kingdom · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Eastern Wei

534 CE – 550 CE · capital Ye

The eastern half of the divided Northern Wei, a puppet state of the general Gao Huan at Ye, which his son turned into the Northern Qi in 550.

Origins

After the Northern Wei emperor Xiaowu fled from Gao Huan's control to Yuwen Tai at Chang'an in 534, Gao Huan installed the boy Yuan Shanjian as Emperor Xiaojing and moved the court from Luoyang to Ye. The Wei realm was thus divided between Eastern Wei and Western Wei.

Rule and society

Eastern Wei held the richer and more populous North China Plain, and real power lay with Gao Huan, based at Jinyang with his Xianbei armies. Gao Huan balanced Xianbei soldiers and Chinese aristocrats and fought repeated wars with Western Wei, suffering defeat at Shayuan in 537 and failing to take Yubi in 546.

Decline and legacy

After Gao Huan's death in 547 his general Hou Jing defected to the south, and his son Gao Cheng was assassinated in 549. Another son, Gao Yang, forced Emperor Xiaojing to abdicate in 550 and founded the Northern Qi.

Lineage

Northern Wei 386 CE – 535 CEEastern WeiNorthern Qi 550 CE – 577 CE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Eastern Wei. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eastern-wei
MLA
“Eastern Wei.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eastern-wei. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Eastern Wei.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eastern-wei.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Eastern Wei’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eastern-wei (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