Chapter 6 Chapter Two Xianbei People

When Xianbei officially appeared on the stage, he should have stirrups. Moreover, it is a double stirrup. There are few inventions as simple and great as the stirrup, which almost rewrote the history of mankind, at least the history of war.We know that when horses participated in wars, they were originally used in chariot battles.Later, there were cavalry, but their combat effectiveness was very limited.Because if you don’t have stirrups, and you want to draw a bow and shoot arrows while running wildly, or swing a knife to kill the enemy when fighting, I’m sorry, it will definitely fall off.

Yet the stirrup made the cavalry the most formidable enemy.With the stirrup as a point of support, they can ride steadily on the horse and shoot, draw their swords to cut left and right; and when they swing forward, the galloping horses will greatly enhance the impact of the spear.In short, stirrups made hand-to-hand combat possible. Of course, they might also have to wear boots. But in any case, the cavalry united with horses and horses has become invincible.It was by relying on this extremely lethal and fast force that the Tang Dynasty defeated the Eastern and Western Turks and the Tuyuhun, creating a miracle that the agricultural empire defeated the nomads on a large scale.It was also the stirrup that led to the creation of the knight class and the feudal system in Europe.No wonder some people think that history is created by the progress of science and technology.

Maybe, maybe. The introduction of stirrups to Western Europe is generally believed to be in the 8th century AD; the inventor of stirrups is generally believed to be Chinese, therefore, stirrups are also called "Chinese boots".This kind of "boots" has been unearthed in our country, and it is not unrelated to Xianbei.For example, the earliest real double stirrups and pottery figurines with double stirrups were found in the tombs of Xianbei people or Xianbei Huahan people. Of these two tombs, one belongs to Beiyan and the other belongs to Northern Wei. Undoubtedly, this does not mean that Xianbei is the inventor of the stirrup.The stirrup was obviously invented earlier, and it was originally a single stirrup.But if the title of "Chinese boots" is given to the Xianbei people, it may be appropriate.Because it is the hard work of these "boots" that has blazed a new path for the Chinese nation.

Then let's look at the Xianbei people. Xianbei is one of the ethnic minorities of the Eastern Hu family.They originally lived in the forests of the Greater Khingan Mountains, which is where the Oroqen people live now.And they are called Xianbei, probably because Daxinganling is called Xianbei Mountain.As for the language they use, it is probably Turkic plus early Mongolian and Tungusic. This is an ancient forest people. Later, the Xianbei people came out of the forest to the grasslands, took over the former home of the Huns outside the Great Wall, and turned themselves into nomads.After the southward and westward migration, the Xianbei people mixed with different ethnic groups and formed different tribes, including the Yuwen tribe, the Murong tribe, the Duan tribe, the Qifu tribe, the bald tribe, the Tuoba tribe, and so on.They formed a loose political and military alliance and occupied the vast land in the north.

The mixed-race Xianbei tribes are full of styles.The most beautiful of them all was the fair-skinned Murongbu, for which they were called Bailu.Many of the girls from the Murong tribe became the women of the Eastern Jin imperial family and gentry, such as the mother of Sima Shao, Emperor Ming of Jin Dynasty.Therefore, the Han emperor had a yellow beard and hair, and even a resolute and resolute character, which finally prevented Wang Dun's attempt to usurp him. Murong is the leader of Xianbei. In fact, the Murong tribe was the first to rise in Xianbei. They established four regimes: Qianyan (337 AD), Houyan (384 AD), Xiyan (384 AD) and Nanyan (398 AD). .In addition, the begging tribe and the bald tribe also established a state each, namely Xiqin (385 A.D.) of Qifu Guoren and Nanliang (397 A.D.) of bald-haired Wugu.

