A Study On The Hulv Family In The Northern Dynasties

The Hulv clan is a clan that runs through the Northern Wei,Eastern Wei and Northern Qi dynasties,which was one of the "six surnames of Gaoche" recorded in the biography of Gaoche in Weishu.After the six towns uprising broke out in the last years of the northern wei dynasty,the Hulv clan began to emerge and reached its peak in the northern qi dynasty.The academic works about the Hulv clan are concentrated on the representatives such as Hulv Jin and Hulv Guang in the period of the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi,while the works about the Hulv clan as the research object are relatively scarce.The author will make a systematic study of the Hulv clan,which was found in historical records and epitaphs from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the end of the Northern Qi Dynasty,from the aspects of ethnic origin,lineage,official status,marriage status,economic status and clan style,combined with the original literature,related works and archaeological data.In this paper,the author holds that although the Hulv clan had been attached in the early years of the Northern Wei Dynasty,it did not enter the ranks of nobility and ministers with close connections with the emperor.Emperor Xiaowen's sinicization had a relatively limited impact on the Hulv clan,and the Hulv clan had not formed a clan style like other nobility and ministers with close connections with the emperor.In the early stage,most of the members of the Hulv clan held military positions.In the late Northern Wei Dynasty,they helped Gao family to establish political power and became noble.After Hulv Guang's death,the clan began to decline and gradually disappeared from the historical records.Its political status and economic strength were closely related to the rise and fall of the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi regimes.