![Northern Wei soldier](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Northern_Wei_soldier.jpg)
The Tuoba (reconstructed
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...
pronunciation: *''tʰak-bɛt''), also known as the Taugast or Tabgach ( otk, 𐱃𐰉𐰍𐰲 ''Tabγač''), was a
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 ...
clan in Imperial China.
Wei Shou
Wei Shou () (506–572), courtesy name Boqi (伯起), was a Chinese author born in Quyang County in Julu Commandery (today Xingtai, Hebei).(魏收,字伯起,小字佛助,巨鹿下曲阳人也.) ''Bei Qi Shu'', vol.37 He wrote the ''Book of ...
. '' Book of Wei''. Vol. 1
During the
Sixteen Kingdoms period in northern China, the Tuoba clan established and ruled the dynastic state of
Dai from 310 to 376. In 386, the Tuoba clan restored Dai, only to rename the dynasty "Wei" (known retroactively in
Chinese historiography as the "
Northern Wei") in the same year. The Northern Wei was a powerful dynasty that unified northern China after the Sixteen Kingdoms period and became increasingly
sinicized
Sinicization, sinofication, sinification, or sinonization (from the prefix , 'Chinese, relating to China') is the process by which non-Chinese societies come under the influence of Chinese culture, particularly the language, societal norms, cul ...
. As a result, from 496, the name "Tuoba" disappeared by an edict of the
Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei
Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei ((北)魏孝文帝) (October 13, 467 – April 26, 499), personal name né Tuoba Hong (拓拔宏), later Yuan Hong (元宏), was an emperor of the Northern Wei from September 20, 471 to April 26, 499.
Under the r ...
, who adopted the
Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
surname of
Yuan (). After the Northern Wei split into the
Eastern Wei
Wei (), known in historiography as the Eastern Wei (), was an imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei dynasty. One of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period, the Eastern We ...
and
Western Wei
Wei (), known in historiography as the Western Wei (), was an imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei. One of the Northern dynasties during the era of the Northern and Southern dynasties, it ruled the weste ...
in 535, the Western Wei briefly restored the Tuoba name in 554.
A branch of the
Tanguts
The Tangut people ( Tangut: , ''mjɨ nja̱'' or , ''mji dzjwo''; ; ; mn, Тангуд) were a Tibeto-Burman tribal union that founded and inhabited the Western Xia dynasty. The group initially lived under Tuyuhun authority, but later submitted ...
originally bore the surname Tuoba, but their chieftains were subsequently bestowed the Chinese surnames
Li () and
Zhao () by the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
and the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
respectively. The Tangut Tuoba clan later adopted the surname Weiming () and eventually established the
Western Xia dynasty
The Western Xia or the Xi Xia (), officially the Great Xia (), also known as the Tangut Empire, and known as ''Mi-nyak''Stein (1972), pp. 70–71. to the Tanguts and Tibetans, was a Tangut-led Buddhist imperial dynasty of China tha ...
in northwestern China.
Ethnicity and language
The Tuoba and their
Rouran enemies descended from common ancestors. The
Weishu
The ''Book of Wei'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Wei Shu'', is a classic Chinese historical text compiled by Wei Shou from 551 to 554, and is an important text describing the history of the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei from 386 to ...
stated that the Rourans were of
Donghu origins and Tuoba originated from Xianbei,
who were also Donghu's descendants. The Donghu ancestors of Tuoba and Rouran were most likely
proto-Mongols
The proto-Mongols emerged from an area that had been inhabited by humans and predecessor hominin species as far back as 45,000 years ago during the Upper Paleolithic. The people there went through the Bronze and Iron Ages, forming tribal allianc ...
. Nomadic confederations of
Inner Asia
Inner Asia refers to the northern and landlocked regions spanning North, Central and East Asia. It includes parts of western and northeast China, as well as southern Siberia. The area overlaps with some definitions of 'Central Asia', mostly the ...
were often linguistically diverse, and Tuoba Wei comprised the para-Mongolic Tuoba as well as assimilated
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West, Central, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members speak languages belonging t ...
such as
Hegu (紇骨) and Yizhan (乙旃); consequently, about one quarter of the Tuoba tribal confederation was composed of
Dingling
The Dingling ( (174 BCE); (200 BCE); Eastern Han Chinese: *''teŋ-leŋ'' < : *''têŋ-rêŋ'') were ancient peopl ...
elements as Tuoba migrated from northeastern Mongolia to northern China.
