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Western Wei

Imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei

Summary

Imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei

Field	Value
native_name	魏
conventional_long_name	Wei
common_name	Western Wei
today	China
era	Southern and Northern Dynasties
status	Empire
government_type	Monarchy
year_start	535
year_end	557 AD
event_start	Emperor Wen's ascension, often viewed as establishment
date_start	18 February 535
date_end	14 February 557
event_pre	Establishment of Eastern Wei, start of division of Northern Wei
date_pre	8 November 534
p1	Northern Wei
p2	Liang Dynasty
s1	Northern Zhou
image_map	Western Wei map.jpg
image_map_caption	Western Wei and neighbors
capital	Chang'an
currency	Chinese coin,
Chinese cash
leader1	Emperor Wen of Western Wei
leader2	Emperor Fei of Western Wei
leader3	Emperor Gong of Western Wei
year_leader1	535–551
year_leader2	552–554
year_leader3	554–557

Chinese cash Wei (), known in historiography as the Western Wei (), was an imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei. One of the Northern dynasties during the era of the Northern and Southern dynasties, it ruled the western part of northern China from 535 to 557 AD. As with the Northern Wei dynasty that preceded it, the ruling family of the Western Wei were members of the Tuoba clan of the Xianbei.

History

After the Xianbei general Yuwen Tai killed the Northern Wei emperor Yuan Xiu, he installed Yuan Baoju as emperor of Western Wei while Yuwen Tai would remain as the virtual ruler. Although smaller than the Eastern Wei in territory and population, Western Wei was able to withstand the attacks from the eastern empire, most notably at the Battle of Shayuan in 537. Due to its better economical conditions, Western Wei was even able to conquer the whole western part of the Liang empire in the south and occupied the territory of modern Sichuan. In 557 Yuwen Tai's nephew Yuwen Hu deposed Emperor Gong and placed Yuwen Tai's son Yuwen Jue on the throne, ending Western Wei and establishing Northern Zhou.

Marital alliances with the nascent Turkic Empire also took place, as Bumin Qaghan (r.552), first khagan of the Göktürks, married the Western Wei princess Changle in June 551, before he was able to unite his tribes and revolt against the Rouran Empire, thereby establishing the First Turkic Khaganate in 552.

Religion and art

Buddhism and Buddhist art flourished under the Western Wei, even though the dynasty only lasted twenty-two years. Western Wei caves opened at Dunhuang and Maijishan.

File:Northern Dynasties Warrior.jpg|Northern dynasties shieldbearer File:Western Wei civil officer.jpg|Western Wei civil officer (535–557) Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara Guimet MG18284 n01.jpg|Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, Western Wei, Musée Guimet File:Section of a Pagoda-Shaped Stele (Western Wei or Northern Zhou), mid-6th century CE.jpg|Section of a Pagoda-Shaped Stele (Western Wei or Northern Zhou), mid-6th century CE File:西魏騎士壁畫.jpg|Story of the Five Hundred Robbers (535–557 CE), Mogao Caves, Cave 285, Dunhuang, Western Wei period File:Pipa player, Western Wei Dynasty in Feitian, Cave 285.webp|An apsara plays a pipa in Mogao Caves, Cave 285, Western Wei period.

Rulers

Posthumous Name	Personal Name	Period of Reign	Era Name
Emperor Wen of Western Wei	Yuan Baoju	535–551	Datong (大統) 535–551
Emperor Fei of Western Wei	Yuan Qin	551–554	–
Emperor Gong of Western Wei	Tuoba Kuo	554–557	–

References

Citations

Sources

History of Northern Dynasties.
Zizhi Tongjian.

References

''[[Zizhi Tongjian]]'', [[:zh:s:資治通鑑/卷157. vol. 157]].
''Zizhi Tongjian'', [[:zh:s:資治通鑑/卷166. vol. 166]].
''Zizhi Tongjian'', [[:zh:s:資治通鑑/卷156. vol. 156]].
(30 June 2023). "A Compendium of Medieval World Sovereigns". Taylor & Francis.
(2007). "Buddhist Sculpture from China: Selections from the Xi'an Beilin Museum : Fifth Through Ninth Centuries". China Institute Gallery.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

western-wei states-and-territories-established-in-the-530s states-and-territories-disestablished-in-the-550s dynasties-of-china former-countries-in-chinese-history 535-establishments 6th-century-establishments-in-china 557-disestablishments 6th-century-disestablishments-in-china tuoba

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