Implications
Humble
"The Northern Wei Dynasty established political power in China and obtained the cooperation of the Northern Han Chinese. The northern Han people maintained a fairly stable dynasty with a substantial symbiotic relationship between the Han people and the Xianbei regime, and there was a close process of connotation between the Han culture and the Xianbei culture. ”
Northern Wei was first influenced by Murong Shi, and since the time of Emperor Tuoba Jue of Daowu, he had already established Taixue and placed the Five Classics doctorate, and initially had more than a thousand students, which later increased to 3,000. Cui Hao, who was born in the Qinghe Cui clan of the first Sheng clan, was a representative of the Confucian clan that stayed in the north since the Eastern Han Dynasty, and was also the main object of reliance of the Rulers of the Northern Wei Dynasty. He served in the three dynasties of Daowu, Mingyuan and Taiwu, and participated in many major political and military decisions. "Weeping bitterly to go to the old country, tearing the new state", the former Eastern Jin Dynasty royal nobles who ran north and the relatives and tribes that migrated with them, "those who returned often more than 10,000 people", large-scale personnel migration, naturally will enrich the "new state" Northern Wei with a large number of tangible material culture and intangible spiritual culture. Such as the utensils, costumes, treasure goods, paintings and other physical objects brought by Jiangnan, as well as related production techniques, process specifications, image bases, and even related craftsmen. In addition to making achievements in the political or military field, the learned people also contributed a lot to the dissemination of culture. Emperor Taiwu tuoba tao and northern Liang, Hexi Confucian scholars began to move east, and thus merged with murong Yan in the east, resulting in the grand situation of Northern Wei. Emperor Xiaowen's move to the capital Luoyang and its complete Sinicization were, of course, a climax.
Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang and comprehensively promoted Sinicization.
In 471, the 5-year-old Tuoba Hong ascended the throne (the state affairs were presided over by his grandmother Empress Feng) as Emperor Xiaowen. He was a good reader, could not release the scrolls, was proficient in the Five Classics and the Study of the Hundred Schools, and was brilliant, and at the age of 20 he personally wrote edicts. During his 29-year reign, he implemented a series of drastic and effective reform measures, accelerating the process of comprehensive Sinicization of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The "reform of filial piety" has become an extremely important historical event in the history of the Northern Wei Dynasty and even ancient China. Economically, in the ninth year of Taihe (485), the implementation of the equalized field system had a profound impact on later generations. In the eighteenth year of Taihe (494), the capital was moved to Luoyang, and the Guangzhai Zhongyuan was located.
Northern Wei capital relocation roadmap
Reforms in the field of culture and superstructure are refreshing. The first is to forbid beards and break the Northern language. The liturgy of the crown represents the specific cultural face of a dynasty. The Xianbei people started from outside the Sai, and their costumes and attire were accustomed to wearing left narrow sleeves. "From the 'Hufu' of King Wuling of Zhao to the 'Hanfu' of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the twists and turns in the middle clearly flow the common civilization understanding and noble pursuit between different nationalities and different cultures." Tuoba Xianbei originally had its own language, and when it was first decided to conquer the Central Plains, the Language used in the Dprk and the Military Command, all used the Xianbei language. When Han Chinese officials were in the dynasty, they also had to learn xianbei or use interpretation. In the nineteenth year of Taihe (495), he formally issued an edict: "Do not speak in the language of the northern customs to the imperial court, and if you violate it, you will be exempted from the residence of the official." The "Lefu Poetry Collection" compiled by Song Guo Maoqian contains about 70 folk songs of the Northern Dynasty Lefu, the vast majority of which are recorded in Chinese characters, and after being introduced to the south, they were collected and sorted out by the Official Office of the Southern Dynasty Lefu and handed down. This stemmed from Emperor Xiaowen's "breaking the Northern Language, one from the zhengyin", which accelerated the popularization of the Northern Chinese language; some songs originally recorded in minority languages were translated and processed when they were introduced to the South. Among them, the ancient masterpiece "Mulan Poem", from the poems of "Khan", "Yanshan Hu Riding" and "Ming Camel" (a kind of camel with a divine spirit in the legend of Xianbei national culture), the words "Yanshan" and "Yellow River" passed by the march, it is indeed known that they originated from the Northern Dynasty, and the two sides of the war were considered to be Northern Wei and Rouran. Although it has been processed and polished by the southerners, the whole poem still retains a strong northern folk song style. Popular, catchy, image lyrics, bixing, exaggeration, comparison, duality, intertextuality and other techniques, rich in legendary storyline, making Mulan a well-known heroine in the history of the Chinese nation. Another short song known to women and children, "The Song of Shu Le", is written by Shi Ji in a humble language, simple and vast, and the ancient style still exists. During the Jin Yuan Period, "a generation of Wenzong" and Xianbei descendants Yuan Haowen praised his "generous songs will never be passed on, and the qionglu song is natural." Zhongzhou Ancient Heroism, also to the Yin Mountains Le Chuan."
