Northern Zhou

The Northern Zhou was a Xianbei-led dynasty of China and one of the Northern Dynasties, ruling from 557 to 581. It arose when Yuwen Jue, a general of the Western Wei, deposed the last Western Wei emperor and proclaimed the Zhou state, taking the old title Duke of Zhou as the source of his dynastic name. The dynasty's capital was Chang'an, the imperial city in the Wei River valley. Northern Zhou power rested on a mixed Xianbei-Chinese military aristocracy organized around the hereditary fubing militia. The reign of Emperor Wu brought sweeping reforms: he centralized administration, strengthened the army, and in 574 suppressed Buddhism and Daoism to reclaim their wealth and labour. In 577 his forces conquered the rival Northern Qi, reunifying northern China. After Emperor Wu's death the state was weakened by the erratic Emperor Xuan, and in 581 the regent Yang Jian seized the throne, founded the Sui dynasty, and soon ended the last southern rival. The Northern Zhou thus laid the military and institutional foundations for China's reunification.