A study of Xianbei tombs

Abstract

AbstractThe present paper divides the generally recognized Xianbei tombs into five groups. The first group is in the Hailar River valley; the second group, in the West Liaohe River valley; the third group, in the Chaoyang area; the fourth group, along the boundary between Inner Mongolia and Shanxi; and the fifth group, in northern Shanxi, middle Inner Mongolia and the zone a little west of them. In cultural aspect, the tombs of the second group present Xianbei features in pottery but distinct difference from the already affirmed Xianbei graves in burial manner. Referring to literature records, it may be reasonable to attribute them to the Wuhuan rather than to the Eastern Xianbei. The tombs of the third group centering on Chaoyang belong to the Murong Xianbei and present distinct features related to the second group tombs, which suggests that the Murong Xianbei culture may have partly inherited the Wuhuan culture. The fifth group tombs are the closest to the Northern Wei burials so far excavated, so they may represent the source of the Tuoba Xianbei culture. The first group of remains can hardly be taken as the direct forerunner of the fifth group graves and Northern Wei tombs, so they may have belonged to the Eastern Xianbei rather than to the Tuoba Xianbei. As the fifth group tombs show certain similarity in grave goods to the fourth group that may have belonged to Tan Shihuai’s reign, to speak in temporal terms, it was hardly possible that the Tuoba Xianbei entered the Datong area through the route on the western side of the Greater Khingan Mountains. Moreover, as the fifth group tombs are related to a certain extent to the Xiongnu tombs near Lake Baikal, it can be inferred that the Tuoba Xianbei originated in the northern Greater Khingan Mountains, then went into the zone near Hulun Buir, from there migrated southwestwards, and later, turning eastwards, entered the middle area of present-day Inner Mongolia.