The making of the Tuoba Northern Wei : constructing material cultural expressions in the Northern Wei Pingcheng Period (398-494 CE)
The Tuoba's success in the making of the Northern Wei as a conquest dynasty in fifth century northern China will be argued in this thesis as a result of their ability to cross between the traditions and practices of the Chinese sphere and those of the Eurasian steppe, through the construction of a ~dual presence~ in the Pingcheng period (398-494 CE). A negotiation of material culture in this formative phase of state-building allowed for new notions of kingship, dynastic identity, and representations of daily life to be (re)created. This was manifested separately through the application of mountain-side stone sculptures, tomb repertoires, as well as the conception of Pingcheng as a capital city. The material cultural expressions explored in this thesis reflect significant changes in the socio-cultural atmosphere at this point in history. In effect, these ritual, funerary, and commemorative discourses wove together to create new notions of ~Chineseness~ in fifth century northern China. In the following discussion, we will come to recognize the Tuobaâs maintenance of a ~dual presence~, not only as ~Son of Heaven~ to the conquered subjects, but also carrying over practices that befit a Khagan in the Central
Tseng, Chin-Yin
Archeology ; History ; History of Asia & Far East ; Chinese ; Buddhism ; History of the ancient world ; Architecture ; Northern Wei ; Tuoba ; Xianbei ; Nomadic dynasties ; Northern China ; Northern and Southern dynasties ; capital cities ; Pingcheng ; Yungang
The making of the Tuoba Northern Wei : constructing material cultural expressions in the Northern Wei Pingcheng Period (398-494 CE). The Tuoba's success in the making of the Northern Wei as a conquest dynasty in fifth century northern China will be argued in this thesis as a result of their ability to cross between the traditions and practices of the Chinese sphere and those of the Eurasian steppe, through the construction of a ~dual presence~ in the Pingcheng period (398-494 CE). A negotiation of material culture in this formative phase of state-building allowed for new notions of kingship, dynastic identity, and representations of daily life to be (re)created. This was manifested separately through the application of mountain-side stone sculptures, tomb repertoires, as well as the conception of Pingcheng as a capital city. The material cultural expressions explored in this thesis reflect significant changes in the socio-cultural atmosphere at this point in history. In effect, these ritual, funerary, and commemorative discourses wove together to create new notions of ~Chineseness~ in fifth century northern China. In the following discussion, we will come to recognize the Tuobaâs maintenance of a ~dual presence~, not only as ~Son of Heaven~ to the conquered subjects, but also carrying over practices that befit a Khagan in the Central
make northern construct material cultural expression northern period success make northern conquest northern china argue ability cross tradition practice chinese sphere eurasian_steppe construction dual presence period negotiation material_culture formative phase state building allow new notion kingship dynastic identity representation daily_life create manifest separately application mountain side stone_sculpture tomb repertoire well conception capital_city material cultural expression explore reflect significant_change socio_cultural atmosphere point history effect ritual funerary commemorative discourse weave together create_new notion chineseness northern china follow_discussion come recognize maintenance dual presence son heaven conquer subject also carry practice befit central