Alexander Vovin
Alexander (Sasha) Vladimirovich Vovin (russian: Александр Владимирович Вовин; 27 January 1961 – 8 April 2022) was a Soviet-born Russian-American linguist and philologist, and director of studies at the School for Ad ...
(2007) identifies the Tuoba language as a
Mongolic language
The Mongolic languages are a language family spoken by the Mongolic peoples in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, North Asia and East Asia, mostly in Mongolia and surrounding areas and in Kalmykia and Buryatia. The best-known member of this language ...
.
On the other hand,
Juha Janhunen
Juha Janhunen (born 12 February 1952 in Pori, Finland) is a Finnish linguist whose wide interests include Uralic and Mongolic languages. Since 1994 he has been Professor in East Asian studies at the University of Helsinki. He has done fieldwork on ...
proposed that the Tuoba might have spoken an
Oghur Turkic language.
René Grousset
Biography
Grousset was born in Aubais, Gard in 1885. Having graduated from the University of Montpellier with a degree in history, he began his distinguished career soon afterward. He served in the French army during World War I. In 1925, ...
, writing in the early 20th century, identifies the Tuoba as a
Turkic tribe. According to
Peter Boodberg
Peter Alexis Boodberg (born Pyotr Alekseyevich Budberg; 8 April 1903 – 29 June 1972) was a Russian-American scholar, linguist, and sinologist who taught at the University of California, Berkeley for 40 years. Boodberg was influential in 20th ...
, a 20th-century scholar, the Tuoba language was essentially Turkic with Mongolic admixture. Chen Sanping observed that the Tuoba language contains both elements. Liu Xueyao stated that the Tuoba may have had their own language which should not be assumed to be identical with any other known languages.
History
![Mongol Empire c](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Mongol_Empire_c.1207.png)
The distribution of the Xianbei people ranged from present day
Northeast China
Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of ...
to
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
, and the Tuoba were one of the largest clans among the western Xianbei, ranging from present day
Shanxi province and westward and northwestward. They established the state of
Dai from 310 to 376 AD
and ruled as the
Northern Wei from 386 to 536. The Tuoba states of Dai and Northern Wei also claimed to possess the
quality of earth in the Chinese
Wu Xing Wuxing may refer to:
Places in China Counties and districts
*Huzhou, formerly Wuxing County, Zhejiang, China
*Wuxing District (吴兴区), central district of Huzhou
Subdistricts (五星街道)
*Wuxing Subdistrict, Mudanjiang, in Dong'an District ...
theory. All the chieftains of the Tuoba were revered as emperors in the ''
Book of Wei'' and the ''
History of the Northern Dynasties
The ''History of the Northern Dynasties'' () is one of the official Chinese historical works in the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' canon. The text contains 100 volumes and covers the period from 386 to 618, the histories of Northern Wei, Western W ...
''.
Marriage policies
The
Northern Wei started to arrange for Chinese elites to marry daughters of the
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 ...
Tuoba royal family in the 480s.
More than fifty percent of Tuoba Xianbei princesses of the Northern Wei were married to southern Chinese men from the imperial families and aristocrats from southern China of the
Southern dynasties
The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...
who defected and moved north to join the Northern Wei. Some Chinese exiled royalty fled from southern China and defected to the Xianbei. Several daughters of the Xianbei Tuoba
Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei
Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei ((北)魏孝文帝) (October 13, 467 – April 26, 499), personal name né Tuoba Hong (拓拔宏), later Yuan Hong (元宏), was an emperor of the Northern Wei from September 20, 471 to April 26, 499.
Under the r ...
were married to Chinese elites: the Han Chinese
Liu Song
Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. ...
royal married of the Northern Wei; married , a descendant of
Jin dynasty (266–420)
The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had pr ...
royalty; married ; and married
Xiao Baoyin
Xiao Baoyin () (487–530), courtesy name Zhiliang (智亮), was an imperial prince of the Chinese Southern Qi dynasty. In 502, as Southern Qi was on the edge of being taken over by the general Xiao Yan, who was preparing by killing the imperial p ...