Secondly, it is forbidden to be buried and change the surname. Since they were generations of people who moved to Luoyang, they are all from Luoyang, Henan. The imperial family compound surname "Tuoba" was changed to the Chinese single character surname "Yuan", and the other nine clans of the Northern Wei imperial family and the 108 clans under the jurisdiction of the early tribes were changed to single surnames. "Emperor Xiaowen's move to change the Xianbei surname and ban the Xianbei language was an important milestone in the Northern Wei Dynasty's move toward Sinicization, which made the Han and Xianbei ethnic groups converge on a deeper level of cultural and psychological structure, and promoted another great integration of the Chinese nation."
Again, intermarriage was awarded. Emperor Xiaowen took the harem of the Lu clan of Fanyang, the Cui clan of Qinghe, the Zheng clan of Fuyang, and the wang clan of Taiyuan, and he also issued an edict to remarry his six younger brothers and marry them with large Han families. Intermarriage between Hu and Han was common, and the blood relations of the population were further integrated.
The Northern Wei Dynasty moved its capital to Pingcheng, becoming the eastern endpoint of the long and colorful Silk Road, forming a center for the convergence and exchange of new Eastern and Western cultures. In 1970, in a Northern Wei dynasty cellar on the southern outskirts of Datong City, three high-foot gilded copper cups and an engraved silver bowl were unearthed, with a strong Hellenistic style, which experts believe to be Roman products imported through the Silk Road. At the same time, a sea beast pattern eight-curved silver wash was found, which was determined to be a product of the Persian Sassanid Dynasty. The most important relic of the Persian Sassanid Dynasty is a gold and silver plate unearthed in Datong. In addition, in the stone culvert of the Stupa in the fifth year (481) of the Northern Wei Taihe (481) in Dingxian County, Hebei Province, as many as 41 Persian Sassanid silver coins were found.
Northern Wei Baqu silver wash excavated from the southern suburbs of Datong, Shanxi
Sassanid silver plates excavated from northern Wei feng and tu tombs
In the 26 years before Emperor Xiaowen's reign, envoys from the Persian Sassanid Dynasty came to China five times. A Byzantine gold coin from the Eastern Roman Leo I (457-474) period was found in the Left Banner of Tumut, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. In 1965, the tomb of Feng Sufu in Liaoning Province (415) unearthed 5 pieces of glassware, thin and transparent, exquisite shape, pale green or dark green. One of the most important is a duck-shaped water injection, moldless free blown into shape, the shape of the vessel is very similar to the Roman bird-shaped glassware popular in the Mediterranean region from the 1st to the 2nd century, and the neck and abdomen are decorated with glass bars, which is also a common technique of Roman glassware. Another dark emerald green transparent cup, which is soda-lime glass, is recognized as a Roman product. These cultural relics are excellent physical evidence of exchanges and mutual learning with Persian and Roman civilizations at that time.
