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Wei (/weɪ/), known in historiography as theWestern Wei (Chinese:西魏;pinyin:Xī Wèi), was animperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of theNorthern Wei. One of theNorthern dynasties during the era of theNorthern and Southern dynasties, it ruled the western part of northern China from 535 to 557. As with the Northern Wei dynasty that preceded it, the ruling family of the Western Wei were members of theTuoba clan of theXianbei.

History

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After theXianbei generalYuwen Tai killed theNorthern Wei emperor Yuan Xiu, he installedYuan Baoju asemperor of Western Wei while Yuwen Tai would remain as the virtual ruler. Although smaller than theEastern Wei in territory and population, Western Wei was able to withstand the attacks from the eastern empire, most notably at theBattle of Shayuan in 537. Due to its better economical conditions, Western Wei was even able to conquer the whole western part of theLiang empire in the south and occupied the territory of modernSichuan. In 557 Yuwen Tai's nephewYuwen Hu deposedEmperor Gong and placed Yuwen Tai's sonYuwen Jue on the throne, ending Western Wei and establishingNorthern Zhou.

Marital alliances with the nascent Turkic Empire also took place, asBumin Qaghan (r.552), first khagan of theGöktürks, married the Western Wei princessChangle (長樂公主) in June 551, before he was able to unite his tribes and revolt against theRouran Empire, thereby establishing theFirst Turkic Khaganate in 552.^[4]

Religion and art

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Buddhism andBuddhist art flourished under the Western Wei, even though the dynasty only lasted twenty-two years. Western Wei caves opened atDunhuang andMaijishan.^[5]

Northern dynasties shieldbearer
Western Wei civil officer (535–557)
Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, Western Wei,Musée Guimet
Section of a Pagoda-Shaped Stele (Western Wei or Northern Zhou), mid-6th century CE
Story of the Five Hundred Robbers (535–557 CE),Mogao Caves,Cave 285,Dunhuang, Western Wei period
Anapsara plays apipa inMogao Caves,Cave 285, Western Wei period.

Rulers

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Further information:Chinese emperors family tree (middle) § Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, Western Wei

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

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Citations

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^Zizhi Tongjian,vol. 157.
^Zizhi Tongjian,vol. 156.
^Zizhi Tongjian,vol. 166.
^Venning, Timothy (30 June 2023).A Compendium of Medieval World Sovereigns. Taylor & Francis. p. 170.ISBN 978-1-000-86633-9.
^Juliano, Annette L. (2007).Buddhist Sculpture from China: Selections from the Xi'an Beilin Museum : Fifth Through Ninth Centuries. China Institute Gallery. p. 8.ISBN 978-0-9774054-2-8.AlthoughWestern Wei lasted only twenty-two years, and Northern Zhou just twenty-four years, Buddhism and Buddhist art flourished during these two regimes. Western Wei and Northern Zhou caves opened at Dunhuang ,Maijishan...

Sources

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v t e Northern and Southern dynasties (420–589)
Northern dynasties	Northern Wei → (Western Wei \|Eastern Wei →Northern Qi) →Northern Zhou
Southern dynasties	Liu Song →Southern Qi →Liang (Western Liang) →Chen

v t e Emperors of theNorthern dynasties
Northern Wei	Daowu Mingyuan Taiwu Prince Yin of Nan'an Wencheng Xianwen Xiaowen Xuanwu Xiaoming Daughter of Xiaoming Youzhu Xiaozhuang Prince of Changguang Jiemin Houfei Xiaowu
Eastern Wei	Xiaojing
Western Wei	Wen Fei Gong
Northern Qi	Wenxuan Fei Xiaozhao Wucheng Houzhu Youzhu
Northern Zhou	Xiaomin Ming Wu Xuan Jing
Xia →Shang →Zhou →Qin →Han →3 Kingdoms →Jìn /16 Kingdoms →S. Dynasties /N. Dynasties →Sui →Tang →5 Dynasties & 10 Kingdoms →Liao /Song /W. Xia /Jīn →Yuan →Ming →Qing →ROC /PRC