Before and Beyond Pingcheng: The Xianbei in Inner Mongolia (4th-6th Centuries)

Over the course of China's long history, almost one-third of its dynastic houses has been founded by nomads. Traditionally, the period between the Han and the Tang (4th-7th centuries CE) has been considered 400 hundred years of chaos, characterized by civil strife and barbarian (i.e., nomadic) invasions. The ability to evaluate the importance of various nomadic groups' contributions was hampered by limited excavated materials. Now, however, a substantial amount of new material has emerged in northern China, specifically in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. In the fourth century, the nomadic Xianbei emerged in northeastern Inner Mongolia to dominate other tribal groups, and eventually invaded northern China to rule as the Northern Wei dynasty (386-535). Despite their importance in Chinese history, the Xianbei remain little-known today, especially in the West. A major source for Xianbei history and culture, as well as for that of other nomadic groups, has been filtered through the Chinese dynastic texts, which are acknowledged as biased. This volume offers insights into the diverse nomadic cultures that form the background to Xianbei rule in Pingcheng (modern Datong, Shanxi province), the first major capital established in China built near the northern border close to their homeland.