Glassware excavated from the tomb of Feng Sufu of Northern Yan
The Western Jin Dynasty collapsed, and the northern Region fell. Because Buddhism is a foreign belief, and Wuhu is also a foreign nationality entering China, the Wuhu monarch echoes the same breath and is particularly fond of Buddhism, which is quite supportive. Buddhism was widely spread in the gradual "localization". The wind of opening caves and making statues also pushed from the northwest to the Central Plains. The earliest known work with a definite date is Cave 169 of the Bingling Temple Grottoes in the Xiaoji Mountains southwest of Yongjing County, Gansu Province, which contains the inscription of the First Year of jianhong (420) of the Western Qin (built by the Xianbei chiefTain Qifu Guoren, Passed on iv, 47 years), as well as the murals and sculptures of that time. In particular, the Yungang Grottoes and Longmen Grottoes, which were excavated by the Northern Wei imperial family, are grand in scale, majestic in momentum, and superb in carving and decoration, which are beyond the reach of future generations. Unrestrained and exquisite secular and religious civilizations blend here to create a rich layer of time and space.
The Yungang Grottoes, excavated during the reign of Emperor Wencheng of the Northern Wei Dynasty, are the most representative works of the "Five Caves of Tanyao", which is said to symbolize Emperor Wencheng and his four predecessors. However, the cave shape of the oval plane dome has no precedent in South Asia and Central Asia to China's Xinjiang and Gansu regions. In recent years, the Northern Wei tombs unearthed in the Datong area have been buried with ming vessels and murals, and there are many models and portraits of domed felt tents (i.e., domes), which cannot help but remind people of the songs sung in xianbei language during the Northern Dynasty: "The Shule River, under the Yin Mountain, the sky is like a dome, and the cage covers the four fields." The sky is vast and the wind blows grass low to see cattle and sheep. "When I wanted to come to the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Xianbei Tuoba people chose the shape of their own traditional living room vault to create the Buddha's living room, which should be a natural thing."
The sixth cave of the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, Shanxi, and the Buddha statue of the Northern Wei Dynasty
The five caves of Tan yao are majestic, and the statues of the Buddhas of the cave masters are huge in size and majestic in posture, revealing the supreme authority of the emperors of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The thick pattern of the Buddhist robe, combined with the rugged shape of the dome, forms an ode to the unstoppable development momentum of the emerging Northern Wei Dynasty. The shape of the dome cave also narrows the distance between Tuoba Xianbei and the Xilai Buddha in a certain sense, which is more intimate. Time has entered the early years of Emperor Xiaowen and the first years, and in its place has been replaced by a new rich wind of fine craftsmanship. The most representative caves are the 5th and 6th caves, the 7th and 8th caves, the 9th and 10th caves and several pairs of double caves, as well as the 11th, 12th and 13th caves. The shape of the Qionglu Cave has become a stone sculpture of imitation wooden buildings that imitate the Chinese style, the face of the Buddha statue has changed from round to thin and beautiful, the costume is wide and flowing, with the interest of The Chinese-style robe "Bao Yi Bo Belt", and the new style of Jiangnan painting art. It strongly reflects the political changes carried out by Empress Feng and Emperor Xiaowen, who listened to the government of the Dynasty and had Han cultural attainments, and intensified the Sinicization of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the huge social changes brewing among the secular.
Yungang Grottoes Cave 20 Northern Wei Giant Buddha
Longmen Grottoes was built around the time of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty (494), and has been built for more than 1,400 years in more than 10 dynasties, with more than 2,000 caves and more than 110,000 statues, one-third of which were excavated during the Northern Wei Dynasty. The most important is the Binyang Sandong, which was directly operated by the Northern Wei royal family, with a huge project and more than 802,000 workers, which lasted 24 years. In particular, the relief of the Emperor Li Fotu, the composition, character portrayal and carving are extremely exquisite, which is a representative of the art of grotto stone carving, which is the essence of the large relief of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The two pictures are 2 meters high and 4 meters wide, with many characters and intricate layers, but the composition is rigorous and the layout is harmonious, presenting a grand, solemn and solemn grand scene. The identity of the portrait is clearly displayed, rich and varied, with the contours of the body or grace or grace; the costumes, pleats, and skirts of the characters are elaborate and delicate; and the faces of the characters are soft and rounded. Many characters are interconnected and echoed, looking forward to it, moving in silence, and the picture is full of dynamic vitality and vitality. The theme of the statues in the Longmen Grottoes has changed significantly, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have become more moderate and secularized, and the costumes of the Robes and Belts have become more mature and common. The statue is slim and beautiful, coupled with gorgeous clothing patterns and humanized expressions, it looks more beautiful and handsome. The carving art style changed from the deep ruggedness of Yungang to the elegant and dignified. These are due to the fact that after Emperor Xiaowen moved to Luoluo, he further implemented the reform policy, appointed Confucians of the Southern Dynasty, absorbed the culture of the Southern Dynasty, and introduced the "Qingxiang of Beautiful Bones" style advocated by the Southern Dynasty to the north and swept the country. The sculptures of the Longmen Grottoes undoubtedly play an important role in the history of the development of Chinese Buddhist plastic arts.