(
萧宝夤), a member of
Southern Qi royalty.
Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei
Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei (, 507–531; r. 528-530), personal name Yuan Ziyou (), courtesy name Yanda (彥達), was an emperor of China of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty. He was placed on the throne by General Erzhu Rong, who refus ...
's sister the Shouyang Princess was wedded to
Emperor Wu of
Liang's son . One of
Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei
Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei ((北)魏孝武帝) (510 – February 3, 535), personal name Yuan Xiu (元脩 or 元修), courtesy name Xiaoze (孝則), at times known as Emperor Chu (出帝, "the emperor who fled"), was an emperor of the Xianbei-le ...
's sisters was married to Zhang Huan, a Han Chinese, according to the
Book of Zhou
The ''Book of Zhou'' (''Zhōu Shū'') records the official history of the Xianbei-led Western Wei and Northern Zhou dynasties of China, and ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. Compiled by the Tang dynasty histori ...
(Zhoushu). His name is given as Zhang Xin in the
Book of Northern Qi
The ''Book of Northern Qi'' (Chinese: 北齊書, pinyin Běi Qí Shū), was the official history of the Chinese dynasty Northern Qi. It was written by the Tang Dynasty historian Li Baiyao (李百藥) and was completed in 636. It is listed amon ...
(Bei Qishu) and
History of the Northern Dynasties
The ''History of the Northern Dynasties'' () is one of the official Chinese historical works in the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' canon. The text contains 100 volumes and covers the period from 386 to 618, the histories of Northern Wei, Western W ...
(Beishi) which mention his marriage to a Xianbei princess of Wei. His personal name was changed due to a
naming taboo
A naming taboo is a cultural taboo against speaking or writing the given names of exalted persons, notably in China and within the Chinese cultural sphere. It was enforced by several laws throughout Imperial China, but its cultural and possibly r ...
on the emperor's name. He was the son of Zhang Qiong.
When the
Eastern Jin dynasty
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
ended, Northern Wei received the Han Chinese Jin prince as a refugee. A Northern Wei Princess married Sima Chuzhi, giving birth to
Sima Jinlong
Sima Jinlong (; after 420-484), courtesy name Rongze (榮則), was a Han–Xianbei prince and general of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China, whose tomb was discovered in the village of Shijia, Datong, Shanxi.
Sima Jinlong was of mix ...
(司馬金龍).
Northern Liang Xiongnu King
Juqu Mujian
Juqu Mujian (; before 420 – 447), named Juqu Maoqian (沮渠茂虔) in some sources, formally Prince Ai of Hexi (河西哀王), was a king of the Xiongnu-led Northern Liang dynasty of China—with most Chinese historians considering him the last ...
's daughter married
Sima
Sima or SIMA may refer to:
People
* Sima (Chinese surname)
* Sima (given name), a Persian feminine name in use in Iran and Turkey
* Sima (surname)
Places
* Sima, Comoros, on the island of Anjouan, near Madagascar
* Sima de los Huesos, a c ...
Jinlong.
Genetics
According to Zhou (2006) the haplogroup frequencies of the Tuoba Xianbei were 43.75%
haplogroup D, 31.25%
haplogroup C, 12.5%
haplogroup B, 6.25%
haplogroup A and 6.25% "other."
Zhou (2014) obtained
mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...
analysis from 17 Tuoba Xianbei, which indicated that these specimens were, similarly, completely East Asian in their maternal origins, belonging to haplogroups D, C, B, A and
haplogroup G.
Chieftains of Tuoba Clan 219-377 (as Princes of Dai 315-377)
Legacy of the Tuoba/Tabgach name
![Name Tuoba in the epitaph of Lixian (Northern Zhou general)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Name_Tuoba_in_the_epitaph_of_Lixian_%28Northern_Zhou_general%29.jpg)
As a consequence of the Northern Wei's extensive contacts with Central Asia, Turkic sources identified Tabgach, also transcribed as Tawjach, Tawġač, Tamghaj, Tamghach, Tafgaj, and Tabghaj, as the ruler or country of China until the 13th century.
