being created after the fact. There is also record of one of Jumong's friends and most trusted subjects, Hyeob-bo, being dismissed by Yuri. According to the first Goguryeo volume of the Samguk sagi , Hyeob-bo disagreed with Yuri constantly leaving
4173-412: The Han's northern borders for many years, but quickly disintegrated following his death in 181 AD. After suffering several defeats by the end of the Three Kingdoms period , the Xianbei migrated south and settled in close proximity to Han society and submitted as vassals to the Chinese dynasties. As one of the so-called " Five Barbarians " that settled in northern China, the Xianbei fought as auxiliaries for
4280-400: The Jurchen, ancestors of the Manchu, formed an alliance with the Song and reduced the Liao dynasty to vassal status in a seven-year war (1115–1122). The Jurchen leader proclaimed himself the founder of a new Chinese dynasty, the Jin dynasty . Scarcely pausing in their conquests, the Tungusic Jurchen subdued neighboring Goryeo (Korea) in 1226 and invaded the territory of their former allies,
4387-456: The Mongols who, in 1139 and in 1147, warded them off . Some Shiwei tribes, though little is known, have been considered the ancestors of the Mongols according to ancient Chinese records . Term "Shiwei" was an umbrella term of the Mongolic and some Tungusic peoples in the 6th to 12th centuries. During the 5th century, they occupied the area east of the Greater Khingan Range, what is the Hulun Buir , Ergune , Nonni (Noon) , Middle Amur , and
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4494-403: The Mongols, Göktürk, and Tatars who inhabited this region cause considerable ethnic and historical confusion. Generally, the Mongols and the closely related Tatars inhabited the northern and the eastern areas; the Göktürk (who already had begun to spread over western Asia and Eastern Europe ) were in the west and the southwest; the Tangut, who were more closely related to the Tibetans than were
4601-410: The Northern Wei dynasty, and ultimately led to the creation of the Yungang Grottoes . The Xianbei are thought to have spoken Mongolic or Para-Mongolic languages, with early and substantial Turkic influences, as Claus Schönig asserts: The Xianbei derived from the context of the Donghu , who are likely to have contained the linguistic ancestors of the Mongols . Later branches and descendants of
4708-460: The Northern Wei started to arrange for Han Chinese elites to marry daughters of the Xianbei Tuoba royal family in the 480s. More than fifty percent of Tuoba Xianbei princesses of the Northern Wei were married to southern Han Chinese men from the imperial families and aristocrats from southern China of the Southern dynasties who defected and moved north to join the Northern Wei. Some Han Chinese exiled royalty fled from southern China and defected to
4815-399: The Oxus Valley. At the same time, their allies, the Uyghurs, conquered much of western and northern Mongolia until, by the middle of the 8th century, the Uyghur seminomadic empire extended from Lake Balkash to Lake Baykal. Despite these crippling losses, the Tang recovered and, with considerable Uyghur assistance, held their frontiers. Tang dependence upon their northern allies was apparently
4922-435: The Shanxi area, the Tuoba established control over the region as the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386–533). Northern Wei armies drove back the Rouran (referred to as Ruanruan or Juan-Juan by Chinese chroniclers), a newly arising nomadic Mongol people in the steppes north of the Altai Mountains , and reconstructed the Great Wall. During the 4th century also, the Huns left the steppes north of the Aral Sea to invade Europe . By
5029-435: The Shiwei and collected tribute. Other Shiwei may have stayed and become the Ewenkis. The Kitans conquered the Shiwei during the late 9th century. One Shiwei tribe, living near the Amur and Ergune rivers, was called the "Menggu" (Mongol) . A few scholars believe they, other Shiwei tribes, and many other peoples from the area moved west from the forest to the Mongolian proper steppe . The proto-Mongols founded many states such as
5136-405: The Shouyang Princess was wedded to the Liang dynasty ruler Emperor Wu of Liang 's son Xiao Zong (蕭綜). After the Six Frontier Towns Rebellion and the events that followed, the Northern Wei split into Eastern Wei (534–550) and Western Wei (535–556) before becoming the Northern Qi (550–577) and Northern Zhou (557–581) respectively. The chaos allowed the Xianbei frontier nobility to enter
