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The Xianbei people actually consisted of a federation of sizeable non-Han groups of which the most important was the Tuoba (拓跋). They first become a significant part of Chinese culture during the Han period, where they occupied the steppes in Mongolia, Hebei and Liaodong. After the fall of the Han dynasty, the Xianbei formed a number of empires of their own, including the Yan dynasty (燕), Western Qin (Xiqin, 西秦), Southern LiangThe Southern Liang ( Chinese character: , Hanyu pinyin Nanliang) ( 397- 414) was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty (265-420) in China. The founding family Tufa was of Xianbei ethnicity and distant relative of the Tuoba. All rulers of (Nanliang, 南涼) and most significantly, the Northern Wei (北魏). By the time of the Tang dynasty they had largely merged with HanHan Chinese ( Simplified: ; Traditional: ; Pinyin: hn is a term which refers to the majority ethnic group within China which constitutes over 92% of the population. The name was occasionally translated as the "Chinese proper" in older texts (pre- 1980s) a populace by adopting Chinese customs, administration and language. Both the founders of the Sui dynasty, Yang Jian , and of the Tang dynasty, Li Yuan, were born of Tuoba princesses, and were thus, by definition, half-Xianbei in ethnicity.

A Chinese ruler of Xianbei origin was recorded as having had fair hair as were later some TatarsTatars or Tartars collective name applied to the Turkic-speaking people of Europe and Asia. Most Tatars live in the central and southern parts of Russia, Ukraine, and in Bulgaria, China, Kazakhstan, Romania, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. They collectively numbe from the same area. They may be related to modern-day Turkic tribes.

See also:

• History of China
• Tribes in Chinese history
• Wu Hu
• Sixteen Kingdoms
• Wuhuan
• Northern Wei Dynasty
• Chinese sovereign