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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, imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties, it ruled northern China from 386 to 535 during the period of the Northern and Southern dynasties. Described as "part of an era of political turbulence and intense social and cultural change", the Northern Wei dynasty is particularly noted for unifying northern China in 439, bringing an end to the chaotic Sixteen Kingdoms period, and strengthening imperial control over the rural landscape via reforms in 485. This was also a period of introduced foreign ideas, such as Buddhism, which became firmly established. The Northern Wei was referred to as "Plaited Barbarians" (索虜; ''suǒlǔ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Daowu Of Northern Wei
Emperor Daowu of Northern Wei (; 4 August 371 – 6 November 409), personal name Tuoba Gui (), né Tuoba Shegui (), was the founding Emperor of China, emperor of the Northern Wei dynasty of China. He was the grandson of the last prince of Dai (Sixteen Kingdoms), Dai, Tuoba Shiyijian, Tuoba Shiyiqian. After the fall of the Dai state to the Former Qin in 376, he was presumed to be the eventual successor to the Dai throne. After the Former Qin fell into disarray in 383 following its defeat by Jin dynasty (266–420)#Eastern Jin (317–420), Eastern Jin forces at the Battle of Fei River, Tuoba Gui took the opportunity to reestablish Dai in 386. He soon changed the dynasty's name to Wei and declared himself a prince. He was initially a vassal of the Later Yan, but after defeating Later Yan emperor Murong Bao in 397 and seizing most of Later Yan's territory, he claimed the imperial title in 398. Emperor Daowu was commonly regarded as a brilliant general, but cruel and arbitrary in his ru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy), to fully autocratic (absolute monarchy), and may have Political representation, representational, Executive (government), executive, legislative, and judicial functions. The Order of succession, succession of monarchs has mostly been Hereditary monarchy, hereditary, often building dynasties; however, monarchies can also be elective monarchy, elective and Self-proclaimed monarchy, self-proclaimed. Aristocracy (class), Aristocrats, though not inherent to monarchies, often function as the pool of persons from which the monarch is chosen, and to fill the constituting institutions (e.g. Diet (assembly), diet and Royal court, court), giving many monarchies oligarchic elements. The Legitimacy (political)#Monarchy, political legitim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dai (Sixteen Kingdoms)
Dai, also rendered as Tai and sometimes known in historiography as the Tuoba Dai (), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Tuoba clan of Xianbei descent, during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms (although it is not listed as one of the 16). It existed from AD 310 to 376, with its capital at Shengle (near modern Horinger County of Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China). The name "Dai" originated when Tuoba Yilu was appointed the Duke of Dai (代公) by the Western Jin dynasty in 310, as a reward for helping Liu Kun, the Governor of Bingzhou (并州), fight against the Han-Zhao dynasty. The fief was later promoted from a duchy to a principality in 315. Dai was conquered in 376 by the Former Qin dynasty, and its descendants later established the Northern Wei dynasty in 386. History Background In 258, the Tuoba chieftain, Tuoba Liwei led his people to occupy the abandoned Han dynasty city of Shengle in Yunzhong Commandery. At Shengle, Liwei submitted to the Cao Wei and late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Xiaozhuang Of Northern Wei
Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei (, 507 – 26 January 531; r. May 528 – Jan 531), personal name Yuan Ziyou (), courtesy name Yanda (彥達), was an emperor of China's Northern Wei dynasty. He was placed on the throne by General Erzhu Rong, who refused to recognize the young emperor, Yuan Zhao, who Empress Dowager Hu had placed on the throne after she poisoned her son Emperor Xiaoming. During his reign, General Erzhu largely controlled the military and acted in a violent manner, leading Emperor Xiaozhuang to believe that he would usurp the throne. In late 530, Emperor Xiaozhuang ambushed General Erzhu and killed him in the palace, but his cousin Erzhu Shilong and nephew Erzhu Zhao subsequently captured and killed Xiaozhuang. Early life Yuan Ziyou was born in 507, during the reign of his cousin Emperor Xuanwu, as the third son of the highly regarded imperial prince, Emperor Xuanwu's uncle Yuan Xie the Prince of Pengcheng. His mother was Yuan Xie's wife Princess Li Yu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Xuanwu Of Northern Wei
Emperor Xuanwu of Northern Wei (May or June 483 – February 12, 515) was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty (499-515). He was born Tuoba Ke, but later changed his surname so that he became Yuan Ke. During Emperor Xuanwu's reign, Northern Wei appeared, outwardly, to be at its prime, but there was much political infighting and corruption, particularly by Emperor Xuanwu's uncle Gao Zhao. Emperor Xuanwu was an avid Buddhist and often personally lectured on the Buddhist sutras. During his reign, Buddhism effectively became the state religion. Background Tuoba Ke was born in 483, as the second son of Emperor Xiaowen. His mother was Xiaowen's concubine Consort, Gao Zhaorong. (As he was born in the same year as his older brother Tuoba Xun, he was probably born just briefly after Tuoba Xun, whose mother was Consort Lin.) Little is known about his childhood, including whether he was raised by his mother Lady Gao or not. In 496, Xiaowen changed the name of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Xiaowen Of Northern Wei
Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei ((北)魏孝文帝) (October 13, 467 – April 26, 499), personal name Tuoba Hong (拓拔宏), later Yuan Hong (元宏), was an emperor of China's Northern Wei dynasty, reigning from September 20, 471 to April 26, 499. Under the regent of Empress Dowager Feng, Emperor Xiaowen enacted a new land-tenure system named the equal-field system in 485, which was aimed at boosting agricultural production and tax receipts. The implementation of the equal-field system was largely due to the court's desire to break the economic power of local magnates who sheltered residents under their control living in fortified villages. Under this system, all land was owned by the state, and then equally distributed to taxpaying farmers. This system successfully created a stable fiscal infrastructure and a basis for universal military conscription for the Northern Wei, and continued well into the Tang dynasty. The equal-field program was coupled with another initiative, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Wencheng Of Northern Wei
Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei ((北)魏文成帝) (July or August 440 – 20 June 465), Han name Tuoba Jun (拓拔濬), Xianbei name Wulei (烏雷), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China. He became emperor aged 12 in the aftermath of the eunuch Zong Ai's assassinations of his grandfather Emperor Taiwu and uncle Tuoba Yu, and he was generally described by historians as a ruler who sought foremost to allow his people to rest after his grandfather's expansionist policies and extensive campaigns, and who also reformed the laws to become more lenient. Background Tuoba Jun was born in 440, when his father Tuoba Huang was the crown prince of his grandfather, Emperor Taiwu. (Some historical sources give his birthdate as 448, a date that appears rather unlikely because that would make him only six years older than his son, Emperor Xianwen.) His mother, Consort Yujiulü, was the sister of the general Yujiulü Pi (郁久閭毗), who had been a member ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Taiwu Of Northern Wei
Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei ((北)魏太武帝, 408 – 11 March 452), personal name Tuoba Tao (拓拔燾), Xianbei name Büri (佛貍), was the third Emperor of China, emperor of China's Northern Wei dynasty. He was generally regarded as a capable ruler, and during his reign, the Northern Wei roughly doubled in size and unified all of northern China, thus ending the Sixteen Kingdoms period and, together with the southern dynasty Liu Song dynasty, Liu Song, starting the Southern and Northern Dynasties period of Chinese history. He was a devout Taoist, under the influence of his prime minister Cui Hao, and in 444, at Cui Hao's suggestion and believing that Buddhists had supported the rebellion of Gai Wu (蓋吳), he ordered the abolition of Buddhism, at the penalty of death. This was the first of the Three Disasters of Wu for Buddhism in China, Chinese Buddhism. Late in his reign, his reign began to be cruel, and his people were also worn out by his incessant wars against the Liu S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Mingyuan Of Northern Wei
Emperor Mingyuan of Northern Wei ((北)魏明元帝) (392 – 24 December 423), Chinese name Tuoba Si (拓拔嗣), Xianbei name Mumo (木末), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China. He was the oldest son of the founding emperor Emperor Daowu. During his reign, Northern Wei's territory did not expand as much as it did under either his father's reign or the reign of his son Emperor Taiwu, but he helped the state stabilize over northern China, and started the tradition of meeting with important imperial officials to listen to their advice and make final decisions. He is generally regarded by historians to be an intelligent and rational ruler. Early life Tuoba Si was born in 392 after his father Tuoba Gui had founded Northern Wei in 386 but before he had conquered most of rival Later Yan's territory and claimed imperial title in 399. His mother was Tuoba Gui's favorite consort, Consort Liu, the daughter of the Tiefu chief Liu Toujuan (劉頭眷). He was bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cash (Chinese Coin)
The cash or ''qian'' was a type of coin of China and the East Asian cultural sphere, Sinosphere, used from the 4th century BCE until the 20th century, characterised by their round outer shape and a square center hole ( zh, c=方穿, poj=hong-chhoan, j=fong1 cyun1, p=fāng chuān). Originally cast during the Warring States period, these coins continued to be used for the entirety of Imperial China. The last Chinese cash coins were cast in the first year of the Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China. Generally most cash coins were made from copper or bronze alloys, with iron, lead, and zinc coins occasionally used less often throughout Chinese history. Rare silver and gold cash coins were also produced. During most of their production, cash coins were Cast coinage, cast, but during the late Qing dynasty, Milled coinage, machine-struck cash coins began to be made. As the cash coins produced over Chinese history were similar, thousand year old cash coins produced during the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Chinese Coinage
Ancient Chinese coinage includes some of the earliest known coins. These coins, used as early as the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BCE), took the form of imitations of the cowrie shells that were used in ceremonial exchanges. The same period also saw the introduction of the first metal coins; however, they were not initially round, instead being either knife shaped or spade shaped. Round metal coins with a round, and then later square hole in the center were first introduced around 350 BCE. The beginning of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE), the first dynasty to unify China, saw the introduction of a standardised coinage for the whole Empire. Subsequent dynasties produced variations on these round coins throughout the imperial period. At first the distribution of the coinage was limited to use around the capital city district, but by the beginning of the Han dynasty, coins were widely used for such things as paying taxes, salaries and fines. Ancient Chines ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese language, Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The Swedish linguist Bernhard Karlgren believed that the dictionary recorded a speech standard of the capital Chang'an of the Sui dynasty, Sui and Tang dynasty, Tang dynasties. However, based on the preface of the ''Qieyun'', most scholars now believe that it records a compromise between northern and southern reading and poetic traditions from the late Northern and Southern dynasties period. This composite system contains important information for the reconstruction of the preceding system of Old Chinese phonology (early 1st millennium BC). The ''fanqie'' method used to indicate pronunciation in these dictionaries, though an improvement on earlier methods, proved awkward in practice. The mid-12th-century ''Yunjing'' and other r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
