A Study Of The Ignoble People Attached To The Northern Wei Dynasty

This paper analyzes the origin and development, change of social status the ignoble people attached to the Northern Wei Dynasty (3-6 century A. D.) as well as the contributing factors of the system of the ignoble people, based on the full exploration and careful selection of historical materials, integrating with the archaeological materials and inscriptions on the materials, using Marxism and some theories on modern cultural anthropology. It consists of four parts:Part I is the introduction, in which the meaning of the ignoble people attached to the Northern Wei Dynasty is given and their characteristics are stated.Part II, firstly discusses, in general, the formation of the ignoble people attached to the Northern Wei Dynasty, which involves three stages. The first stage refers to the period of the acting state before Shi-Yijian, when the ignoble people came into being, and it is characterized by the way of collective enslavement management. The second stage is the Ping-Cheng times, which the ignoble people formed and greatly increased. It is characterized by system of military camp management. The third stage refers to the period after the Capital was moved to Luo Yang, the system of household registered in feudal office is taken charge of by special department. In treating the conquered people, the management of Tuo-Ba Tribe developed from tribe system to military camp system and to feudal official Za-Hu, in the course of which the central state power is constantly strengthened. Then it makes an individually detailed study of the formation of some kinds of ignoble people attached to the Northern Wei Dynasty, which involves Ying-Hu, Za-Hu, Yue-Hu, Mu-Hu, Ping-Qi-Hu and so on.Part III makes an analysis of the position of the ignoble people, the change of their position, and the contributing facts of the system governing the ignoble people attached to the N. W. D. It points out that the position of the ignoble people is either different from that of the slave servants or different from that of the Bian-Hu-Qi-Min. And their position changes from the beginning to the end. Among them, the position of the ignoble people assimilated by the Hans is on the rise. The control over them becomes weaker and weaker. And they are set free from time to time. However, the position of the ignoble people assimilated by the minority nationalities becomes lower and lower, especially the soldiers of Tuo Ba Tribe become ignoble people, too, in the later Northern Wei dynasty. This shows the admiration of the rulers of the N. W. D. for the centralization system of state power since the Han Dynasty and Cao-Wei dynasty, and their strong wish for rapid assimilation by the Hans and for feudalization. And this paper discusses the cause of the formation of the system of ignoble people from three aspects of social background, historical origins and the stages of their own development. During the Sixteen-State period, the exile and movement of the people in the North lead to the lack of labor force, which is the cause of the rule of the N. W. D. on the robbed people as ignoble people. The rulers use for reference the systemof the military households of Cao-Wei Dynasty and the military camp system of Sixteen-States. In addition, the tribe-enslavement system of the Tuo-Ba Tribe before the N. W. D. has also provided experience for the management of the ignoble people.The last part is the added conclusion, which makes an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the system of the ignoble people of the N. W. D. On one hand, the enforcement of the ignoble people helps to strengthen the centralization of state power. On the other hand, its practice sharpens the social conflicts and makes the ignoble people suffer double oppressions from both the private and the state, which in the end leads to their resistation-the Bei-Zhen Uprising in the late Northern Wei Dynasty.