Upper East Asia (909 BCE – CE 819): Steppe Empires, Frontier Kingdoms, and Transcontinental Corridors

Geographic and Environmental Context

Upper East Asia includes Mongolia and the parts of western China comprising Tibet, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, and western Heilongjiang.

• This is a region of vast steppe and desert basins, high mountain ranges such as the Altai, Kunlun, and Himalayas, and the high plateau of Tibet.

• Key river systems include the upper Yellow River, Tarim, and Amu Darya headwaters, while oases along the Tarim Basin edge sustain agriculture in otherwise arid landscapes.

Climate and Environmental Shifts

• The region’s continental climate brought cold, dry winters and short, warm summers in the steppe, and harsh alpine conditions in the plateau.

• Rainfall was scarce in lowland deserts but more abundant in mountain foothills and river valleys.

• Climatic fluctuations could expand or contract pastureland, influencing nomadic migrations and trade.

Societies and Political Developments

• Nomadic confederations such as the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Türkic Khaganates rose to prominence, controlling steppe trade and threatening or allying with Chinese dynasties.

• The Tibetan Plateau saw the emergence of the Tubo (Tibetan) Empire, which at its height in the 7th–9th centuries CE contested influence in Central Asia and the Himalayas.

• Oasis states like Khotan and Turpan thrived as Silk Road hubs, balancing allegiance between steppe powers and Chinese dynasties.

• Semi-sedentary agricultural communities persisted in fertile river valleys, often under the control of nomadic elites.

Economy and Trade

• Pastoral nomadism centered on horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and camels, with seasonal migration between summer and winter pastures.

• Oases supported agriculture—wheat, barley, millet, grapes, and melons—and served as caravan rest points.

• Trade along the Silk Road moved silk, jade, and ceramics westward, and glassware, precious metals, and textiles eastward.

• Control of trade routes brought wealth to steppe and oasis states alike.

Subsistence and Technology

• Nomadic societies excelled in mounted warfare, metalworking, and portable felt tent (yurt/ger) architecture.

• Irrigation systems in oases allowed intensive farming despite aridity.

• Camel caravans made long-distance trade possible across deserts and mountain passes.

Movement and Interaction Corridors

• The Silk Road and its northern branches connected China with Central Asia, Persia, and the Mediterranean.

• Mountain passes in the Altai, Tian Shan, and Kunlun ranges acted as strategic gateways.

• Rivers such as the upper Yellow and Tarim provided local transport and irrigation sources.

Belief and Symbolism

• Religious traditions included shamanism, Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, and Zoroastrian influences.

• The spread of Buddhism along the Silk Road left a legacy of cave temples, murals, and monasteries in oasis cities.

• Nomadic art featured animal motifs, emphasizing strength, mobility, and spiritual guardianship.

Adaptation and Resilience

• Seasonal mobility ensured sustainable use of pastures.

• Alliances and tribute relationships with neighboring states provided stability and trade security.

• Oases acted as refuges in times of drought or political instability, enabling recovery and continuity.

Long-Term Significance

By CE 819, Upper East Asia was a strategic bridge between China, Central Asia, and the Middle East—home to powerful steppe empires, thriving Silk Road towns, and enduring pastoral traditions that would continue to influence Eurasian history for centuries.

The Tuoba dominate much of the region between the Chang Jiang and the Gobi, including much of modern Xinjiang, by the end of the fourth century.

Emerging as the partially sinicized state of Dai between 338 and 376 in the Shanxi area, the Toba establish control over the region as the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-533).

Northern Wei armies drive back the Rouran (referred to as Ruanruan or Juan-Juan by Chinese chroniclers), a newly arising nomadic Mongol people in the steppes north of the Altai Mountains, and reconstruct the Great Wall.

During the fourth century also, the Huns leave the steppes north of the Aral Sea to invade Europe.

By the middle of the fifth century, Northern Wei has penetrated into the Tarim Basin in Inner Asia, as had the Chinese in the second century.

