Dai, also rendered as Tai and sometimes known in historiography as the Tuoba Dai (), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the

Tuoba The Tuoba (reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciation: *''tʰak-bɛt''), also known as the Taugast or Tabgach ( otk, 𐱃𐰉𐰍𐰲 ''Tabγač''), was a Xianbei clan in Imperial China.Wei Shou. ''Book of Wei''. Vol. 1 During the Sixteen Kingd ...

clan of

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into th ...

descent, during the era of

Sixteen Kingdoms The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by ...

(although it is not listed as one of the 16). It existed from AD 310 to 376, with its capital at

Shengle Shengle () was the capital of the Xianbei-led Dai state and the first capital of the Northern Wei dynasty in the 4th century. The ruins of ancient Shengle is located at present-day Xiyaozi and Tuchengzi village, Shengle Township of Horinger ...

(near modern

Horinger County Horinger ( Mongolian: Қорин Гэр сиыан ''Qorin Ger siyan''; ) is a county of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, North China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, bor ...

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the capital of Inner Mongolia in the north of the People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrative, economic and cultural center.''The N ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

, China). The name "Dai" originated when

Tuoba Yilu Tuoba Yilu (; died 316) was the chieftain of the western Tuoba territory from 295 to 307, supreme chieftain of the Tuoba from 307 to 316, Duke of Dai from 310 to 315, and first ruler of the Dai kingdom from 315 to 316. He was the son of Tuoba Sha ...

was appointed the Duke of Dai (代公) by the

Western Jin dynasty Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

in 310, as a reward for helping

Liu Kun Liu Kun (; born December 1956) is a Chinese politician and the current Minister of Finance. Previously he served as director of Budgetary Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress, Vice-Minister of Finance, and vice-governor of Guang ...

, the Governor of Bingzhou (并州), fight against the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

-led Han Zhao dynasty. The fief was later promoted from a duchy to a principality in 315. Dai was conquered in 376 by the Former Qin dynasty, and its descendants later established the

Northern Wei dynasty Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern dynasties, it ruled northern China from 386 to 535 during t ...

Chieftains of Tuoba Clan 219–377 (as Princes of Dai 315–377)

Tuoba clan family tree

Notes

References

See also