5243-433: The Song, to precipitate a series of wars with China that continued through the remainder of the century. Meanwhile, the defeated Liao ruler had fled with the small remnant of his army to the Tarim Basin, where he allied himself with the Uyghurs and established the Qara Khitai state (known also as the Western Liao dynasty, 1124–1234), which soon controlled both sides of the Pamir Mountains. The Jurchen turned their attention to
5350-403: The Tang conquered the Western Göktürk, reestablishing Chinese control over Xinjiang and exacting tribute from west of the Pamir Mountains. The Göktürk empire finally ended in 744. For half a century, the Tang retained control of Central Asia and modern-day Mongolia and parts of Inner Asia. Both sides of the Great Wall came under Tang rule. During this period, the Tang expanded Chinese control into
5457-444: The Tangut—who had taken advantage of the Tang decline—had formed a state, Western Xia (1038–1227), nominally under Song suzerainty. Xinjiang was dominated by the Uyghurs, who were loosely allied with the Song dynasty. The people of Mongolia at this time were predominantly spirit worshipers, with shamans providing spiritual and religious guidance to the people and tribal leaders. There had been infusion of Buddhism. A Tungusic people,
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#17327986075855564-661: The Turkic ethnonym Yabaqu < Yapağu 'matted hair or wool', later 'a matted-haired animal, i.e. a colt') On the other hand, the Book of the Later Han and the Book of Wei stated that before becoming an ethnonym, Xianbei had been a toponym, referring to the Great Xianbei mountains (大鮮卑山), which is now identified as the Greater Khingan range ( simplified Chinese : 大兴安岭 ; traditional Chinese : 大興安嶺 ; pinyin : Dà Xīng'ān Lǐng ). Shimunek (2018) reconstructs * serbi for Xiānbēi and * širwi for 室韋 Shìwéi < MC *ɕiɪt̚-ɦʉi . Warring States period 's Chinese literature contains early mentions of Xianbei, as in
5671-478: The Uyghurs undoubtedly hastened the decline and fall of the Tang Dynasty over the next fifty years. Free of Uyghur restraint, the Para-Mongolic Khitan expanded in all directions in the latter half of the 9th century and the early years of the 10th century. By 925 the Khitan ruled eastern Mongolia, most of Manchuria, and the Sixteen Prefectures of northern China. By the middle of the 10th century, Khitan chieftains had declared themselves as Chinese emperors and chose
5778-427: The Wuhuan used mounted archers in warfare, and they had only temporary war leaders instead of hereditary chiefs. Agriculture, rather than full-scale nomadism, was the basis of their economy. In the 6th century, the Wuhuan were driven out of Inner Asia into the Russian steppe. Chinese control of parts of Inner Asia did not last beyond the opening years of the 2nd century AD, and, as the Eastern Han Dynasty ended early in
5885-436: The Xianbei are the same as the Wuhuan ". 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. In 49, the governor Ji Tong convinced the Xianbei chieftain Pianhe to turn on the Xiongnu with rewards for each Xiongnu head they collected. In 54, Yuchouben and Mantou of the Xianbei paid tribute to Emperor Guangwu of Han . In 58,
5992-408: The Xianbei 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. 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
6099-415: The Xianbei chieftain Pianhe attacked and killed Xinzhiben, a Wuhuan leader causing trouble in Yuyang Commandery . In 85, the Xianbei secured an alliance with the Dingling and Southern Xiongnu . 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. In 93, as the Northern Xiongnu were forced to the northwest by
6206-428: The Xianbei include the Tabghach and Khitan , who seem to have been linguistically Para-Mongolic. [...] Opinions differ widely as to what the linguistic impact of the Xianbei period was. Some scholars (like Clauson) have preferred to regard the Xianbei and Tabghach (Tuoba) as Turks, with the implication that the entire layer of early Turkic borrowings in Mongolic would have been received from the Xianbei, rather than from
6313-412: The Xianbei of the northeast, primarily the Duan , were brought in to fight in the civil wars of the Jin princes and played a deciding factor in the wars. When the Xiongnu in Shanxi rebelled and founded the Han-Zhao dynasty , the Tuoba offered their assistance to Jin to fight the rebels. The Jin were heavily reliant on the Xianbei's military force as they gradually lost the north during the upheaval of
