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The Xianbei were a significant nomadic people residing in ManchuriaManchuria

Manchuria is a vast territorial region in northeast Asia....
 and eastern MongoliaMongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country located in East Asia....
, or Xianbei ShanGreater Khingan

The Greater Khingan Range, also called the Greater Hing'an Range or Greater Hinggan Range, is a volcanic mountai...
. They were descendants of DonghuDonghu

Donghu, was an ancient nomadic tribe or tribal union in Northeast China....
 (Eastern Hu) before migrating into areas of the modern Chinese provinces of ShanxiShanxi

Shanxi is a province in the northern part of the People's Republic of China....
, ShaanxiShaanxi Overview

Shaanxi is a north-central province of the People's Republic of China, and includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the mid...
, GansuGansu

Gansu is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China....
, QinghaiQinghai

Qinghai is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after the enormous Qinghai Lake....
, HebeiHebei

Hebei is a northern province of the People's Republic of China....
, Inner MongoliaInner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is a Mongol autonomous region of the People's Republic of China....
, and LiaoningLiaoning

Liaoning is a northeastern province of the People's Republic of China....
. Possibly some tribes of these people also lived in ancient Eastern HeilongjiangHeilongjiang

Heilongjiang is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country....
 or HulunHulun

Hulun was the original Manchu and Tungus name for the territory between the Stanovoi mountains and the Amur river; it was al...
 Manchu Imperial province, currently KhabarovskKhabarovsk

Khabarovsk is the administrative center and the largest city of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia....
 and AmurAmur Summary

The Amur River is one of the worlds ten longest rivers, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Manchuria in Ch...
 regions in the Russian Far EastRussian Far East Summary

Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Sibe...
.

The Xianbei people actually consisted of a federation of sizeable non-Han groups of which the most important was the TuobaTuoba

Tuoba or T'o-pa in Wade-Giles was a clan of the Xianbei people....
 (??). They first became a significant part of Chinese cultureCulture of China

The culture of China is home to one of the world's oldest and most complex civilizations, China boasts a history rich in ove...
 during the Han DynastyHan Dynasty

The Han Dynasty followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China....
, where they occupied the steppes in Mongolia, HebeiHebei

Hebei is a northern province of the People's Republic of China....
 and Liaodong. After the fall of the Han dynasty, the Xianbei formed a number of empires of their own, including the Yan DynastyYan Dynasty

Refers to either kingdom in the Sixteen Kingdoms of China:...
, Western QinWestern Qin

The Western Qin) was a state of Xianbei ethnicity during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China....
, Southern LiangSouthern Liang

The Southern Liang was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China....
 and most significantly, the Northern WeiNorthern Wei

The Northern Wei Dynasty, also known as the Tuoba Wei or Yuan Wei, is most noted for the unification of northern...
 (see Sixteen KingdomsSixteen Kingdoms

The Sixteen Kingdoms, or less commonly the Sixteen States, were a collection of numerous short-lived sovereignties in ...
).






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Timeline

45   Expedition of Chinese general Ma Yuan against the Xiongnu and the Xianbei (in Manchuria).

93   The Xianbei incorporated 100,000 Xiongnu in Mongolian steppe.

177   Chinese troops suffer a crushing defeat against a confederacy of Central Asian tribes led by the Xianbei (see Wu Hu).

318   China loses its teritories to the north of Yang-tsé-kiang to the benefit of the Xiongnu and the Xianbei.

342   Invasion of Goguryeo by Murong Huang of the Xianbei.

369   Troops of the Jin Dynasty of China is defeated by Former Yan of the Xianbei.






Encyclopedia



The Xianbei were a significant nomadic people residing in ManchuriaManchuria

Manchuria is a vast territorial region in northeast Asia....
 and eastern MongoliaMongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country located in East Asia....
, or Xianbei ShanGreater Khingan

The Greater Khingan Range, also called the Greater Hing'an Range or Greater Hinggan Range, is a volcanic mountai...
. They were descendants of DonghuDonghu

Donghu, was an ancient nomadic tribe or tribal union in Northeast China....
 (Eastern Hu) before migrating into areas of the modern Chinese provinces of ShanxiShanxi

Shanxi is a province in the northern part of the People's Republic of China....
, ShaanxiShaanxi Overview

Shaanxi is a north-central province of the People's Republic of China, and includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the mid...
, GansuGansu

Gansu is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China....
, QinghaiQinghai

Qinghai is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after the enormous Qinghai Lake....
, HebeiHebei

Hebei is a northern province of the People's Republic of China....
, Inner MongoliaInner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is a Mongol autonomous region of the People's Republic of China....
, and LiaoningLiaoning

Liaoning is a northeastern province of the People's Republic of China....
. Possibly some tribes of these people also lived in ancient Eastern HeilongjiangHeilongjiang

Heilongjiang is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country....
 or HulunHulun

Hulun was the original Manchu and Tungus name for the territory between the Stanovoi mountains and the Amur river; it was al...
 Manchu Imperial province, currently KhabarovskKhabarovsk

Khabarovsk is the administrative center and the largest city of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia....
 and AmurAmur Summary

The Amur River is one of the worlds ten longest rivers, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Manchuria in Ch...
 regions in the Russian Far EastRussian Far East Summary

Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Sibe...
.