The
Orkhon inscriptions in the
Orkhon Valley
Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape (; mn, Орхоны хөндийн соёлын дурсгал, Orkhony xöndiiyn soyoliyn dursgal, Mongolian Script: ) sprawls along the banks of the Orkhon River in Central Mongolia, some 320 km west fro ...
in modern-day
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
from the 8th century identify Tabgach as China.
In the 11th century text, the ''
Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk
The ' ( ar, ديوان لغات الترك, lit=Compendium of the languages of the Turks) is the first comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages, compiled in 1072–74 by the Turkic scholar Mahmud Kashgari who extensively studied the Turkic ...
'' ("Compendium of the languages of the Turks"), Turkic scholar
Mahmud al-Kashgari
Mahmud ibn Husayn ibn Muhammed al-Kashgari, ''Maḥmūd ibnu 'l-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-Kāšġarī'', , tr, Kaşgarlı Mahmûd, ug, مەھمۇد قەشقىرى, ''Mehmud Qeshqiri'' / Мәһмуд Қәшқири uz, Mahmud Qashg'ariy / М ...
, writing in Baghdad for an Arabic audience, describes Tawjach as one of the three components comprising China.
At the time of his writing, China's northern fringe was ruled by Khitan-led
Liao dynasty
The Liao dynasty (; Khitan language, Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that exi ...
while the remainder of
China proper
China proper, Inner China, or the Eighteen Provinces is a term used by some Western writers in reference to the "core" regions of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China. This term is used to express a distinction between the "core" regions pop ...
was ruled by the
Northern Song dynasty
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ...
. Arab sources used Sīn (Persian: Chīn) to refer to northern China and Māsīn (Persian: Machīn) to represent southern China. In his account, al-Kashgari refers to his homeland, around Kashgar, then part of the
Kara-Khanid Khanate
The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; ), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia in the 9th through the early 13th century. The dynastic names of Karakhanids and Ilek K ...
, as Lower China.
The rulers of the Karakanids adopted ''Temahaj Khan'' (Turkic: the Khan of China) in their title, and minted coins bearing this title.
Much of the realm of the Karakhanids including
Transoxania
Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of ...
and the western
Tarim Basin
The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Northwest China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, China." Hydr ...
had been under the rule of the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
prior to the
Battle of Talas in 751, and the Karakhanids continued to identify with China, several centuries later.
[
]
See also
*Chinese sovereign
The Chinese sovereign was the ruler of a particular monarchical regime in the historical periods of ancient China and imperial China. Sovereigns ruling the same regime, and descended from the same paternal line, constituted a dynasty. Several t ...
*History of China
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...
*Jin dynasty (266–420)
The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had pr ...
* Khitan people
*Ethnic groups in Chinese history
Ethnic groups in Chinese history refer to various or presumed ethnicities of significance to the history of China, gathered through the study of Classical Chinese literature, Chinese and non-Chinese literary sources and inscriptions, histori ...
References
Citations
Sources
* Bazin, L. ''"Research of T'o-pa language (5th century AD)"'', T'oung Pao, 39/4-5, 1950 '"Recherches sur les parlers T'o-pa (5e siècle après J.C.)"''(in French
Subject: Toba Tatar language
*
* Boodberg, P.A. ''"The Language of the T'o-pa Wei"'', Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 1, 1936.
* Clauson, G. ''"Turk, Mongol, Tungus"'', Asia Major, New Series, Vol. 8, Pt 1, 1960, pp. 117–118
* Grousset, R. ''"The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia"'', Rutgers University Press, 1970, p. 57, 63–66, 557 Note 137,
*
*
* Pelliot, P.A. ''"L'Origine de T'ou-kiue; nom chinoise des Turks"'', T'oung Pao, 1915, p. 689
* Pelliot, P.A. ''"L'Origine de T'ou-kiue; nom chinoise des Turks"'', Journal Asiatic, 1925, No 1, p. 254-255
* Pelliot, P.A. ''"L'Origine de T'ou-kiue; nom chinoise des Turks"'', T'oung Pao, 1925–1926, pp. 79–93;
* Zuev, Y.A. ''"Ethnic History Of Usuns"'', Works of Academy of Sciences Kazakh SSR, ''History, Archeology And Ethnography Institute'', Alma-Ata, Vol. VIII, 1960, (In Russian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuoba
Tuoba,
Ancient peoples of China
Xianbei