6420-479: 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 perfectly 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
6527-480: 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
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#17327986075856634-483: The Xianbei warrior culture, which includes reverting the sinicized names of the Northern Wei and rewarding Han Chinese officers with Xianbei names. The Prime Minister of Northern Zhou, Yang Jian , later had these names restored back to Han names. In 581, Yang Jian founded the Sui dynasty (581–618) and unified China in 589 after absorbing the Chen dynasty (557–589). When the Sui came to an end amidst peasant rebellions and renegade troops, his cousin, Li Yuan , founded
6741-407: The Xianbei was animal husbandry combined with agricultural practice. They were the first to develop the khanate system, in which formation of social classes deepened, and developments also occurred in their literacy, arts and culture. They used a zodiac calendar and favoured song and music. Tengrism and subsequently Buddhism were the main religions among the Xianbei people. After they abandoned
6848-409: The Xianbei, opposed and promoted sinicization at one point or another but trended towards the latter and had merged with the general Chinese population by the Tang dynasty . The Northern Wei also arranged for ethnic Han elites to marry daughters of the Tuoba imperial clan in the 480s. More than fifty percent of Tuoba Xianbei princesses of the Northern Wei were married to southern Han men from
6955-458: The Xianbei. Historian Edward H. Schafer believes many of the Xianbei were blondes, but others such as Charles Holcombe think it is "likely that the bulk of the Xianbei were not visibly very different in appearance from the general population of northeastern Asia." Chinese anthropologist Zhu Hong and Zhang Quan-chao studied Xianbei crania from several sites of Inner Mongolia and noticed that anthropological features of studied Xianbei crania show that
7062-474: The Xianbei. Several daughters of the Xianbei Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei were married to Han Chinese elites, the Liu Song royal Liu Hui (劉輝), married Princess Lanling (蘭陵公主) of the Northern Wei, Princess Huayang (華陽公主) to Sima Fei (司馬朏), a descendant of Jin dynasty (266–420) royalty, Princess Jinan (濟南公主) to Lu Daoqian (盧道虔), Princess Nanyang (南陽長公主) to Xiao Baoyin (蕭寶寅), a member of Southern Qi royalty. Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei's sister
7169-442: The Xianbei. They were defeated and returned with only one-tenth of their original forces. 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
7276-399: The Xiongnu. Another memorial submitted in 185 states that the Xianbei were making raids on Han settlements nearly every year. Despite the constant raids, the loose Xianbei confederacy lacked the organization of the Xiongnu empire, and they were struggling to sustain their growing population. Tanshihuai died in 181 and was succeeded by his son, Helian, but he lacked his father's abilities and
7383-422: The Xiongnu. However, since the Mongolic (or Para-Mongolic) identity of the Xianbei is increasingly obvious in the light of recent progress in Khitan studies, it is more reasonable to assume (with Doerfer) that the flow of linguistic influence from Turkic into Mongolic was at least partly reversed during the Xianbei period, yielding the first identifiable layer of Mongolic (or Para-Mongolic) loanwords in Turkic. It
7490-417: The Zeya Watersheds. They may have been divided into five to twenty tribes. They were said to be dressed in fish skins. They may have been nomadic, staying in the marshy lowlands in the winter and the mountains during the summer. The burial was by exposure in trees. Their language is described as being similar to Manchu-Tungusic languages and Khitan. The Türk dynasties (550-740) installed tuduns, or governors over
7597-404: The appearance of the Xianbei was not dramatically different from modern East Asians. A genetic analysis of Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou revealed that he had an East Asian appearance, consistent with the hypothesis that the Xianbei were primarily of East Asian appearance. Yellow hair in Chinese sources could have meant brown rather than blonde and described other people such as the Jie rather than
7704-442: The back of hammered metal sheets. The nomadic traditions of the Xianbei inspired them to portray horses in their artwork. The horse 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. The Xianbei not only created art for their horses, but they also made art to depict horses. Another recurring motif
