A Study on the Supplementary Interpretation of the Newly Excavated Epitaph of XUE Huaiji of the Northern Wei Dynasty
In 2017,archaeologists salvaged and excavated the tomb of Xue Huaiji from the Northern Wei Dynasty in Xisiya Vil-lage,Wanrong County,Shanxi Province,and unearthed a complete epitaph.This record provides a detailed and accurate record of the tomb owner's family background and official history,which can be a supplementary interpretation to the official record of history.It also has great reference value for the studies on the Xue's family in Hedong,the northern ethnic groups,and on the social history of China in ancient times.Xue Huaiji,owner of the tomb epitaph,comes from the southern ancestral house of the surrendered minister Xue Andu.He has achieved the highest-ranking status through the achievements and exploits earned by his ancestral generations.Politically he affiliated to the Dai people's group,an inherited nobles group,and was treated as their sen-ior guest.Favored greatly by the Emperor,he started his political career as a fifth-rank official and eventually ends up as a third-rank high official.Cultivated as a key trusted subordinate of the Emperor,he was able enough to serve as a close valet and royal guard,and an excellent military officer dispatched to the frontier.His epitaph shows his identity orientation of being a Chinese,which is identical to the efforts made by the Xue's family in Hedong who used their ancestral memory to cleanse the family's bar-barian elements.Family status,political affiliation,and cultural identity reflect the three dimensions for scanning and studying similar epitaphs,which also represent the overall evolutionary trend of of the invading Rongyi tribe.
Northern Wei DynastyEpitaph of XUE Huaijithe Xue's family of Hedongfamily statusaffiliation to the Dai peopleChinese identity
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
