Compared to the later capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty Luoyang (494-534) Pingcheng on the
northern border of the Chinese world has received less scholarly attention despite its far
longer capital status (398-494). The main reason is the lack of written sources. In addition
there is the derogatory idea that Pingcheng was a latifundium inhabited by "barbarians "
since the rulers of the Northern Wei were the Tuoba Xianbei from the eastern steppe who
established the first long-term foreign control over northern China. Traditionally Luoyang is
the epitome of the sinicized Tuoba Xianbei while Pingcheng represents the state of the Tuoba
Xianbei who were on the way to "becoming Chinese." Excavations show that Pingcheng which was
built on the ruins of a garrison from the Han-Dynasty arose from nothing and the inhabitants
came from outside. Burial finds indicate a steadily growing population which is said to have
reached one million in its prime. At first tombs were erected to indicate their steppe
origins. New rites and artifacts emerged in spurts. This corresponds to written records
according to which the city was mainly populated by steppe warriors followed by forcibly
relocated peoples from all conquered northern Chinese regions. The authors focus on the
people(s) in Pingcheng. Zhang's epigraphic study is devoted to a Xianbei family that arose
during the Pingcheng period and remained closely intertwined with the imperial court in the
following centuries. Using burial finds Müller explores the diversity and foreignness of
funerary customs and artifacts the ways in which different ethnic groups communicated and
interacted and the emergence of a new collective identity that was anything but Chinese.
