Tuoba

Tuoba (拓拔; pinyin Tuòbá) or T'o-pa in Wade-Giles was a clan of the Xianbei people in the early centuries of the 1st millennium AD. They established the State of Dai from 310 to 376 AD, and the Northern Wei Dynasty from 386 to 536 AD. Distribution of Xianbei people ranged from present day Manchuria to Mongolia, and the Tuoba clan was one of the largest clans among western Xianbei clans, ranging from present day Shanxi province and westward and northwestward. Tuoba clan was awarded by Chinese rulers as the leader of western Xianbei clans (西部大人) and its people adopted their clan name as their surname. It is mentioned in some sources that they possibly spoke a Turkic language.^[1]

The name was originally Tabgach (as attested to in the Orhun inscriptions in the Göktürk language), and most likely meant "earth-origined" (as in toprak), or "round" (as in Topkapi) in Turkish. The Chinese surname Yuan was later adopted by the Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei to replace Tuoba, and approximates the meanings of "origin" or "round" in the Chinese language.

The Tuoba states of Dai and Northern Wei also claimed to possess the quality of earth in the Chinese five element analogy.

Chieftains of Tuoba Clan ¹ 219-377 (as Princes of Dai 315-377)

Posthumous names	Chinese family names and first names	Period of Reigns	Era names and their according range of years
Chinese convention: family name and first names
Shenyuan 神元 pinyin (py.) shén yuán	Tuoba Liwei ³ 拓拔力微 py. Tuòbá Lìwéi	219-277	Did not exist
Zhang 章 py. Zhāng	Tuoba Xilu 拓拔悉鹿 py. Tuòbá Xīlù	277-286	Did not exist
Ping 平 py. Píng	Tuoba Chuo 拓拔綽 py. Tuòbá Chuò	286-293	Did not exist
Si 思 py. Sī	Tuoba Fu 拓拔弗 py. Tuòbá Fú	293-294	Did not exist
Zhao 昭 py. Zhāo	Tuoba Luguan 拓拔祿官 py. Tuòbá Lùguān	294-307	Did not exist
Huan 桓 py. Huán	Tuoba Yituo 拓拔猗㐌 py. Tuòbá Yītuō	295-305	Did not exist
Mu 穆 py. Mù	Tuoba Yilu 拓拔猗盧 py. Tuòbá Yīlú	295-316	Did not exist
Did not exist	Tuoba Pugen 拓拔普根 py. Tuòbá Pǔgēn	316	Did not exist
Did not exist	Tuoba (first name unknown) 拓拔? py. Tuòbá ?	316	Did not exist
Pingwen 平文 py. Píngwén	Tuoba Yulü py. Tuòbá Yùlǜ	316-321	Did not exist
Hui 惠 py. Huì	Tuoba Heru 拓拔賀傉 py. Tuòbá Hèrǔ	321-325	Did not exist
Yang 煬 py. Yáng	Tuoba Hena 拓拔紇那 py. Tuòbá Hénǎ	325-329 and 335-337	Did not exist
Lie 烈 py. Liè	Tuoba Yihuai 拓拔翳槐 py. Tuòbá Yìhuaí	329-335 and 337-338	Did not exist
Zhaocheng 昭成 py. Zhaōchéng	Tuoba Shiyijian 拓拔什翼健 py. Tuòbá Shíyìjiàn	338-377	Jianguo (建國 py. Jiànguó) 338-377

Footnotes

¹ Tuoba Family was the ruling family of Northern Wei Dynasty, founded by Tuoba Gui, then Emperor Daowu. Hence the rulers of Northern Wei Dynasty will start with him, not as a continuation of this table.

² All chieftains were revered as emperors in Weishu and Beishi but they never were in reality. They were denoted here as 王 pinyin Wáng (literary meaning: King or Prince), which was inherited by all successors of Tuoba Yilu. Refer to Chinese nobility#wang.

³ His temple name was Shizu (Chinese characters: 始祖, py. Shízǔ). Another column was not created since only he was the only chieftain before Tuoba Gui revered with a temple name.

⁴ Upon the reign of Emperor Xiao Wen, The Tuoba clan started the sinification process by changing their clan name to the Han Chinese surname yuan (元).

References

^ "Encyclopedia Britannica - Wei Dynasty"

[1] "Encyclopedia Britannica - Wei Dynasty"

[1]

Chieftains of Tuoba Clan ¹ 219-377 (as Princes of Dai 315-377)

Footnotes

See also

References