Stone carvings from the Northern Wei Dynasty on display in the Gongyi Grotto Temple in Henan Province Photo: TUCHONG

In his speech at a seminar on cultural inheritance and development in June 2023, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping offered an in-depth analysis of the historical foundations underpinning the construction of a socialist culture with Chinese characteristics and the building of a modern Chinese civilization. During the speech, he summed up five prominent features of Chinese civilization: continuity, innovativeness, unity, inclusivity, and peaceful nature. In China’s prolonged development course as a multiethnic nation, a variety of material and intellectual cultures have been continuously created, inherited, and innovated, eventually constituting the profound Chinese civilization today.

Bright facet of Chinese civilization

The culture of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386–534), an imperial dynasty ruled by the Tuoba clan of the Xianbei ethnic group, left distinctive marks on the colorful history of Chinese civilization. Characterized by the central court’s intelligent governance, emphasis on military strength, tolerance of other cultures, and innovative spirit, the Northern Wei culture shines as a bright facet of fine traditional Chinese culture.

Culture can be defined in both the broad and narrow sense. Narrowly it focuses on creation and accumulation within intellectual fields, while the broad definition covers material, institutional, and intellectual dimensions. Cultural development in the Northern Wei Dynasty is visible in all these dimensions.

The Northern Wei’s material culture included a wide array of tangible heritage items, reflecting the technological level and economic strength of that era. Its institutional culture was embodied by legal ordinances, the official system, clan-based ritual practices, and folk customs, playing a pivotal role in maintaining the peace and stability of society. Intellectually, Confucian ethics, Daoist philosophy, Buddhist wisdom, and other legacies in different forms oriented the values of the Chinese nation.

The Northern Wei witnessed a grand integration of diverse ethnic groups in ancient China. Cultures of these ethnic groups exchanged and developed in the civilizational melting pot, injecting new vitality into Chinese culture. With the vibrant clash and fusion of diverse local and ethnic cultures, Chinese civilization developed a complex, pluralist multi-dimensional pattern with rich connotations. Therein, the culture of the Northern Wei Dynasty became a shining pearl embedded in the gigantic scroll of Chinese culture, mingling with the whole national culture and contributing a brilliant embellishment to the history of Chinese civilization.

Manifestations of prominent features

In the Northern Wei era, the collision and subsequent integration of ethnic cultures, represented predominantly by the Han and the Xianbei, laid a solid foundation for Chinese civilization’s diversity in unity. This mixing was not only a practical historical process featuring a close combination of cultural accumulation and epochal innovation, but also a strong force driving Chinese civilization to keep abreast of the times.

Continuity is the fundamental feature that has distinguished China from other civilizations around the world. The Northern Wei Empire, established by the Xianbei ethnic group, didn’t abandon the Central Plains culture which had been cultivated since the Han (206 BCE–220 CE) and Jin (266–420) dynasties, but instead increased the dynamism of Chinese civilization.

In the early years of the Northern Wei period, imperial ritual and official systems were mostly modeled after those practiced in the Jin Dynasty. Gradually promoted by emperors like Daowu (r. 371–409) and Mingyuan (r. 392–423), clothing, language, nomenclature, and other fields completely assimilated with the Han ethnic group till the reign of Emperor Xiaowen (467–499). Moreover, Confucian classics were vigorously popularized in the Northern Wei educational system.

While inheriting the cream of previous dynasties’ institutions, the Northern Wei actively exchanged with states of the Southern Dynasty (420–589), carrying forward and innovating both institutions and culture. This series of measures ensured that Chinese civilization was able to maintain its internal continuity and stability amid turmoil, building a solid groundwork for the later prosperous Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties.

Innovation is the source of vitality for the Chinese nation to endure. The Northern Wei court deeply and innovatively fused the nomadic culture of ethnic groups on the steppe in northern China with farming conventions of the Han people in the Central Plains, breaking new ground in ethnic integration and cultural communication. Institutionally, the Northern Wei regime initiated the sanzhang system, or system of three heads, for neighborhoods (li), villages (lin), and wards (dang) under one common quasi-official hierarchy of units of sub-district (xian) organization of the population, which optimized territorial administration. Furthermore, the juntian, or equal-field, system was launched to reform land distribution.

On the legal front, the Northern Wei followed codes from the Han, Wei (220–266), and Southern dynasties, and made nine amendments, successively, to these laws. Marked by the Taihe Code, the dynasty transitioned from customary law to statute law, signaling the feudalization of the legal system.

