When "barbarians" rule China,
who gets to define what "Chinese" means?
After 316 CE, north China was ruled by non-Chinese dynasties for nearly 300 years.
Chinese elite who remained had to decide:
Can we serve these rulers?
Are they legitimate?
What does our identity mean now?
Connection to Lecture Arc
Lecture 1: Han collapsed (316), Three Kingdoms stalemate, Jin failure. Non-Chinese peoples controlled north.
Lecture 2 (Today): Nearly three centuries when various non-Chinese dynasties ruled northern China—transforming both conquerors AND Chinese identity.
Lecture 3: How Buddhism—another "foreign" import—conquered Chinese hearts/minds during same period.
Who Were the "Barbarians"?
Not a single group—diverse peoples with different histories.
The Five Barbarian Groups (Wu Hu)
Xiongnu — Remember from Han Dynasty; many settled inside China by 300 CE
Xianbei — Northern nomads; would become dominant (Northern Wei)
Jie — Small group; brutal conflicts both ways
Di — Northwestern peoples, some agricultural
Qiang — Western peoples, pastoral and agricultural
Important: These weren't racial categories—they were political and cultural identities that shifted over time.
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Five Barbarians (Wu Hu 五胡)
Chinese classificatory label, not stable ethnographic map. These identities were fluid—families could shift between categories through political alliance, marriage, or relocation.
Key point: "Hu" often means "people from north/west" or "non-Han" in documents, but same person could be labeled differently depending on context (office, marriage, residence).
The Xiongnu Legacy
Remember them from Han Dynasty (heqin marriage alliances)
After confederation collapsed, many groups settled inside China
By 300 CE: Xiongnu had lived in border regions for generations
Some spoke Chinese, knew Chinese classics, used Chinese names
Case Study:
Liu Yuan, who captured Luoyang in 311, claimed descent from the Han imperial family through a marriage treaty. His dynasty was called "Han"!
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Liu Yuan and the Disaster of Yongjia (311)
Xiongnu leader who founded Han Zhao dynasty. His forces sacked Luoyang in 311—a trauma marker for Jin collapse.
Identity complexity: Liu Yuan claimed Han imperial descent, used Chinese dynastic name, but led Xiongnu confederation. Shows how blurred lines already were.
The Sixteen Kingdoms Era
304–439 CE: Chaos Before Consolidation
Name "Sixteen Kingdoms" is traditional but misleading—there were more
Dynasties rose and fell quickly; average reign very short
Violence endemic: cities sacked, populations massacred or enslaved
New rulers rapidly learned: Cannot rule North China without Chinese clerks, tax systems, and Mandate of Heaven ideology
Sources: Chinese history textbooks, Cambridge History
Shi Le: Complexity in Action
His Story
Born Jie tribesman
Sold into slavery as young man
Rose to lead mounted bandits
Founded Later Zhao (319–351)
Could not read Chinese
His Strategy
Employed Chinese advisors
Used Chinese administration
Patronized Buddhism
Governed without reading Chinese himself
Pattern: Non-Chinese rulers needed Chinese administrative expertise.
Chinese officials needed non-Chinese patrons to survive.
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Shi Le (274–333 CE)
Jie leader, former slave, founder of Later Zhao. One of most fascinating figures of era.
Significance: Shows you could govern North China without reading Chinese, BUT only if you employed Chinese administrators. Also converted to Buddhism (Fotudeng as advisor)—we'll see why that mattered in Lecture 3.
Ethnic violence: His successor launched persecution of ethnic Chinese, which Chinese subjects carried out "with vengeance"—violence flowed multiple directions based on who held power.
⏸ Pause & Process #1
The Legitimacy Problem
Scenario:
You are Chinese scholar-official. Your family has served government for generations. Non-Chinese conquerors now rule your region. They offer you an administrative position.
Do you accept?
Consider: What do you gain? What do you lose? Does it matter if ruler adopts Chinese customs?
Tuoba clan of Xianbei created most durable northern dynasty
Founded Northern Wei in 386 from base in northern Shanxi
Advantage: Access to steppe cavalry AND Chinese agricultural population
By 439: Unified all of north China; ruled until 534
Early Strategy: Separation Model
Capital at Pingcheng (northern Shanxi)—closer to steppe
Xianbei warriors settled nearby as herders, not farmers
Chinese ran bureaucracy; Xianbei ran military
Why? Fear of being "overwhelmed" by more numerous Chinese
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Northern Wei (386–534)
Tuoba/Xianbei dynasty that unified north (439) and experimented with centralizing reforms.
Early phase (Pingcheng): Hybrid state—steppe military organization + Chinese bureaucratic practices. Military effectiveness depended on cavalry skills maintained through pastoral life. Identity preservation: remain Xianbei, not become Chinese.
Emperor Xiaowen's Revolution
471–499 CE: Everything Changed
Born to Chinese mother (Empress Dowager Feng). Wanted to unite Chinese and Xianbei elites. Decided separation was unsustainable.
