Xianbei people

The Xianbei first appear in recorded history in the context of a Xianbei embassy to the Chinese Later Han dynasty in AD 49. The story reported here was that the Xianbei were originally a branch—together with the almost identical Wuhuan people—of the so-called Eastern Hu, which had been defeated by the rising power of the Xiongnu steppe nomadic empire around 206 BC.

The Xianbei invaded China in the 41 years between AD 97 and 187. their aim of plundering was solely to obtain people and livestock from the Chinese frontier regions.

They are portrayed as a fur-wearing tribe who hold the dog sacred and whose familial hierarchy is bizarrely upside-down. They are mostly ignorant of agriculture but do seem to plant and harvest during specific seasons, on the basis of their observations of the behavior of fauna, as they lack all knowledge of the calendar.

The Xianbei were perhaps the most prominent of the various non-Chinese peoples active in north China during the Age of Division. They established a number of imperial dynasties there.

The early celebrated generals and their best assault equestrians were mainly from the Xianbei confederation. The Xianbei cavalries were feared for their "wind-and-clouds"-like speed and fierce attacks - even by the Xiongnu.

After the Xiongnu fled, the Xianbei, who took over the former territories of the Xiongnu, grew in strength. They have 100,000 warriors, whose physical strength and wits are increasing more and more.

The Murong branch of the Xianbei in southern Manchuria was the first group to found several successive kingdoms in the region of modern Liaoning, Hebei and Shandong, while the Tuoba branch of the Xianbei in the Ordos area established the more stable dynasty of Northern Wei (386-534 AD).
Xianbei people