The most backward is the Tuoba Department. The Tuoba tribe is the same as the Yuwen tribe. The men all shaved their heads, leaving only a bunch of hair on the top to be braided, so they were called Suotou or Suolu.Even after migrating from the Greater Khingan Mountains to the Hulun Buir Grassland, this tribe still maintained their primitive and barbaric customs and refused to accept the advanced culture of the Han people. It is self-evident that the reform of the Northern Wei Dynasty was difficult. However, this most backward tribe has finally become the pioneer of a new era and a new culture.There is undoubtedly too much to tell, but AD 258 is certainly an important year.In this year, the Tuoba tribe of Xianbei held a meeting in Shengle (now Helinger, Inner Mongolia) at the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain, announcing that they had completed the transition from tribe to tribe alliance and began to march towards the national era.

This was still the period of the Three Kingdoms.Cao Wei, the Western Jin Dynasty, the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the lively Sixteen Kingdoms did not notice the existence of this weak and small tribe, let alone think that they would start from here and dominate the north in the future.Only the Tuoba people have firmly remembered those years under the Yin Mountain, so that after two hundred and eighty years from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Eastern Wei Dynasty, they can still sing so affectionately: What kind of historical vicissitudes is this, what kind of family and country feelings are this!

It is said that the original language of this song is Xianbei, and it is still majestic after being translated into Chinese.The translator, Hu Lujin (谷读如胡), is a member of the Hulu tribe who uses Chile language. He translated and sang at the request of Gao Huan, a Han Chinese. Therefore, this Chinese song "Chilechuan" itself is a cultural exchange and ethnic A witness and a symbol of integration. Great Chilechuan! The Tuoba tribe of Xianbei, who settled at the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain, slowly entered the history of civilization.Half a century later, the great chief of the tribal alliance was named Daigong by the Western Jin Dynasty, and was later promoted to Daiwang.But this only reflects the gentle policy of the Jin people, but the small chiefs of the Tuoba tribes did not welcome a king with absolute power.Even changing from nomadic to settled, they have different opinions.

The result was that the fragile Dai state was destroyed by the powerful Fu Jian in 376 AD, the year the Visigoths crossed the Danube.The demise of the Dai State marked the complete unification of northern China by the former Qin Dynasty, and it also meant a major setback for the Tuoba people in Xianbei to move towards civilization.For the next ten years, they can only learn from the pain until a more powerful leader leads them to rise from the grass. The leader is Tuoba Gui (read Rugui). The dynasty he founded was named Wei, and it was called the Northern Wei in history. Tuobagui proclaimed himself king and founded the country in Niuchuan (now Hohhot) in 386 AD.Twelve years later (398 AD), he moved his capital to Pingcheng (now Datong, Shanxi) and proclaimed himself emperor.Since then, Pingcheng has been the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty until Emperor Xiaowen Tuoba Hong moved his capital to Luoyang in 493 AD.

This is completely different from the regime of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms. The sixteen countries are all short-lived, mostly only 20 or 30 years, a few can last more than 40 years, and the shortest is only two or three years.There is only one over sixty years old, and it is still a remote and small country (Qianliang) that no one pays attention to, which is not worth mentioning at all.The Northern Wei Dynasty has existed for a century and a half, and it has maintained the complete unity of northern China for nearly a century. How can the sixteen countries be compared in the same breath?

More importantly, the Northern Wei Dynasty was not only a regime and a country, but also a dynasty whose legitimacy was recognized by the Han people.Dynasties are different from countries.During the Three Kingdoms period, only Cao Wei could barely be called Dynasty (Wei Dynasty), Sun Wu could not be called Wu Dynasty, and Shu Han could not be called Shu Dynasty or Han Dynasty.Only the Northern Wei Dynasty and the four subsequent regimes can be called the Northern Dynasties and the Southern Dynasties together with the four southern regimes. This is the first time in Chinese history. The Sixteen Kingdoms and the Southern and Northern Dynasties cannot be compared at all. The only thing that can be compared with the Northern Wei Dynasty is the Frankish Kingdom that later developed into the Charlemagne Empire.In fact, just as only Xianbei Tuoba among the Five Hus truly made history, only the Franks among the Germanic barbarians in Europe have achieved great achievements through the ages.Isn't the mystery in it worth pondering?

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Notes: , Jian Bozan's "Outline of Chinese History", Fan Shuzhi's "Outline of National History", and Zhou Shifen's "Eleven Lectures on Chinese History".