Northern Zhou

Xianbei-led dynasty of China

"Bei Zhou" redirects here. For the historical prefecture, see Bei Prefecture.

Zhou

557–581

Kyrgyzs

CHAM-

576

CHENLA

FIRST TURKIC KHAGANATE

SASANIAN
EMPIRE

ALCHON
HUNS

CHALU-
KYAS

LATER
GUPTAS

NORTH.
ZHOU

NORTH.

ZHANGZHUNG

CHEN

BYZANTINE
EMPIRE

AVAR
KHAGANATE

TUYUHUN

Khitans

Paleo-Siberians

Tungus

GOGU-
RYEO

TOCHA-
RIANS

◁  ▷

The Northern Zhou ( ) and main contemporary polities in Asia c. 576

Northern Zhou territories in light blue

Capital| Chang'an
Government| Monarchy
Emperor|

• 557

| Emperor Xiaomin of Northern Zhou

• 557–560

| Emperor Ming of Northern Zhou

• 560–578

| Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou

• 578–579

| Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou

• 579–581

| Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou
History|

• Established

| 15 February[1] 557

• Disestablished

| 4 March[2] 581
Area
577[3]| 1,500,000 km2 (580,000 sq mi)
Currency| Chinese coin,
Chinese cash

Preceded by | Succeeded by

|

|  | Western Wei

|

| Northern Qi
| Sui dynasty |

|

Today part of| China
Mongolia

Zhou (/dʒoʊ/), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (Chinese: 北周; pinyin: Běi Zhōu), was a Xianbei-led dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern dynasties of China's Northern and Southern dynasties period, it succeeded the Western Wei dynasty and was eventually overthrown by the Sui dynasty.

## History[edit]

The Northern Zhou's basis of power was established by Yuwen Tai, who was paramount general of Western Wei, following the split of Northern Wei into Western Wei and Eastern Wei in 535. After Yuwen Tai's death in 556, Yuwen Tai's nephew Yuwen Hu forced Emperor Gong of Western Wei to yield the throne to Yuwen Tai's son Yuwen Jue (Emperor Xiaomin), establishing Northern Zhou. The reigns of the first three emperors (Yuwen Tai's sons) - Emperor Xiaomin, Emperor Ming, and Emperor Wu were dominated by Yuwen Hu, until Emperor Wu ambushed and killed Yuwen Hu in 572 and assumed power personally. With Emperor Wu as a capable ruler, Northern Zhou destroyed rival Northern Qi in 577, taking over Northern Qi's territory. However, Emperor Wu's death in 578 doomed the state, as his son Emperor Xuan was an arbitrary and violent ruler whose unorthodox behavior greatly weakened the state. After his death in 580, when he was already nominally retired (Taishang Huang), Xuan's father-in-law Yang Jian took power, and in 581 seized the throne from Emperor Xuan's son Emperor Jing, establishing Sui. The young Emperor Jing and the imperial Yuwen clan, were subsequently slaughtered by Yang Jian.[4][5]

The area was known as Guannei 關內. The Northern Zhou drew upon the Zhou dynasty for inspiration.[6] The Northern Zhou military included Han Chinese.[7]

### Trade contacts with Sogdians and Turks[edit]

The Tomb of An Jia, a Sogdian merchant (518-579 CE) based in China during the Northern Zhou dynasty, shows the omnipresence of the Turks (at the time of the First Turkic Khaganate), who were probably the main trading partners of the Sogdians in China.[8] The Hephthalites are essentially absent, or possibly showed once as a vassal ruler outside of the yurt of the Turk Qaghan, as they probably had been replaced by Turk hegemony by that time (they were destroyed by the alliance of the Sasanians and the Turks between 556 and 560 CE).[8] In contrast, the Hephthalites are omnipresent in the Tomb of Wirkak, who, although he died at the same time of An Jia was much older at 85: Wirkak may therefore have primarily dealt with the Hephthalites during his younger years.[8] There were also marital alliances: the Northern Zhou Emperor Wu had a Turkic Empress named Ashina.

