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The Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of Mongolic peoples. The Oirats in Western Mongolia as well as the Buryats and Kalmyks of Russia are classified either as distinct ethno-linguistic groups or subgroups of Mongols.
The Xianbei were most likely a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. There are also other strong suggestions that they were a multi-ethnic confederation with Mongolic and Turkic influences. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into the Wuhuan and Xianbei when they were defeated by the Xiongnu at the end of the third century BC. The Xianbei were largely subordinate to larger nomadic powers and the Han dynasty until they gained prominence in 87 AD by killing the Xiongnu chanyu Youliu. However unlike the Xiongnu, the Xianbei political structure lacked the organization to pose a concerted challenge to the Chinese for most of their time as a nomadic people.
The Monguor, the Tu people, the White Mongol or the Tsagaan Mongol, are Mongolic people and one of the 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in China. The "Tu" ethnic category was created in the 1950s.
Buyeo or Puyŏ, also rendered as Fuyu, was an ancient kingdom that was centered in northern Manchuria in modern-day northeast China. It is sometimes considered a Korean kingdom, and had ties to the Yemaek people, who are considered to be the ancestors of modern Koreans. Buyeo is a major predecessor of the Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo and Baekje.
Khagan or Qaghan is a title of imperial rank in the Turkic, Mongolic and some other languages, equal to the status of emperor and someone who rules a khaganate (empire). The female equivalent is Khatun.
Tuyuhun, also known as Henan and Azha, was a dynastic kingdom established by the nomadic peoples related to the Xianbei in the Qilian Mountains and upper Yellow River valley, in modern Qinghai, China.
Murong (Chinese: 慕容; pinyin: Mùróng; Wade–Giles: Mu4-jung2; LHC: *mɑC-joŋ; EMC: *mɔh-juawŋ) or Muren refers to an ethnic Xianbei tribe who are attested from the time of Tanshihuai (reigned 156–181). Different strands of evidence exist linking the Murong to the Mongols nomadic confederation in Central Asia. The Former Yan (337–370), Western Yan (384–394), Later Yan (384–409) dynasties as well as Tuyuhun (285–670) were all founded by the Murong peoples.
Murong Huang, courtesy name Yuanzhen (元真), formally Prince Wenming of (Former) Yan ( 燕文明王) was the founding monarch of the Xianbei-led Former Yan dynasty of China. When he first succeeded his father Murong Hui in 333, he carried the Jin dynasty-bestowed title Duke of Liaodong, but in 337 claimed the title of Prince of Yan, which is traditionally viewed as the founding date of Former Yan. After his son Murong Jun completely broke away from Jin and claimed the title of emperor in 353, he was posthumously honored as Emperor Wenming of (Former) Yan with the temple name Taizu (太祖). In the Book of Jin, Murong Huang was described as a strong looking tall man.
Fu Jian, courtesy name Yonggu (永固) or Wenyu (文玉), formally Emperor Xuanzhao of (Former) Qin ( 秦宣昭帝), was the third emperor of the Di-led Chinese Former Qin dynasty, the sixth of the traditionally-recognised Sixteen Kingdoms. Under his reign, Qin unified Northern China by conquering the kingdoms of Former Yan, Former Liang and Dai as well as the Jin dynasty's's Yi Province, until he was repelled at the Battle of Fei River in 383. Following this defeat, the Former Qin state disintegrated and Fu was assassinated in 385 by Yao Chang, his former subordinate who then founded the Later Qin dynasty.
Murong Bao, courtesy name Daoyou (道佑), Xianbei name Kugou (庫勾), formally Emperor Huimin of (Later) Yan ( 燕惠愍帝), temple name Liezong (烈宗) or Liezu (烈祖), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Later Yan dynasty. He inherited from his father Murong Chui a sizable empire but lost most of it within a span of a year, and would be dead in less than three, a victim of a rebellion by his granduncle Lan Han. Historians largely attributed this to his irresolution and inability to judge military and political decisions. While Later Yan would last for one more decade after his death, it would never regain the power it had under Murong Chui.
Murong Hui (慕容會) (373–397) was a general and imperial prince of the Xianbei state Later Yan, who served under his grandfather Murong Chui and father Murong Bao. During his father's reign, angry that he was not created crown prince, he tried to seize that position by force, but after his failure was killed.
Murong Hui, courtesy name Yiluo (弈洛), was an Xianbei chief, formally known as Duke Xiang of Liaodong, posthumously honored as Emperor Wuxuan (武宣皇帝). In the Book of Jin, Murong Hui was described as tall, physically strong and having a beautiful appearance.