7811-400: 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
7918-494: 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. In 177, Xia Yu , Tian Yan and the Southern Xiongnu Chanyu , Tute Ruoshi Zhujiu led a force of 30,000 against
8025-433: The courts. 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
8132-399: 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. Xianbei Buddhist influences were derived from interactions with Han culture. The Han bureaucrats initially helped
8239-479: The first millennium BC, bronze-working peoples lived on the Mongolia Plateau . With the appearance of iron weapons by the 3rd century BC, the inhabitants of Mongolia had begun to form clan alliances and lived a hunter and herder lifestyle. The origins of more modern inhabitants are found among the forest hunters and nomadic tribes of Inner Asia . They inhabited a great arc of land extending generally from
8346-534: The frigid north and migrated into Northern China , they gradually abandoned nomadic lifestyle and were sinicized and assimilated with the Han Chinese . Emperor Xiaowen of the Xianbei-led state of Northern Wei in northern China, eventually decreed the changes of Xianbei names to Han names . Prior to Tanshihuai, the Xianbei did not have a hereditary system , and their chieftains were chosen by electing
8453-467: The frontier by Cao Zhang . In 220, he acknowledged Cao Pi as emperor of Cao Wei. Eventually, he turned on the Wei for frustrating his advances on Suli. Kebineng conducted raids on Cao Wei before he was killed in 235, after which his confederacy disintegrated. Many of the Xianbei tribes migrated south and settled on the borders of the Wei-Jin dynasties, where they often offered their submission. In 258,
8560-727: The imperial families and aristocrats from southern China of the Southern dynasties who defected and moved north to join the Northern Wei. Paul Pelliot tentatively reconstructs the Eastern Han Chinese pronunciation of 鮮卑 as */serbi/, from * Särpi , after noting that Chinese scribes used 鮮 to transcribe Middle Persian sēr ( lion ) and 卑 to transcribe foreign syllable /pi/; for instance, Sanskrit गोपी gopī "milkmaid, cowherdess" became Middle Chinese 瞿卑 ( ɡɨo-piᴇ ) (> Mand. qúbēi ). According to Schuessler, however,
8667-417: The kingdom. Another piece of evidence tied to the usurpation theory is the story of Jumong's broken sword. According to the Samguk sagi , Yuri found a piece of Jumong's broken sword and was appointed as crown prince when he showed it to Jumong. However, his possession of Jumong's broken sword is interpreted alternatively as evidence of victory over Jumong. Jumong also died very shortly after Yuri's arrival, at
8774-489: The late 5th century, the Rouran established a powerful nomadic empire spreading generally farther north of Northern Wei. It was probably the Rouran who first used the title khan . Northern Wei was disintegrating rapidly because of revolts of semi-tribal Tuoba military forces that were opposed to being sinicized, when disaster struck the flourishing Rouran Khaganate . The Göktürks , known as Tujue to Chinese chroniclers, revolted against their Rouran rulers. The uprising began in
8881-578: The long song is mentioned in the Book of Wei , volume 113. The Donghu (or Tung Hu, the Eastern Hu), a proto-Mongol and/or Tungus group mentioned in Chinese histories as existing as early as the 4th century BC. The language of the Donghu, unlike that of the Xiongnu, is believed by modern scholars to be proto-Mongolic . The Donghu were among the first peoples conquered by the Xiongnu. By the 1st century AD,
8988-671: The middle of the 5th century, Northern Wei had penetrated into the Tarim Basin in Inner Asia, as had the Chinese in the 2nd century. As the empire grew, however, Tuoba tribal customs were supplanted by those of the Chinese, an evolution not accepted by all Tuoba. The Rouran, only temporarily repelled by Northern Wei, had driven the Xiongnu toward the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea and were making raids into China. In
9095-443: The mountains and the steppes, the attention of the Göktürks quickly was attracted by the wealth of China proper. At first these new raiders encountered little resistance, but toward the end of the 6th century, as China proper slowly began to recover from centuries of disunity, border defenses stiffened. The original Göktürk state split into eastern and western parts, with some of the Eastern Göktürk acknowledging Sui overlordship. For
