Chinese
Chinese may refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China.
**'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
: 李贤, Lǐ Xián, 502–569 CE) was a
Northern Zhou
Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties of China's ...
general and Governor of
Dunhuang
Dunhuang () is a county-level city in northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Sachu (Dunhuang) was ...
. He was born in 502 CE in
Guyuan
Guyuan ( zh, c=固原, p=Gùyuán ), formerly known as Xihaigu ( zh, links= , c=西海固, p=xīhǎigù, Xiao'erjing: قُيُوًا شِ) or Dayuan (), is a prefecture-level city in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of the People's Republi ...
, at the time under
Northern Wei
Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...
rule. As a soldier, he served the three dynasties of the
Northern Wei
Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...
,
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 ...
, and
Northern Zhou
Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties of China's ...
. Emperor
Yuwen Tai
Yuwen Tai () (505/7 – 21 November 556According to Yuwen Tai's biography in ''Book of Zhou'', he died aged 52 (by East Asian reckoning) on the ''yihai'' day of the 10th month of the 3rd year of the reign of Emperor Gong of Western Wei. This co ...
entrusted him with the education of two of his sons during 6 years, as the imperial court had become too dangerous, and one of them,
Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou
The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother/grandmother ( empress dowager/ grand empress dowager), or a woman who rul ...
. Li Xian was in charge of defenses on the northern frontier of the Chinese Empire, in contact with the
Silk Road
The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...
. He died in
Changan
Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...
at the age of 66, in 569 CE. He was important enough to be mentioned in the ''
Zhoushu
The ''Book of Zhou'' () 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 historian Linghu Defen, ...
'' and the '' Beishi''. He was the great-grandfather of the famous
Sui dynasty
The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...
princess
Li Jingxun
Li Jingxun (Chinese: 李靜訓, Lĭ Jìngxùn, also 李小孩, Lĭ Xiǎohái, 600-608 CE) was a 9-year-old princess of the Sui dynasty when she died in 608 CE. Her stone sarcophagus was found undisturbed in 1957 near the Old City in Xi'an, Shaanxi ...
.
His tomb, where he was buried with his wife Wu Hui (吴辉), was discovered in
Guyuan
Guyuan ( zh, c=固原, p=Gùyuán ), formerly known as Xihaigu ( zh, links= , c=西海固, p=xīhǎigù, Xiao'erjing: قُيُوًا شِ) or Dayuan (), is a prefecture-level city in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of the People's Republi ...
in 1983 (北周李贤墓). The tomb was built in brick, and composed of a 42-meter sloping ramp leading to a square corbelled chamber. The walls of the whole structure were covered with paintings of officials, soldiers, servants, and musicians, but only a few have remained intact. Numerous small statuettes of servants and warriors were also found in the tomb (239 in total).
His epitaph suggests that his distant ancestors were of
Tuoba
The Tuoba (Chinese language, Chinese) or Tabgatch (, ''Tabγač''), also known by #Names, other names, was an influential Xianbei clan in early imperial China. During the Sixteen Kingdoms after the fall of Han and the Three Kingdoms, the Tuoba e ...
-
Xianbei
The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...
, or possibly Turkic, descent. The epitaph of Li Xian contains the following line about his ancestry:
Although the epitaph states that Li Xian was descended from Li Ling, it also explains that his 10th generation ancestor was named Yidigui ("俟地归"), and that he had migrated south from the steppes across the
Yin Mountains
The Yin Mountains, also known by their Chinese name as the Yin Shan or Yinshan and by various romanizations as the Daqing Mountains, are mountains in the Eastern Gobi Desert steppe of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region of China. The Yellow Riv ...
