The Northern Wei splits into the Eastern and Western Wei
On 22 August 534 Emperor Xiaowu of the Northern Wei, trying to escape the control of the general Gao Huan, fled from Luoyang to Yuwen Tai in Chang’an. Gao Huan enthroned another prince and moved the court to Ye, and in February 535 Yuwen Tai poisoned Xiaowu and installed an emperor of his own: the Northern Wei, which had united the north in 439, split into the Eastern and Western Wei.
- Date
- 22 August 534 – 18 February 535exact date · duration: ≈ 6 monthsDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Luoyang, capital of the Northern Weitoday: Han–Wei city site east of modern Luoyang, Henan, China · East Asia
- Participants
- Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Gao Huan, Yuwen Tai
- Threads
- East Asia (6th–10th c.)
- Also known as
- Division of the Northern Wei; Split of Northern Wei; Раскол Северной Вэй; 北魏分裂
In the 520s the Northern Wei was shaken by rebellions, and in 528 the warlord Erzhu Rong seized power. After the fall of the Erzhu the dominant figure at court was Gao Huan, a soldier from the northern frontier who in 532 put Yuan Xiu (Emperor Xiaowu) on the throne, while in the west the frontier armies came under Yuwen Tai. In the summer of 534 the emperor gathered more than 100,000 men at the Yellow River bridge near Luoyang against Gao Huan, but when Gao crossed the river on 20 August his resolve failed. According to the Zizhi tongjian, on 21 August he left the city with 5,000 horsemen — more than half of them deserted that night — and on 22 August fled west to Chang’an, where Yuwen Tai received him.
Gao Huan entered Luoyang the next day. When the emperor ignored his appeals to return, he enthroned the boy Yuan Shanjian (Emperor Xiaojing, born 524) on 8 November and, since Luoyang was exposed to the west and close to the Liang border, moved the court to Ye ten days later: 400,000 households, says the chronicle, were driven onto the road in confusion. In Chang’an Xiaowu soon quarrelled with Yuwen Tai, who had him poisoned on 3 February 535 and on 18 February enthroned the prince Yuan Baoju as Emperor Wen of the Western Wei.
Both states kept the name Wei and puppet emperors of the Tuoba house, while real power lay with Gao Huan in the east and Yuwen Tai in the west. The larger Eastern Wei failed to conquer its rival, notably at Shayuan in 537. In 550 Gao Huan’s son Gao Yang replaced the Eastern Wei with the Northern Qi, and in 557 the Western Wei gave way to the Northern Zhou of Yuwen Tai’s heirs; the Northern Zhou conquered the Northern Qi in 577, and the Sui, which took over the Zhou throne in 581, reunited all China in 589.
Connections
Related events
- Northern Wei takes Guzang and unites northern China18 October 439 · East AsiaThe north, united by the Northern Wei in 439, split in two
- Jia Sixie writes the Qimin yaoshubetween 533 and 544 · East AsiaBy one dating the book was completed in 544 under the Eastern Wei, one of the two halves of the divided Northern Wei
- The rebellion of Hou Jing and the fall of Jiankang27 September 548 – between 20 May and 7 June 552 · East AsiaHou Jing was a general of the Eastern Wei, one of the two halves of the divided Northern Wei
- Bumin overthrows the Rouran: the Turkic Khaganate is foundedbetween February and March 552 · Central and Northern AsiaBumin allied with the Western Wei, which gave him a princess in 551
- Sui conquers the Chen and reunites China22 January – between 2 February and 10 February 589 · East AsiaThe Sui took over the throne of the Northern Zhou, successor of the Western Wei
Same participants
- The Yungang Grottoes: cave temples of the Northern Wei near Pingchengc. 460 – 494 · East Asiavia Northern Wei
Same place
- Liu Xiu restores the Han: the Eastern Han25 · East Asia
- The Book of Han is writtenc. 54 – 111 · East Asia
- Cai Lun presents papermaking to the Han court105 · East Asia
- Zhang Heng presents the first seismoscope132 · East Asia
- An Shigao begins translating Buddhist texts in Luoyang148 · East Asia
- Envoys from Da Qin (Rome) at the Han court166 · East Asia
- Partisan Prohibitions: purges of scholar-officials166–184 · East Asia
- Lokaksema translates the first Mahayana sutras into Chinese179 · East Asia
- Queen Himiko’s embassy to the Wei courtbetween 238 and 239 · East Asia
- Sima Yan founds the Jin dynasty8 February 266 · East Asia
- Chen Shou writes the Records of the Three Kingdomsbetween 280 and 297 · East Asia
- War of the Eight Princes23 April 291 – between 28 June 306 and 6 February 307 · East Asia
- Disaster of Yongjia: Han-Zhao troops sack Luoyang13 July 311 · East Asia
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Volcanic winter of 536between 535 and 536 – 537
- Gothic War (535–554)535–554
- Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britainbetween 410 and 449 – between 550 and 625
Eastern Europe
- Early Slavic cultures: Prague-Korchak, Penkovka and Kolochinc. 450 – c. 700
- Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv: the legendary founding of Kyivbetween 500 and 700
Balkans and Anatolia
- Construction of Hagia Sophia23 February 532 – 27 December 537
- Corpus Juris Civilis7 April 529 – 16 November 534
- Reign of Justinian I1 August 527 – 14 November 565
Middle East and Egypt
Africa
- Vandalic WarJune 533 – March 534
- Reign of Kaleb of Aksumbetween 510 and 514 – between 530 and 542
Central and Northern Asia
South Asia
- Varahamihira compiles the Pancha-siddhantikabetween 505 and 587
- The Alchon Huns invade India: Toramana and Mihirakulabetween 496 and 500 – between 528 and 534
- The later caves of Ajanta under the Vakataka king Harishenabetween 460 and 480 – between 480 and 550
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- The inscriptions of Purnavarman, king of Taruma in western Javabetween 400 and 600
- Gold pendant copying a coin of Antoninus Pius at Óc Eobetween 152 and 600
- Óc Eo, the port of Funanbetween 1 and 100 – between 601 and 700
North America
- Basketmaker III: pottery, beans and the bow on the Colorado Plateauc. 500 – c. 750
- The Late Woodland period in eastern North Americac. 500 – c. 1000
Latin America
- Teotihuacan at its height: the largest city of the Americasc. 250 – c. 550
- Nazca culture and the Nazca Linesbetween 200 and 100 BC – between 500 and 800
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Northern Wei
- Wikipedia (English): Eastern Wei
- Wikipedia (English): Western Wei
- Wikipedia (English): Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei
- Wikipedia (English): Gao Huan
- Wikipedia (English): Yuwen Tai
- Wikipedia (Russian): Северная Вэй
- Wikipedia (Russian): Восточная Вэй
- Wikipedia (Russian): Западная Вэй
- Wikipedia (Chinese): 北魏分裂
- Цзычжи тунцзянь, гл. 156: 534 г. (кит. текст, Викитека)
- Цзычжи тунцзянь, гл. 157: 535 г. (кит. текст, Викитека)
- Dien A. E., Knapp K. N. (eds.) The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 2: The Six Dynasties, 220–589. — Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019.
- Wikidata: Q10904129