9202-613: The native Qiang people , becoming Tuyuhun . The Qifu tribe settled near the Longxi basin , while a branch of the Tuoba, the Tufa tribe, roamed the Hexi corridor . In 270, the Tufa chieftain, Tufa 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 . During the War of the Eight Princes ,
9309-642: The next few hundred years, the Jurchens in China subtly encouraged warfare among the Mongols as a way of keeping them distracted from invading China proper . In the 12th century, Genghis Khan was able to unite or conquer the warring tribes, forging them into a unified fighting force that went on to create the largest contiguous empire in world history, the Mongol Empire , which was finally able to conquer
9416-726: The northern grassland evolved into tribes of the Rouran and Khitan . In the West, the Xianbei kingdom of Tuyuhun remained independent until it was defeated by the Tibetan Empire in 670. After the fall of the kingdom, the Xianbei people underwent a diaspora over a vast territory that stretched from the northwest into central and eastern parts of China. Murong Nuohebo led the Tuyuhun people eastward into central China, where they settled in modern Yinchuan , Ningxia. The economic base of
9523-581: The other nomads and who were not a Turkic people , were in eastern Xinjiang, Gansu, and western Inner Mongolia. The Liao state was homogeneous, and the Khitan had begun to lose their nomadic characteristics. The Khitan built cities and exerted dominion over their agricultural subjects as a means of consolidating their empire. To the west and the northwest of Liao were many other Mongol tribes, linked together in various tenuous alliances and groupings, but with little national cohesiveness. In Gansu and eastern Xinjiang,
9630-476: The palace to go on hunting trips, urging Yuri to focus on governance. Yuri, angered by this, then forced Hyub-bo [ ko ] (陜父) to resign from his office. Hyeob-bo subsequently left Goguryeo. This is interpreted by those suggesting usurpation as implying a removal of Jumong loyalists from Yuri's government. Not all of Jumong's subjects were removed. General Bu Bun-no (扶芬奴) and Oi served Goguryeo through most of King Yuri's reign and played active roles in
9737-576: The poem " The Great Summons " ( Chinese : 大招 ; pinyin : Dà zhāo ) in the anthology Verses of Chu and possibly the chapter "Discourses of Jin 8" in Discourses of the States . When the Donghu "Eastern Barbarians" were defeated by Modu Chanyu around 208 BC, the Donghu splintered into the Xianbei and Wuhuan. According to the Book of the Later Han , "the language and culture of
9844-871: The racial type is closely related to the modern East-Asians, and some physical characteristics of those skulls are closer to modern Mongols, Manchu and Han Chinese . A genetic study published in The FEBS Journal in October 2006 examined the mtDNA of 21 Tuoba Xianbei buried at the Qilang Mountain Cemetery in Inner Mongolia , China. The 21 samples of mtDNA extracted belonged to haplogroups O (9 samples), D (7 samples), C (5 samples), B (2 samples) and A . These haplogroups are characteristic of Northeast Asians. Among modern populations they were found to be most closely related to
9951-503: The relatively young age of 40. Although the 2nd through 5th monarchs of Goguryeo kept the Hae surname, the sixth monarch Taejodae later adopted the Go surname again. To those that suspect Yuri usurped the throne, this is evidence of a restoration of the Go family line. However, another common hypothesis is that Goguryeo's royal surname was a word, and Hae (解) is a Chinese character transcription of
10058-445: The request and instead attacked Xin. He had six sons and among them were Haemyeong and Muhyul. Haemyeong was proclaimed the crown prince of Goguryeo after the death of Dojeol, who was King Yuri's eldest son. But Yuri found Haemyeong to be too reckless and disobedient. Yuri replaced him with the younger son Muhyul in 14 AD. Muhyul was Yuri's son with the daughter of Songyang. Muhyul ruled later as King Daemusin of Goguryeo . A poem Yuri
10165-538: The sound of that word in the Goguryeo language, and Go (高) is a Chinese character transcription of that word's meaning. Xianbei The Xianbei ( / ʃ j ɛ n ˈ b eɪ / ; simplified Chinese : 鲜卑 ; traditional Chinese : 鮮卑 ; pinyin : Xiānbēi ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia , Inner Mongolia , and Northeastern China . The Xianbei were strongly suggested to be