The Radical Program (493–499):
1. Moved capital south from Pingcheng to Luoyang (300 miles closer to Chinese heartland)
2. Banned Xianbei language and clothes at court (officials under 30 must speak Chinese)
3. Encouraged intermarriage between highest Xianbei and Chinese families
4. Changed surnames to Chinese ones (imperial house: Tuoba → Yuan)
5. Adopted Chinese government structures (equal-field system, bureaucratic ranks)
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Emperor Xiaowen (r. 471–499)
Most significant figure in early medieval Chinese history, yet often overlooked.
Context: 494 capital move to Luoyang (old Han/Jin capital). 150,000 Xianbei warriors moved south. Court-driven reforms associated with "sinicization."
Modern scholarship caution: Don't frame as "they became Chinese." Frame as state centralization + elite competition. Reforms strengthened bureaucratic center, reoriented court culture, BUT produced backlash among frontier military elites.
The Capital Move: Geography as Strategy
IMAGE PLACEHOLDER 900x550px
Search: "Pingcheng Datong to Luoyang Northern Wei capital"
"Northern Wei capital relocation map 494"
Features: Show 300-mile move from frontier to heartland
Pingcheng (Datong) in north → Luoyang in central plains
Label: Frontier defense vs. central legitimacy
Sources: Cambridge History maps, Chinese textbooks
Moving the capital was geopolitical statement: We are not steppe warriors anymore—we are Chinese emperors.
⏸ Pause & Process #2
Sinification Debate
Two Positions:
Position A
"Sinification was triumph of Chinese civilization. Shows power of culture to absorb conquerors."
Position B
"Sinification is wrong word. What happened was hybridization—BOTH cultures transformed."
Pick position | Find evidence with partner | Debate opposite side
The Hybrid Reality
Despite Xiaowen's program, result was more complex than "becoming Chinese"
Xianbei Culture Persisted
Language in private/family contexts
Military culture retained steppe elements
Hunting/martial skills remained elite markers
Buddhism appealed to both groups
Chinese Culture Transformed
Northern Chinese adopted steppe elements
Cavalry warfare became central
Sitting on chairs spread (Central Asian?)
Diet, clothing, music showed hybrid influences
This wasn't "Chinese win" or "Xianbei win"—it was mutual transformation.
Gao Huan: The Perfect Hybrid
Han Chinese by ancestry, but raised among Xianbei
Married into Xianbei family
Could appeal to both ethnic communities
Became powerful warlord in Eastern Wei sphere
His speeches to each group:
To Xianbei: "The Han are your slaves... they till and weave for you." To Chinese: "The Xianbei are your retainers... they fight bandits so you are safe."
Both statements partially true. Both communities needed each other.
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Gao Huan (496–547)
Han Chinese by ancestry but raised among Xianbei. Perfect example of hybrid identity in northern society.
Political genius: His speech to each group shows remarkable manipulation of ethnic tension. He tells each side they're superior, but frames superiority differently (military vs. economic). Shows he understood mutual dependence.
Significance: Represents new generation of elites who could operate in both worlds—neither purely Xianbei nor purely Chinese, but something new.
The Divisional Militia (Fubing)
Created in northwest where Xianbei and Chinese most mixed
Multiethnic military system
Soldiers registered separately from regular taxpayers—honorable status
Would help reunify China under Sui/Tang
Why This Matters:
The fubing system emerged from hybrid northwest society. It combined steppe cavalry traditions with Chinese administrative practices. This military system would become foundation for Sui/Tang reunification.
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Fubing (府兵) - Divisional Militia
Military system associated with Western Wei/Northern Zhou reforms under Yuwen Tai. Matters for Sui/Tang military state.
Key features: Multiethnic; registered separately (honorable status); combined steppe and Chinese elements; emerged from hybrid northwestern society.
Bridge forward: This system will appear again in Tang lectures as foundation of early Tang military power.
The Southern Perspective
Eastern Jin at Nanjing (317–420)
Northern Dynasties
Southern Dynasties
Non-Chinese military elite
Chinese refugee aristocracy
Hybrid culture emerging
"Pure" Chinese culture claimed
More unified (Northern Wei)
Constant dynastic change
Buddhist-Confucian-Daoist mix
Buddhist flourishing + aristocratic culture
Southern Elite Culture:
Great families maintained genealogies obsessively
Married only within families of equivalent pedigree
Nine Rank System guaranteed elite status
BUT: Couldn't control their own generals (four dynasties in two centuries)
Who Won the Identity War?
By 580 CE, north China had been ruled by non-Chinese dynasties for over 250 years. But something remarkable happened:
The lines between "Chinese" and "non-Chinese" had blurred beyond recognition.
The Xianbei who conquered were themselves transformed
The Chinese who remained incorporated steppe influences
New hybrid elites emerged who could operate in both worlds
Both north AND south would be reunified by dynasty from hybrid northwest: the Sui (581)
Who counts as Chinese? The Period of Division showed Chinese identity was never simply about blood or birth. It was about culture, language, values—and these could be adopted, adapted, and transformed.
Preview: Lecture 3
Buddhism's Conquest of China
How did Buddhism, an Indian religion that contradicted Confucian values, conquer China even as "barbarian" armies were conquering its territory?
Key Terms for Lecture 2
Wu Hu (Five Barbarians) — Chinese label: Xiongnu, Xianbei, Jie, Di, Qiang