Wei 魏 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 534–550 | |||||||||
 Eastern Wei and neighbors | |||||||||
| Capital | Luoyang (534) Yecheng (534–550) | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| Emperor | |||||||||
• 534–550 | Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 8 November[1] 534 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 7 June[2] 550 | ||||||||
| Currency | Chinese coin, Chinese cash | ||||||||
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| Today part of | China | ||||||||
| Part ofa series on the |
| History of China |
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Wei (/weɪ/), known in historiography as theEastern Wei (simplified Chinese:东魏;traditional Chinese:東魏;pinyin:Dōng Wèi), was animperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of theNorthern Wei dynasty. One of theNorthern dynasties during theNorthern and Southern dynasties period, the Eastern Wei ruled the eastern part of northern China from 534 to 550. As with the Northern Wei, the ruling family of the Eastern Wei were members of theTuoba clan of theXianbei.
Gao Huan was the potentate of the eastern half of what was Northern Wei territory. In 534, following the disintegration of the Northern Wei dynasty, he installedYuan Shanjian as ruler of Eastern Wei. Yuan Shanjian was a descendant of the Northern Wei. Yuan Shanjian was a puppet ruler, as the real power lay in the hands of Gao Huan. Several military campaigns, such as theBattle of Shayuan, were launched against the neighboringWestern Wei in an attempt to reunify the territory once held by the Northern Wei, however these campaigns were not successful. In 547 Gao Huan died. His sonsGao Cheng andGao Yang were able to pursue his policy of controlling the emperor, but in 550 Gao Yang deposed Yuan Shanjian and founded his own dynasty, theNorthern Qi.
The Buddhist art of the Eastern Wei displays a combination ofGreco-Buddhist influences fromGandhara andCentral Asia (representations of flying figures holding wreaths, Greek-style folds of the drapery), together with Chinese artistic influences.
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