Emperor Li Fotu of Binyang Zhongdong in Luoyang Longmen Grottoes (appearance after being stolen and chiseled)
Known as the "Pole Track of the Square Pen", the "Dragon Gate Twenty Pins" is the most respected by posterity. Wei Stele is the general name of the Northern Dynasty script carved stone, with the Northern Wei as the most refined, divided into inscriptions, epitaphs, statue inscriptions and Cliff stone carvings, inheriting the Tradition of Han Li on the upper and the new style of the Tang Dynasty, laying a solid foundation for the knotting and brushwork of modern Chinese characters.
According to Yang Lizhi's "Luoyang Jialan Record", there were 1367 Buddhist temples in Luoyang at its peak. The Yongning Temple, built in 516 by Empress Dowager Hu, the mother of the Xiaoming Emperor, is the most famous, "the work of the earth, the ingenuity of the poor form, the exquisiteness of the Buddha, the incredible." Embroidered pillar gold shop, frightening. "It shows the high development of the material culture of Luoyang, the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and also highlights the extravagance of the imperial family." Built in the fourth year of Zhengguang (523), the Songyue Temple Pagoda (located in Dengfeng County, Henan Province) is the oldest surviving brick pagoda in China, with its beautiful shape and exquisite craftsmanship.
A clay sculpture of a small bodhisattva head excavated from the site of Luoyang Yongning Temple
The oldest surviving brick pagoda in China, songyue temple pagoda
The most magnificent and exquisite treasure house of world Buddhist art, the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, which was carved in the pre-Qin period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, but the climax of the first cave opening was the Northern Dynasty, and there are 36 caves in the Northern Wei, Western Wei and Northern Zhou. The earliest surviving cave dates from the eighth year of Taihe (484) and the eleventh year of Taihe (487) to the eighteenth year of Taihe (494) shortly after the relocation of Luo. (Su Bai: "Dating Problems of the Early Surviving Caves of Mogao Grottoes" has many features similar to the Yungang Grottoes when Emperor Xiaowen was in Pingcheng.) The Buddhist art gradually evolved, digested, replenished, and improved, and then radiated back to the surrounding and marginal areas with a new look and powerful influence, giving the latter a new baptism. ）
The murals of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the Mogao Caves add traditional Chinese mythological themes related to the ideas of the immortals, such as the Eastern Princes, the Western Queen Mother, the Fuxi, the Nüwa and the Four Gods who traveled in space in the Immortal Car, which is also a common content in the tomb murals in the Central Plains. Although the Northern Wei statues still retain the prototype of the Western Regions statues in form, the head shape, facial expression, and robe pattern treatment of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have obviously changed to the traditional character modeling style since the Han and Jin Dynasties in the Central Plains.