In terms of cultural integration, the Northern Wei didn’t simply absorb or export one single culture, but created a new landscape in which Han and non-Han cultures intertwined and blended with each other. Take religious art as an example. The Northern Wei innovated Buddhist sculpture art by assimilating crafts of the Central Plains, the Western Regions, and the Xianbei ethnic group. Carvings of the Yungang and Longmen grottoes scaled a new height of Buddhist art.

National unification is essential to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Since it took over the Central Plains, the Northern Wei court had made the unification of China its responsibility. Through military conquests, political reforms, cultural integration, and economic development, the regime put an end to the centennial chaos among five major ethnic groups and 16 kingdoms, preliminarily unifying northern China.

Despite the failure to achieve national unification, the Northern Wei aligned the cultural mentalities of ethnic groups in northern China and facilitated the construction of a common cultural identity. It brought diverse ethnic groups together within the Confucianism-dominated cultural sphere, intellectually uniting them into a cultural community and enhancing their identification with Chinese culture, paving the way for the formation and development of the Chinese nation’s diversity in unity pattern.

The unification cause undertaken by the Northern Wei not only heralded the unified Sui and Tang dynasties, but also deeply influenced surrounding ethnic groups and regions, expanding Chinese civilization’s clout and advancing the interaction and development of civilizations in East Asia, and even the world.

A confident civilization will draw upon others’ strengths with an open and inclusive attitude while maintaining its own traits. The rise and development of the Northern Wei exactly exemplified this feature of Chinese civilization, particularly in the evolution of religious culture.

During the Northern Wei Dynasty, Shamanist elements of the Xianbei ethnic group penetrated people’s everyday beliefs and funeral customs, reflecting the religion’s early clash with nature. Concurrently, Daoism originating from the Central Plains was revitalized by the imperial court. The emperor’s ceremonial reception of the talisman to seek blessings, a ritual practiced since the reign of Emperor Taiwu (408–452), showcased Daoism’s role in reconciling frictions between ethnic groups and consolidating political power. The thriving of Buddhism in the Northern Wei era marked a significant cultural shift. As masterful mixtures of Indian art and Chinese aesthetics, the Yungang and Longmen grottoes not only represented the height of Buddhist art, but also evidenced Chinese civilization’s high tolerance of and innovative approach to exotic cultures.

In addition, the Northern Wei court was very open in social customs and ethnic polices, respecting and integrating cultural practices of different locales. The campaign led by Emperor Xiaowen to identify with the Han ethnic group broke ethnic boundaries and fueled deep cultural interaction and integration. His actions ensured the harmonious coexistence of different cultures in a unified political framework and contributed a remarkable chapter to Chinese civilization’s inclusive and harmonious development.

The peaceful nature of the Northern Wei Dynasty was mirrored in the harmonious coexistence of diverse ethnic groups and social strata internally, as well as its friendly, cooperative strategies in foreign exchanges.

With respect to domestic governance, it exercised inclusive religious policies which effectively balanced interests of different ethnic groups and social strata, creating a harmonious and stable social atmosphere. Through common cultural education, extensive social participation, and the encouragement of inter-ethnic marriages, Northern Wei policies deepened emotional bonds and cultural identities among ethnic groups, leading to domestic pluralistic integration and harmonious coexistence, qualities essential to Chinese civilization.

Regarding foreign policy, the central court was inclined to engage in peaceful consultation and strengthen economic, trade, and cultural exchanges in order to enhance mutual understanding and cooperation with other states, all the while ensuring national security. Its close relations with the Western Regions, states in northeastern China, and the Southern Dynasty also attested to its peaceful approach to diplomacy, delivering Chinese civilization’s diplomatic wisdom of upholding peace for common development.

Relevance of Northern Wei culture

As a key node in the development course of Chinese civilization, the Northern Wei provides a vivid historical example of ethnic cultural integration. Deep interaction and mutual learning among various ethnic groups during the dynasty enriched the heritage of Chinese civilization and exhibited a unique path to jointly constructed splendor as a result of cultural diversity. The inclusive cultural form retained the Northern Wei’s original features, meanwhile fostering cultural cohesion. Its distinct charm complemented with the elaborate structure of the entire Chinese civilization, writing a rich chapter in Chinese history.

Undoubtedly, investigating and inheriting Chinese civilization’s traits contained in Northern Wei legacies is of unparalleled guiding value and epochal significance to the modern expression and global dissemination of Chinese culture. Such efforts are likewise vital to the deep integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s fine traditional culture and will inspire the development and innovation of contemporary culture.

Xiang Jinwei is a professor from the School of History and Culture at Shanxi University.