Wei, known in historiography as the Northern Wei, Tuoba Wei, Yuan Wei and Later Wei, was an imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Turkic Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the 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" by writers of the Southern dynasties, who considered themselves the true upholders of Chinese culture.
Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei ( 魏孝文帝), personal name né 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.
Yao Xing, courtesy name Zilüe (子略), formally Emperor Wenhuan of (Later) Qin ( 秦文桓帝), was an emperor of the Qiang-led Chinese Later Qin dynasty. He was the son of the founding emperor Yao Chang. For most of his reign, he did not use the title of emperor, but used the title Heavenly King. During his reign, he destroyed the rival Former Qin and proceeded to expand his hegemony over nearly all of western China, as he temporarily seized all of Western Qin's territory and forced Southern Liang, Northern Liang, Western Liáng, and Qiao Zong's Western Shu (西蜀) all to at least nominally submit to him, but late in his reign, defeats on the battlefield, particularly at the hands of the rebel general Helian Bobo, and internecine struggles between his sons and nephews greatly damaged the Later Qin state, and it was destroyed soon after his death. Yao Xing was an avid Buddhist, and it was during his reign that Buddhism first received official state support in China. The monk Kumarajiva also visited Chang'an at Yao Xing's request in 401.
Emperor Mingyuan of Northern Wei ( 魏明元帝), 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.
Qifu Chipan, formally Prince Wenzhao of (Western) Qin ( 秦文昭王), was a prince of the Xianbei-led Chinese Western Qin dynasty. During his reign, Western Qin reached its prime after he destroyed and seized the territory of the rival state Southern Liang in 414, but it then began a gradual decline under attacks by Xia and Northern Liang. When he died in 428, he left his state in a troubled position, and by 431, the state was destroyed, and his son Qifu Mumo captured and then killed by the Xia emperor Helian Ding.
Helian Bobo, né Liu Bobo (劉勃勃), courtesy name Qujie (屈孑), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Wulie of Xia (夏武烈帝), was the founding emperor of the Xiongnu-led Hu Xia dynasty of China. He is generally considered to be an extremely cruel ruler, one who betrayed every benefactor whom he had, and whose thirst for killing was excessive even for the turbulent times that he was in. He built an impressive capital for his state at Tongwancheng that remained difficult to besiege, even hundreds of years later during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
Empress Liang was an empress of the Xiongnu-led Chinese Hu Xia dynasty. Her husband was the founding emperor, Helian Bobo.
Juqu Mengxun was a king of the Xiongnu-led Chinese Northern Liang dynasty, and the first from the Juqu clan. His cousin Juqu Nancheng (沮渠男成) and he initially supported Duan Ye as prince of Northern Liang in 397 after rebelling against Later Liang, but in 401, Juqu Mengxun tricked Duan Ye into wrongly executing Juqu Nancheng, and then used that as an excuse to attack and kill Duan Ye, taking over the throne himself. While he maintained his own state, he also nominally served as a vassal of the Later Qin, Jin, and Northern Wei dynasties. He was considered a capable ruler when young, but in old age was considered cruel and arbitrary.
Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei, personal name Tuoba Tao (拓拔燾), Xianbei name Büri (佛貍), was the third 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, 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 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 Song dynasty. In 452, he was assassinated by his eunuch Zong Ai, who put his son Tuoba Yu on the throne but then assassinated Tuoba Yu as well. The other officials overthrew Zong and put Emperor Taiwu's grandson Tuoba Jun.
Empress Helian, formally Empress Taiwu (太武皇后), was an empress of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty. Her husband was Emperor Taiwu.
Qifu Mumo, courtesy name Anshiba (安石跋), was the last prince of the Xianbei-led Western Qin dynasty of China. When he succeeded his father Qifu Chipan in 428, Western Qin was already in a state of decline, under incessant attack by Northern Liang, Xia, Tuyuhun, and Chouchi, but under Qifu Mumo, who had a violent temper, Western Qin declined further, and in 431 the Xia emperor Helian Ding, his own state nearing destruction, captured and executed Qifu Mumo, ending Western Qin.