10272-578: The west (across Scythia toward Europe ). By the eighth century BC, the inhabitants of western Mongolia evidently were nomadic Indo-European speakers, either Scythians or Yuezhi . In central and eastern parts of Mongolia were many other tribes, such as the Slab Grave culture and the Ordos culture . According to a number of sources, one of the ancestors of the Mongols were the Xiongnu , although it
10379-585: The west and the southwest. Chaos prevailed as these groups warred with each other and repulsed the vain efforts of the fragmented Chinese kingdoms south of the Yangtze River to reconquer the region. By the end of the 4th century, the region between the Yangtze and the Gobi , including much of modern Xinjiang, was dominated by the Tuoba. Emerging as the partially sinicized state of Dai between AD 338 and 376 in
10486-646: The whole of China proper—beginning with his invasion of the Khitan-led Western Liao dynasty and the Tangut -led Western Xia dynasty , and ending with his grandson Kublai Khan 's conquest of the Southern Song dynasty . Kublai then founded the Yuan dynasty of China in 1271. Archaeological evidence suggests that Upper Paleolithic hominins inhabited Mongolia as early as 45,000 years ago. By
10593-407: Was from a minor Xianbei tribe. He rose to power west of Dai Commandery by taking in a number of Chinese refugees, who helped him drill his soldiers and make weapons. After the defeat of the Wuhuan in 207, he also sent tribute to Cao Cao, and even provided assistance against the rebel Tian Yin. In 218 he allied himself to the Wuhuan rebel Nengchendi but they were heavily defeated and forced back across
10700-712: Was killed in a raid on Beidi during the last years of Emperor Ling of Han . 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. By the Jian'an era (196–220), the Xianbei had split into many different groups, most notably with Kuitou ruling in Inner Mongolia , Kebineng in northern Shanxi , and Suli and Mijia in northern Liaodong . Following his death, Kuitou's brothers Budugen and Fuluohan succeeded him. After Cao Cao defeated
10807-497: Was long-lasting and brought a period of relative peace to the north in the wake of the chaotic Sixteen Kingdoms period. The Xianbei had naturally been in the process of sinicization since they first entered the Chinese interior, but this process became systemic during the late Northern Wei period. Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei established a policy of systematic sinicization that was continued by his successors and largely abandoned Xianbei traditions. The royal family took sinicization
10914-508: Was said to have written for his favoured concubine Chihui has survived. It is titled the Song of the Yellow Bird . King Yuri died in 18 AD, after ruling for 37 years. He was succeeded by his youngest remaining son, Muhyul, who became King Daemusin . Recently, some historians have interpreted historical evidence as indicating that Yuri may not have been the son of Jumong, but rather was
11021-649: Was subdued by the growing strength of the Tang dynasty . The destruction of the Uyghur Khaganate (744–848) by the Yenisei Kyrgyz resulted in the end of Turkic dominance on the Mongolian Plateau . The para-Mongol Khitan people founded also referred to by Chineses sources as Liao dynasty (916–1125) and ruled Mongolia and portions of the eastern coast of Siberia now known as the Russian Far East , northern Korea , and North China . Over
11128-515: 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
11235-531: 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 even allied with the Southern Xiongnu and Wuhuan to attack Shaanxi and Gansu . These raids devastated
11342-578: 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. This symbol is thought to have guided an early Xianbei southern migration, and is a recurring image in many Xianbei art forms. 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
11449-647: Was to have a significant effect upon Eurasian history for more than 1,000 years. The Göktürks were the first people to use this later widespread name. They are also the earliest Inner Asian people whose language is known , because they left behind inscriptions in a runic-like Orkhon script , which was deciphered in 1896. It was not long before the tribes in the region north of the Gobi—the Eastern Göktürks—were following invasion routes into China proper used in previous centuries by Xiongnu, Xianbei, Tuoba, and Rouran. Like their predecessors who had inhabited
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