* Anjia (right) welcomes a Turkic leader (left, long hair combed in the back).[9][10]

* The Sogdian merchant An Jia with a Turkic Chieftain in his yurt.[9][10]

* An Jia (right) brokering an alliance with Turks (left).[9][10]

* Sogdian musicians on the tomb of Wirkak, Northern Zhou period, Xi'An

## Cultural artifacts[edit]

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Numerous artifacts are known from the period, many of them showing contacts with Sogdians merchants who resided in China and often had official administrative positions (seen in the Tomb of An Jia or the Tomb of Wirkak), or even with northern India (Tomb of Li Dan). Central Asian precious artifacts were often included in the funeral material of Chinese people of high rank, as seen in the tomb of the Xianbei-Tuoba Northern Zhou general Li Xian.

* The Northern Zhou Xianbei-Tuoba general Li Xian (504-569 CE)

* The tomb of Wirkak, a Sogdian official among the Northern Zhou, 580 CE, Xi'an City Museum

* Scene in a Chinese pavillion, Tomb of An Jia, 579 CE.

* Northern Zhou dish inspired by Western metalwork, 557–581.

* Tomb of Li Dan, an Indian "Brahmin" from Jibin, Gandhara. 564 CE Xi'an City Museum.

* Northern Zhou gilded silver ewer in Greco-Roman style from the tomb of Li Xian.[11]

* Side plan of the Northern Zhou Qiaoling Mausoleum, where Emperor Wu was buried with his Turkic wife, Empress Ashina

## Buddhism[edit]

Buddhism and Buddhist art flourished under the Northern Zhou.[12] The dynasty also contributed some of the paintings in the Dunhuang caves: specifically, narrative paintings of the biography of the Buddha in Cave 428, following the prototypes of Gandhara and Kizil.[13]

* Stele with the Boddhisattva Maitreya (Mile), probably Shaanxi province, Northern Zhou dynasty, 557-581. Freer Gallery of Art

* Shakyamuni Buddha, Northern Zhou dynasty, 557-581. Shanxi Museum

* Shakyamuni Buddha. Northern Zhou dynasty, 557-581. Shanxi Museum

* Buddha flanked by bodhisattvas with flying apsaras. Dunhuang mural. Cave 428, Northern Zhou dynasty

* Northern Zhou statue of the Buddha. Xi'an (Shaanxi).

## Empress Ashina[edit]

Empress Ashina (阿史那皇后, 551–582) was a Turkic empress of the Northern Zhou dynasty, spouse of Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou. She was the daughter of Göktürk ruler Muqan Qaghan. Her tomb was discovered in 1993 on Chenma village, Xianyang.[14] A genetic analysis on her remains was conducted in 2023, finding nearly exclusively Ancient Northeast Asian ancestry (97,7%) next to minor West-Eurasian components (2,7%), confirming an East Asian origin for the Türks.[15]

## Emperors[edit]

Administrative divisions as of 572 Posthumous name | Personal name | Period of Reigns | Era name

|
|
|

Xiaomin | Yuwen Jue  | 557  | –
Ming, Xiaoming  | Yuwen Yu  | 557–560  | Wucheng (武成) 559–560
Wu | Yuwen Yong  | 561–578  | Baoding (保定) 560–565
Tianhe (天和) 566–572
Jiande (建德) 572–578
Xuanzheng (宣政) 578
Xuan | Yuwen Yun  | 578–579  | Dacheng (大成) 579

Jing | Yuwen Chan  | 579–581[note 1] | Daxiang (大象) 579–581
Dading (大定) 581

## Emperors' family tree[edit]

Northern Zhou emperors family tree

| Yuwen Gong
宇文肱 (d.526)| | | | | | Yuan Huai 元怀
（488–517）| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
Yuwen Hao
宇文顥
(d. 524)| | Princess
Fengyi
(d. 541)| | Yuwen Tai
宇文泰
(507–556)| | Emp. Xiaowu
of Northern Wei
r. 532–535| | | | | | | | | | Dugu Xin
獨孤信
504–557| | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Yuwen Hu
宇文護
(513–572)| | Yuwen Jue 宇文覺
(542–557)
Xiaomin
(r. 557)1| | Yuwen Xian
宇文憲 545–578| | Yuwen Yong
宇文邕 (543–578)