Helian Chang, courtesy name Huanguo (還國), nickname Zhe (折), was the second and penultimate emperor of the Hu Xia dynasty of China. He was the successor and a son of the founding emperor Helian Bobo. After his father's death in 425, he tried to expand Hu Xia's territory further, but soon his state began to collapse in light of pressure from the rival Northern Wei dynasty. In 427, his capital Tongwan fell to Northern Wei forces, and in 428 he himself was captured. The Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei did not kill him but instead treated him as an honored companion, marrying a sister to him and creating him high titles—initially the Duke of Kuaiji (會稽侯) and later the Prince of Qin (秦王)—but in 434, he tried to escape and was killed.
Helian Ding, nickname Zhifen (直獖), was the third and last emperor of the Xiongnu-led Chinese Hu Xia dynasty. He was a son of the founding emperor Helian Bobo and a younger brother of his predecessor Helian Chang. After Helian Chang was captured by rival Northern Wei's army in 428, Helian Ding took the throne himself and for several years tried to resist Northern Wei attacks, but by 430 he had lost nearly his entire territory. In 431, he attempted to head west to try to attack Northern Liang and seize its territory, but on the way, he was intercepted by Tuyuhun's khan Murong Mugui (慕容慕璝) and captured, ending Hu Xia. In 432, Murong Mugui turned him over to the Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei, who had him executed.
Empress (Dowager) Feng, formally Empress (Dowager) Wenming was an empress of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China. Her husband was Emperor Wencheng. After her husband's death in 465, she overthrew the autocratic regent Yifu Hun in 466 and became regent over her stepson Emperor Xianwen and remained as such until his adulthood in 467. She subsequently had a falling-out with Emperor Xianwen over his execution of her lover Li Yi (李奕), and she assassinated him and resumed regency over his son Emperor Xiaowen in 476. While Emperor Xiaowen assumed imperial powers upon adulthood, he remained very deferential to her, and she was highly influential until her death in October 490. An enduring legacy of her regency was a series of reforms that led to political recentralization for Northern Wei and future imperial dynasties.
Emperor Xianwen of Northern Wei ( 魏獻文帝), personal name Tuoba Hong, Xianbei name Didouyin (第豆胤), courtesy name Wanmin (萬民), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China. He was the first emperor in Chinese history who, after retiring at age 17 in favor of his 4-year-old son Emperor Xiaowen to become Taishang Huang in 471, continued to hold on to power until his death in 476—when the official history states vaguely that he may have been killed by his stepmother Empress Dowager Feng.
Emperor Xiaoming of (Northern) Wei ( 魏孝明帝), personal name Yuan Xu (元詡), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty. He ascended the throne in 515 at the age of five, and governmental matters were dominated by his mother Empress Dowager Hu. In 528, Emperor Xiaoming tried to curb his mother's powers and kill her lover Zheng Yan (鄭儼) by conspiring with the general Erzhu Rong. As a result, the 18-year-old emperor was poisoned by his mother, who was soon overthrown by Erzhu. From that point on, Northern Wei royal lineage had no actual power. The next ruler, Emperor Xiaozhuang (507–531) was established by Erzhu. Since Erzhu's rival, general Gao Huan, enthroned another royal offspring, the country was soon split in two rival polities, Eastern and Western Wei, both of which did not hold long on the political map of the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
Zhang Yao'er (章要兒) (506–570), formally Empress Xuan, was an empress of the Chinese Chen Dynasty. Her husband was the founding emperor Emperor Wu.
Empress Ande of Chen, personal name Shen Miaorong, was an empress of the Chinese Chen Dynasty. Her husband was Emperor Wen, a nephew of the founding Emperor Wu.
Feng Xiaolian was an imperial consort of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty. She was a concubine of the penultimate emperor Gao Wei, and his infatuation with her caused her to be, fairly or unfairly, often stated by traditional historians as a reason for Northern Qi's downfall.
Empress Yuan, personal name unknown, was briefly an emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty. She bore the surname Yuan, originally Tuoba. Yuan was the only child of Emperor Xiaoming, born to his concubine Consort Pan. Soon after her birth, her grandmother the Empress Dowager Hu, who was also Xiaoming's regent, falsely declared that she was a boy and ordered a general pardon. Emperor Xiaoming died soon afterwards. On 1 April 528, Empress Dowager Hu installed the infant on the throne for a matter of hours before replacing her with Yuan Zhao the next day. Emperor Xiaoming's daughter was not recognised as a legitimate emperor (huangdi) by later generations. No further information about her or her mother is available.
