While the South of China self-destructs time and again, the North is undergoing its own revolutionary shift - not of dynastic head, but something even more fundamental: total social re-organization - from Asian Steppe Society, to one trying to out-play the Chinese at their own game by switching social structure, language, dress, and even taking the ancient Chinese capital as their own in the latter half of the 5th century.
Time Period Covered: 465-499 CE
Notable figures:
Tuoba Hong (Emperor Xianwen) r. 465-471, d. 476
Grand/Empress/Dowager Feng (442-490)
Yifu Hun (d. 466)
Tuoba Hong (r. 471- 499)
Crowned Prince Tuoba/Yuan Xun (483-496)
Crowned Prince Tuoba/Yuan Ke (Emperor Xuanwu) r. 499-815
Empress Feng Run (Empress You) d. 499