(r. 560–578)3| | Yuwen Yu 宇文毓
(534–560)
Ming
(r. 557–560)2| | Empress
Dugu
獨孤王后
d.558| | Dugu Qieluo
獨孤伽羅
544–602| | Emperor
Wen of Sui
r. 581–604| | Duchess
Dugu
| |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Yuwen Yun 宇文贇
(559–580)
Xuan
(r. 578–579)4| | Yang Lihua
楊麗華
561–609| | Sui dynasty| | | | | | Emperor
Gaozu of Tang
r. 618–626
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Yuwen Yan 宇文衍
(573–581)
Jing
(r. 579–581)5| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Tang dynasty

## See also[edit]

* China portal
* History portal

* List of pre-modern great powers
* Monarchy of China

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ In 580, after Emperor Xuan's death, the general Yuchi Jiong, believing that the regent Yang Jian was about to seize the throne, rose against Yang and declared a son of Emperor Wu's brother Yuwen Zhao (宇文招) the Prince of Zhao, whose name is lost to history, emperor, but as Yuchi was soon defeated, and nothing further was known about the emperor that he declared, that son of Yuwen Zhao is usually not considered an emperor of Northern Zhou.

## References[edit]

### Citations[edit]

1. ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 167.
2. ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 175.
3. ^ Rein Taagepera "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.", Social Science History Vol. 3, 115-138 (1979)
4. ^ Patricia Buckley Ebrey; Anne Walthall (1 January 2013). East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History. Cengage Learning. pp. 76–. ISBN 978-1-133-60647-5.
5. ^ Patricia Buckley Ebrey; Anne Walthall (1 January 2013). Pre-Modern East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History, Volume I: To 1800. Cengage Learning. pp. 76–. ISBN 978-1-133-60651-2.
6. ^ Charles Holcombe (2011). A History of East Asia: From the Origins of Civilization to the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge University Press. pp. 97–. ISBN 978-0-521-51595-5.
7. ^ Micklewright, Nancy (1986). ARS ORIENTALIS. Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution. p. 42\. ISBN 9780934686440.
8. ^ a b c Grenet, Frantz; Riboud, Pénélope (2003). "A Reflection of the Hephthalite Empire: The Biographical Narra- tive in the Reliefs of the Tomb of the Sabao Wirkak (494-579)" (PDF). Bulletin of the Asia Institute. 17: 141–142.
9. ^ a b c Baumer, Christoph (18 April 2018). History of Central Asia, The: 4-volume set. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 228\. ISBN 978-1-83860-868-2.
10. ^ a b c Yatsenko, Sergey A. (August 2009). "Early Turks: Male Costume in the Chinese Art". Transoxiana. 14.
11. ^ Wu, Mandy Jui-man (2004). "Exotic Goods as Mortuary Display in Sui Dynasty Tombs--A Case Study of Li Jingxun's Tomb". Sino-Platonic Papers. 142: 55.
12. ^ 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. "Although Western Weilasted 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..."
13. ^ Karetzky, Patricia E. (26 April 2000). Early Buddhist Narrative Art: Illustrations of the Life of the Buddha from Central Asia to China, Korea and Japan. University Press of America. p. 105\. ISBN 978-1-4617-4027-8. "Liang and Northern Wei Dynasties, specifically Caves 275 and 254, as well as Cave 428 from the Northern Zhou...."
14. ^ Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman (2014-12-31). Chinese Architecture in an Age of Turmoil, 200-600. University of Hawaii Press. p. 197\. ISBN 978-0-8248-3822-5.
15. ^ Yang, Xiaomin; Meng, Hailiang; Zhang, Jianlin; Yu, Yao; Allen, Edward; Xia, Ziyang; Zhu, Kongyang; Du, Panxin; Ren, Xiaoying; Xiong, Jianxue; Lu, Xiaoyu; Ding, Yi; Han, Sheng; Liu, Weipeng; Jin, Li (2023-01-09). "Ancient Genome of Empress Ashina reveals the Northeast Asian origin of Göktürk Khanate". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 61 (6): 1056–1064. doi:10.1111/jse.12938. ISSN 1674-4918. S2CID 255690237.

### Sources[edit]

* Book of Zhou
* History of Northern Dynasties
* Zizhi Tongjian

## External links[edit]

* Media related to Northern Zhou Dynasty at Wikimedia Commons

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Northern and Southern dynasties (420–589)

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Northern Wei → (Western Wei | Eastern Wei → Northern Qi) → Northern Zhou

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