The Xianbei people actually consisted of a federation of sizeable non-Han groups of which the most important was the TuobaTuoba

Tuoba or T'o-pa in Wade-Giles was a clan of the Xianbei people....
 (??). They first became a significant part of Chinese cultureCulture of China

The culture of China is home to one of the world's oldest and most complex civilizations, China boasts a history rich in ove...
 during the Han DynastyHan Dynasty

The Han Dynasty followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China....
, where they occupied the steppes in Mongolia, HebeiHebei

Hebei is a northern province of the People's Republic of China....
 and Liaodong. After the fall of the Han dynasty, the Xianbei formed a number of empires of their own, including the Yan DynastyYan Dynasty

Refers to either kingdom in the Sixteen Kingdoms of China:...
, Western QinWestern Qin

The Western Qin) was a state of Xianbei ethnicity during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China....
, Southern LiangSouthern Liang

The Southern Liang was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China....
 and most significantly, the Northern WeiNorthern Wei

The Northern Wei Dynasty, also known as the Tuoba Wei or Yuan Wei, is most noted for the unification of northern...
 (see Sixteen KingdomsSixteen Kingdoms

The Sixteen Kingdoms, or less commonly the Sixteen States, were a collection of numerous short-lived sovereignties in ...
). By the time of the Tang dynastyFacts About Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty followed the Sui Dynasty and preceded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period in China....
 they had largely merged with HanHan Chinese Summary

The Han is an ethnic group originating from China....
 populace by adopting its customs, administration and language. The emperors Yang Guang of the Sui DynastySui Dynasty

The Sui Dynasty followed the Southern and Northern Dynasties and preceded the Tang Dynasty in China....
 and Li Yuan of the Tang DynastyTang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty followed the Sui Dynasty and preceded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period in China....
 were born of Xianbei mothers and therefore half-Xianbei.

A Xianbei ruler was recorded as having had fair hair as were later some TatarsTatars

Tatars , often misspelled Tartar, is a collective name applied to the Turkic speaking people of Eastern Europe and Cen...
 from the same area, as well as some other TungusicTungusic peoples

The term Tungusic peoples is used to describe a peoples speaking a Tungusic languages....
 peoples.

Mongol and Khitan may have descended from Xianbei according to Chinese historical records.

The XibeXibe

The Xibe are an ethnic group living mostly in northeast China and Xinjiang....
 people is believed themselves to be descendants of the Xianbei. The name of RussiaRussia Overview

Russia , also the Russian Federation , is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of Eurasia....
's SiberiaSiberia

Siberia is a vast region of Russia constituting almost all of Northern Asia....
 is a direct phonetic translation to the ancient tribe of "Xianbei". There is a city wall in Siberia today that remains from the Xianbei tribe.

Historical sources

  • Hanshu
  • Sanguozhi

See also

  • Change of Xianbei names to Han namesChange of Xianbei names to Han names

    In 496, Emperor Xiaowen of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Wei ordered a change of Xianbei family names to Han names, a...
  • Tribes in Chinese history
  • Wu HuWu Hu

    Wu Hu is a collective term for various non-Chinese steppe tribes during the period from the Han Dynasty to the Northern Dy...
  • Sixteen KingdomsSixteen Kingdoms Overview

    The Sixteen Kingdoms, or less commonly the Sixteen States, were a collection of numerous short-lived sovereignties in ...
  • WuhuanWuhuan

    The Wuhuan were a nomadic people who inhabited northern China, in what is now the provinces of Hebei, Liaoning, Shanxi, the...
  • Northern Wei Dynasty
  • Chinese sovereignChinese sovereign

    The king or wang was the Chinese head of state from the Zhou Dynasty to the Qin Dynasty....
  • Battle of Ikh BayanBattle of Ikh Bayan Overview

    The Battle of Ikh Bayan, was a major expedition launched against the Xiongnu by the Han Dynasty on June, 89....
  • Bu DugenBu Dugen

    Bu Dugen the territorial chief of the Xian Bei tribe during the Three Kingdoms Period of China....


External links

  • (Chinese Traditional Big5 code page) via Internet ArchiveInternet Archive

    The Internet Archive is a non-profit organisation dedicated to maintaining an archive of Web and multimedia resources....