Xianbei

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The Xianbei ( Chinese  鮮卑 , Pinyin Xiānbēi , W.-G. Hsien-pei ) were a tribal association from the Mongolian-Manchurian border area with apparently several subgroups. The ethnic composition is unknown, but has been discussed by some researchers as possibly Proto-Mongolian . However, due to the source material, an exact assignment is hardly possible.

Territorial expansion of the Xianbei during the 1st to 3rd centuries , "Mongolian National Atlas" (2009)

They were the northern branch of the Donghu ( 东 胡  /  東 胡 , Dōnghú ), just as the Wuhuan ( 烏桓  /  乌桓 ) were their southern branch. They are first mentioned in the middle of the 1st century AD when they sent an embassy to the Chinese Han dynasty . The rise of the Xianbei coincides with the decline of the Xiongnu in the 1st century. In 87 and 93, they defeated and killed two Xiongnu Shanyu .

The most important ruler of the Xianbei was Tán Shíhuái ( 檀 石 槐 ; ruled mid-2nd century until 181), who united the Xianbei and finally subjugated the remains of the (northern) Xiongnu west of the Altai . He also attacked Chinese territory several times, resulting in reprisals by the Han dynasty. The sons and nephews did not have his qualities and so the Xianbei Confederation broke up around 233.

Parts of the Xianbei Confederation moved from Liaodong to Henan and destroyed the empire of the (southern) Xiongnu under Murong Jun († 360) 352. Their empire founded there ( early Yan dynasty ) only existed until 370, was replaced by an equally short-lived empire of a Tibetan conqueror ( Fu Jian ), which finally had to give way to the Tabgatsch ( Wei dynasty , one of the subgroups of the Xianbei) in 386 .

literature

  • Albert E. Dien: A New Look at the Xianbei and Their Impact on Chinese Culture . In: George Kuwayama (ed.): Ancient Mortuary Traditions of China. Papers on Chinese Ceramic Funerary Sculptures . Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles CA 1991, ISBN 0-87587-157-7 , pp. 40-59.
  • Charles Holcombe: The Xianbei in Chinese History. In: Early Medieval China 19, 2013, pp. 1–38.

Remarks

  1. ^ KH Menges: Altaic , in: Encyclopaedia Iranica ( online article ); Wolfgang-Ekkehard Scharlipp: The early Turks in Central Asia. Darmstadt 1992, p. 10; John King Fairbank: China: A New History. New Haven 1992, p. 73: "... a nomadic proto-Mongol people known as the Xianbei ..."
  2. ^ Charles Holcombe: The Xianbei in Chinese History. In: Early Medieval China 19, 2013, p. 4.
  3. ^ Charles Holcombe: The Xianbei in Chinese History. In: Early Medieval China 19, 2013, p. 3.
  4. ↑ On the first forays into China see Charles Holcombe: The Xianbei in Chinese History. In: Early Medieval China 19, 2013, p. 7.
  5. ↑ On the subgroups of the Xianbei cf. Charles Holcombe: The Xianbei in Chinese History. In: Early Medieval China 19, 2013, p. 10 ff.