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The Coming of the Xianbei and Other Nomads
The nomads that roamed the northeastern and northwestern borders feature
prominently in early Chinese history and often constituted a threat to the
established order of the Han empire. Several such groups established polities
in northern China after the fall of the Han in the early third century.
The Xianbei, a nomadic people with roots in northern Mongolia, were among
the most prominent of these groups. One branch, known as the Murong Xianbei,
sporadically controlled parts of northeastern China in the third and fourth
centuries. Another, the Tuoba Xianbei, ruled as the Northern Wei dynasty
(386–534) in the north, where it established a large empire.
For fifty years, the Tuoba capital at Pingcheng (present-day Datong) in
Shanxi Province was the center of power, culture, and riches in North China.
In addition to pottery figures recording the appearance and amusements of
this nomadic group, tombs from the era have also yielded a wide-ranging
variety of luxury goods, including glass bowls of Roman or Persian origin,
alongside metalwork displaying Hellenistic, Persian, and Indian forms and
motifs. Use of funerary sculptures depicting a wide array of people and
animals reflects the adoption by the Xianbei of Chinese burial practices.
Both the groom and the horse are handmade, as opposed to molded, and are
painted in shades of white, red, and black. The groom's hat and tunic are
standard items of Xianbei clothing and can often be seen in funerary sculptures.
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