("南越陰山"), so Li Xian himself had visibly not forgotten his origin from the northern steppes. According to the epitaph, Yidigui also was acquainted with the "Saint Emperor of the Wei" ("魏聖帝"), thought to be the
Tuoba
The Tuoba (Chinese language, Chinese) or Tabgatch (, ''Tabγač''), also known by #Names, other names, was an influential Xianbei clan in early imperial China. During the Sixteen Kingdoms after the fall of Han and the Three Kingdoms, the Tuoba e ...
chieftain
Tuoba Jiefen Tuoba Jiefen () was the 14th ancestor of the imperial clan of the Northern Wei dynasty of China. He was the chieftain of the Tuoba tribe of the Xianbei, son of the ruler Tuoba Lin. He probably ruled circa 190-195 CE. When Tuoba Gui (Emperor Daowu) f ...
whose similar dynastic name was "Emperor Shengwu" (圣武皇帝), and who led the second Tuoba migration to the south.
Regardless of origin, the Chinese one-syllable name "Li" had been used at least since the time of his great-grandfather, who was Governor of
Tianshui
Tianshui is a prefecture-level city in Gansu province, China, and is the province's second-largest city (behind the provincial capital Lanzhou). Located in the southeast of the province, the city strides along the upper reaches of the Wei River a ...
and "General of Pacifying the West" (laws had been passed forbidding Xianbei clothing at court, and demanding the adoption of Chinese one-syllable names during the 5th century CE). His tomb contained several Central Asian objects too, such as a ewer with Greco-Roman scenes. The grave also contained a sword with round pommel and scabbard-type attachement. According to the epitaph, he received a posthumous title: "Pillar of the State Great General" (柱国大将军)".
Li Xian claimed descent from the Longxi Li clan through the line of Li Ling. The Longxi Li were also claimed as ancestors by the imperial house of the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
(618–907 CE) through a different line, though it was suggested in the 20th century that the Tang imperial house may have actually descended from an eastern lineage, the Zhaojun Li, who intermarried extensively with the "non-Chinese tribal aristocracy." The probable Tuoba-Xianbei origins of Li Xian as revealed by his epitaph has led to some scholars suggesting that the rulers of the Tang dynasty had "barbarian" patrilineal ancestors, rather than having Han patrilineal ancestors. It is already known that the Tang royal family had Turko-Mongol heritage from marrying Xianbei women, but they might have modified their genealogy to conceal a Xianbei paternal lineage while preserving various Xianbei customs.
File:Tomb of Li Xian (plan).jpg, Tomb of Li Xian (plan). 42 meter sloping ramp leading to a square corbelled chamber. Structure similar to the Tomb of Li Shou
Northern Zhou Gilded Silver Ewer (9833405755).jpg, A ewer with Greco-Roman scenes from the tomb of Northern Zhou general Li Xian. It was probably made in
Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...
.
Painting from the tomb of Li Xian.jpg, Tomb of Li Xian, panel
Tomb of Li Xian, panel 2.jpg, Tomb of Li Xian, panel
Tomb of Li Xian, panel 3.jpg, Tomb of Li Xian, panel
Tomb of Li Xian, panel 4.jpg, Tomb of Li Xian, panel
File:Epitaph of Li Xian.jpg, Epitaph of Li Xian (李賢墓誌).For the Simplified Chinese transcription:
File:Epitaph of Li Xian (tombstone).jpg, Tombstone of Li Xian
File:Jianguo Tuoba (close up).jpg, The expression "建國㩉拔" ''Jianguo Tuoba'' ("Built the Country of the
Tuoba
The Tuoba (Chinese language, Chinese) or Tabgatch (, ''Tabγač''), also known by #Names, other names, was an influential Xianbei clan in early imperial China. During the Sixteen Kingdoms after the fall of Han and the Three Kingdoms, the Tuoba e ...
Character 㩉 * Original report of the excavation: 《寧夏回族自治區博物館、寧夏固原北周李賢夫婦墓發掘簡報》〈1985年第十一期）"A brief report on the excavation of the Northern Zhou tomb of Li Xian and his wife at Guyuan in Ningxia"
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