Dunhuang Mogao Caves Cave 257 Northern Wei Mural Su Moti Woman Please Buddha Story
"Relatively speaking, the impact of grassland culture on Han culture has also left a considerable and far-reaching impact." The way of living and living, from sitting on the floor to sitting on the case, is an example. Xianbei entered the Central Plains, and the traditional Chinese customs were also greatly impacted. As a result, the sitting postures such as hanging feet and squatting, which were originally denounced as "vulgar", became popular and appeared in the northern court. The author of the Book of Southern Qi and the Biography of Wei Yu describes the northern Wei palace car costume system in satirical language, saying that the concubines of the Northern Wei emperors were "in the palace and also on the basis of money". To sit on a high seat, or to sit on a high seat, with your feet hanging in front of your body, or to touch the ground with only your toes on the ground and your feet on the ground. Soon, this kind of vulgar sitting posture, which was despised by the southern dynasty scholars, also appeared in the southern dynasty's imperial palace. The change of sitting posture naturally leads to the increasing popularity of high-foot furniture suitable for sitting on the foot, such as chairs, stools, etc., and the traditional beds, beds and other seats have also shown a trend of increasing height. After the five dynasties of the Sui and Tang dynasties, the momentum of this development of daily furniture became more and more fierce, and the old customs of living on the ground were abandoned day by day. After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, people have long forgotten the sitting posture of ancient Chinese customs, and the "hard-to-take" of "dirty customs" has become a typical sitting posture of Han style.
Cave 285 of Dunhuang Mogao Caves Western Wei murals
In the last years of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the six northern towns in order to prevent Rouran were originally soldiers who remained in their hometowns, as well as other ethnic groups on the grasslands, as well as Han Chinese who were Huhua; and the Xianbei nobles who migrated south, after highly assimilating into Han culture, had a cultural gap with the Xianbei people in the north of Liushu. The government gradually became corrupt, which provoked chaos in the border towns. "The reflexive attack on Luoyang by the six towns is like the Northern Huhua Group attacking and seizing the Central Plains Hanhua Group." The Northern Wei Split into Two, with the Northern Zhou Yuwen clan originally producing the Xianbei Yuwen clan, but trying to fuse the Hu Han, while the Northern Qi Gao clan, said to be Bohai Han, instead promoted Hu and suppressed the Han, so that the Huahua of Hebei was inferior to that of Guan Long. The conflict between the six towns and Luoyang, when interpreted as two reverse directions of cultural connotation. As Mr. Chen Yinke said in the "Afterword of the Speculation of the Li Tang Clan": "The reason why the Li Tang clan is prosperous, the blood of the barbaric essence of the Saiwai is taken, and the decadent body of the Central Plains culture is injected, the old dye is removed, the new machine is restarted, and the expansion is restored, so that it can not create an unprecedented world situation." "The process of hu and Han cultural integration is repeated from time to time, and overall it is a new culture that is gradually incarnated into the middle of the north."
Looking back at Xianbei, it is only a tributary in the turbulent river of Chinese cultural history for thousands of years, which is a delicate balance between "Huhan China" and "foreign civilization" in the Middle Ages. Chinese civilization continues to absorb the strengths of all, vast and unrestrained, and has become a great instrument, just like the ancient rivers, day and night, endless life!
Resources:
1. Xu Zhuoyun, "Ancient Rivers: The Turning Point and Development of Chinese History and Culture", Hunan: Hunan People's Publishing House, 2017
2. Li Li and Yang Hong, Cultural History of the Southern and Northern Dynasties of wei and Jin, Beijing: New World Press, 2018
3. Yang Hong, "One Hundred Years of Archaeology: Recreating China", Beijing: Beijing United Publishing Company, 2021
4. Li Ping, The Pingcheng Times of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Shanghai: Shanghai Century Publishing Co., Ltd., Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2014
5. Qian Mu, Outline of National History, Beijing: The Commercial Press, 1996
6. Chen Yinke, compiled by Wan Shengnan, "Lectures by Chen Yinke, Wei and Jin Dynasties and Southern and Northern Dynasties", Tianjin: Tianjin People's Publishing House, 2018
7. Lin Gan, General Theory of The Nationalities of Northern China in Ancient China, Hohhot: Inner Mongolia People's Publishing House, 1998
8. Yang Hong, "Exploring the Traces of Brahma: An Introduction to the Archaeology of Chinese Buddhist Art", Beijing: Life, Reading, and Xinzhi Sanlian Bookstore, 2022
9. Chen Fumin, "Forty Degrees North Latitude"
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