Tribes
The Shiwei and Wuluohou are known as the Shiwei tribes in the period of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), but are separately recorded in the Wei Shu. During the period from the Northern Qi (550-577) to the Sui Dynasty (581-618), there were five big sections of the Shiwei, they were the Nan (Southern) Shiwei, Bei (Northern) Shiwei, Da (Great) Shiwei, Bo Shiwei and Shenmoda Shiwei. In the Tang period (618-907), it is known that there were twenty Shiwei tribes, according to the records in dynastic histories. They were the Wusugu, Yisaimo, Saiezhi, Hejie, Wuluohu, Nali, Lingxi, Shanbei, Huangtou (Yellow-head), Da (Great) Ruzhe, Xiao (Lesser) Ruzhe, Powo, Nebeizhi, Luotuo, Dong (Eastern) Shiwei, Xi (Western) Shiwei, Da (Great) Shiwei, Mengwu Shiwei, Luozu Shiwei and Dagui.
Wuluohun is said to be another name for the Uriankhai. The Da Shiwei tribe is thought to be descended from some Rouran who fled east after being defeated by the Turks in 555. They were led by their chieftain Tantan (Tatar) and were incorporated into the Shiwei. In fact, Tatar is held to be an alternative name for some major Shiwei tribes. The Da Shiwei are thought to be the same as the Taichuud tribe. According to the Stele of Kul Tigin the Thirty Tatars and Nine Tatars were formidable eastern rivals of the Göktürks along with the Khitan. The number of Tatar tribes are roughly equal to the number of Shiwei tribes. Although linguistically Mongolic, the Da Shiwei may have been descended in some part from the Dingling. The Heichezi ("black-cart") was a Shiwei clan famous for their cart industry. According to the Liaoshi, at one time the Khitan learnt the art of cart-making from the Heichezi clan. The Huangtou ("yellow-head") Shiwei may have been named so because of a high incidence of blondness within their tribe, but it is not certain. However, blondness still occurs regularly in the region today.
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