Murong Fuyun, regnal name Busabo Khan, was a ruler of the Xianbei-led dynastic state of Tuyuhun. He first became ruler when his brother Murong Shifu was assassinated in 597, and became one of the longest-ruling monarchs of Tuyuhun. His reign was characterized by numerous major conflicts with the Sui and Tang dynasties. In 635, during a Tang invasion, he was assassinated due to the people's resentment of his hostile attitude toward the Emperor Taizong of Tang that led to the invasion.
Murong Nuohebo, regnal name Wudiyebaledou Khan (烏地也拔勒豆可汗) or, in short, Ledou Khan (勒豆可汗), Tang dynasty noble title Prince of Qinghai (青海王), was the last khan of the Xianbei-ruled Tuyuhun state. He had become khan in 635 after his grandfather, the Busabo Khan Murong Fuyun and his father, the Gandou Khan Murong Shun, had both been killed in the same year: Murong Fuyun during a Tang invasion and Murong Shun assassinated by his own people in the aftermaths of the Tang conquest. Murong Nuohebo's control over his people was initially tenuous and required Tang military affirmation on at least two occasions, but once his control was firmer, he faced the threat of Tibetan Empire to the south-west. In 663, unable to stand Tibetan pressure, he took his people and requested refuge in Tang territory, and by 672, the Tibetan Empire had taken over all of former Tuyuhun territory. The Tuyuhun people were settled within Tang territory, and Murong Nuohebo was made a Tang prefect. While he continued to carry the title of khan until his death in 688, typically, Tuyuhun was considered destroyed by either 663 or 672.
The Xianbei state or Xianbei confederation was a nomadic empire which existed in modern-day Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, northern Xinjiang, Northeast China, Gansu, Buryatia, Zabaykalsky Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, Tuva, Altai Republic and eastern Kazakhstan from 156 to 234. Like most ancient peoples known through Chinese historiography, the ethnic makeup of the Xianbei is unclear.
The Upper Mongols, also known as the Köke Nuur Mongols or Qinghai Mongols, are ethnic Mongol people of Oirat and Khalkha origin who settled around Qinghai Lake in so-called Upper Mongolia. As part of the Khoshut Khanate of Tsaidam and the Koke Nuur they played a major role in Sino–Mongol–Tibetan politics during the 17th and 18th centuries. The Upper Mongols adopted Tibetan dress and jewelry despite still living in the traditional Mongolian ger and writing in the script.
Various nomadic empires, including the Xiongnu, the Xianbei state, the Rouran Khaganate (330–555), the First (552–603) and Second Turkic Khaganates (682–744) and others, ruled the area of present-day Mongolia. The Khitan people, who used a para-Mongolic language, founded an empire known as the Liao dynasty (916–1125), and ruled Mongolia and portions of North China, northern Korea, and the present-day Russian Far East.
The Sixteen Kingdoms, less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by the "Five Barbarians", non-Han peoples who had settled in northern and western China during the preceding centuries, and had launched a series of rebellions and invasions against the Western Jin dynasty in the early 4th century. However, several of the states were founded by the Han people, and all of the states—whether ruled by Xiongnu, Xianbei, Di, Jie, Qiang, Han, or others—took on Han-style dynastic names. The states frequently fought against both one another and the Eastern Jin dynasty, which succeeded the Western Jin in 317 and ruled southern China. The period ended with the unification of northern China in 439 by the Northern Wei, a dynasty established by the Xianbei Tuoba clan. This occurred 19 years after the Eastern Jin collapsed in 420, and was replaced by the Liu Song dynasty. Following the unification of the north by Northern Wei, the Northern and Southern dynasties era of Chinese history began.
Tuyuhun, also known as ‘Azha from Tibetan script, is an extinct language once spoken by the Tuyuhun of northern China about 500 AD. The existence of the Tuyuhun, and consequently their language, is first attested in the Book of Song, compiled around 488 AD.
The military history of the Jin dynasty and the Sixteen Kingdoms encompasses the period of Chinese military activities from 266 AD to 420 AD. The Jin dynasty is usually divided into the Western Jin and Eastern Jin in Chinese historiography. Western Jin lasted from its usurpation of Cao Wei in 266 to 316 when the Uprising of the Five Barbarians split the empire and created a number of barbarian states in the north. The Jin court relocated to Jiankang, starting the era of Eastern Jin, which ended in 420 when it was usurped by Liu Yu, who founded the Liu Song dynasty.
References
- Simon Wickham-Smith and Sh.Tsog. The Best of Mongolian Poetry. Ulaanbaatar, 2007.