The Frontier Capital: Datong Under the Northern Wei, 398-494 CE

In 398 CE, on the windswept frontier between the Mongolian steppe and agricultural China, the nomadic Tuoba Xianbei people made a radical choice. Instead of conquering and occupying a traditional Chinese city, they built their own: Pingcheng, the "City of Peace." For nearly a century, this metropolis served as the capital of their powerful Northern Wei dynasty. History has often dismissed this period as a simple story of "Sinicization"—the process of "barbarians" inevitably becoming Chinese. The Frontier Capital reveals a far more complex and fascinating reality. Drawing on archaeological evidence from the city's ruins, a critical re-reading of court histories, and a deep analysis of its spectacular art, this book argues that Pingcheng was a laboratory for a new kind of empire. Here, Tuoba rulers governed with a hybrid system that blended steppe clan politics with Chinese bureaucracy. They became fervent Buddhist monarchs, sponsoring the creation of the magnificent Yungang Grottoes—colossal Buddhas carved into cliffsides in a revolutionary style that fused Indian, Central Asian, and Chinese art. This was not assimilation. This was innovation. The Frontier Capital is the definitive story of this forgotten city, a gripping investigation into how a frontier zone became a creative center that redefined the meaning of "China" and left a lasting legacy on all of East Asia.