As the empire grows, however, Tuoba tribal customs are supplanted by those of the Chinese, an evolution not accepted by all Tuoba.

The Rouran, only temporarily repelled by Northern Wei, had driven the Xiongnu toward the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea and are making raids into China.

In the late fifth century, the Rouran establish a powerful nomadic empire spreading generally north of Northern Wei.

It is probably the Rouran who first use the title khan.

Goguryeo, surrounded by the powerful forces of Baekje to its south and west, is therefore inclined to avoid conflict with its peninsular neighbor while cultivating constructive relations with the Xianbei and Rouran in order to defend itself from future invasions, and even the possible destruction of its state.

Gwanggaeto succeeds his father, King Gogukyang, upon his death in 391.

Immediately upon being crowned king of Goguryeo, Gwanggaeto grants himself the title Emperor Yeongnak, affirming himself as equal to the rulers of China and the king of Baekje.

He now begins to rebuild and retrain Goguryeo's cavalry units and naval fleet.

Gwanggaeto’s military forces see action in 392 against Baekje.

With Gwanggaeto in personal command, Goguryeo attacks Baekje with fifty thousand cavalry, taking ten walled cities along the two countries' mutual border.

Liu Bobo was born in 381, when his father Liu Weichen was an important Xiongnu chief and a vassal of Former Qin.

It is not known whether his mother Lady Fu was Liu Weichen's wife or concubine.

He was one of Liu Weichen's younger sons.

After Former Qin collapsed in light of various rebellions after its emperor Fu Jiān's defeat at the Battle of Fei River in 383, Liu Weichen took control of what is now part of Inner Mongolia south of the Yellow River and extreme northern Shaanxi, and while he nominally submitted to both Later Qin and Western Yan as a vassal, he was actually a powerful independent ruler.

However, in 391, he sent his son Liu Zhilidi to attack Northern Wei's prince Tuoba Gui, and Tuoba Gui not only defeated Liu Zhilidi, but crossed the Yellow River to attack Liu Weichen's capital Yueba (in modern Ordos, Inner Mongolia), capturing it and forcing Liu Weichen and Liu Zhilidi to flee.

The next day, Liu Weichen was killed by his subordinates, and Liu Zhilidi was captured.

Tuoba Gui seized Liu Weichen's territory and people and slaughtered his clan.

However, Liu Bobo escaped and fled to the Xuegan tribe, whose chief Tai Xifu refused to turn him over despite Northern Wei demands.

Instead, Tai delivered Liu Bobo to the Xianbei tribal chief Mo Yigan, the Duke of Gaoping, a Later Qin vassal, and Mo Yigan not only gave Liu Bobo refuge but also married one of his daughters to Liu Bobo.

Liu Bobo, from that point on, became highly dependent on his father-in-law.

(Meanwhile, in 393, Tuoba Gui, because of Tai Xifu's refusal to deliver Liu Bobo to him, attacked Tai and slaughtered his people, although Tai himself escaped and fled to Later Qin.)

Little is known about Liu Bobo's life during the following years.

In 402, Tuoba Gui's brother Tuoba Zun, the Prince of Changshan, attacked Mo's home base of Gaoping (in modern Guyuan, Ningxia), and Mo was forced to flee to Later Qin, abandoning his own people, who were scattered about, although later Later Qin recaptured Gaoping and gave that city back to Mo.

Sometime before 407, Liu Bobo, who has become known for being handsome, ability to speak well, alertness, and intelligence, had come to the attention of Later Qin's emperor Yao Xing.

Yao Xing had been so impressed by Liu Bobo's abilities when he met Liu Bobo that he wanted to make him a major general to defend against Northern Wei.

Yao Xing's brother Yao Yong, however, spoke against it, believing Liu Bobo to be untrustworthy.

Yao Xing initially, at Yao Yong's counsel, did not give Liu Bobo a commission, but eventually was so seduced by his talent that he made him a general and the Duke of Wuyuan, giving him the responsibility of defending Shuofang (in modern Ordos as well).

In 407, after suffering a number of losses against Northern Wei, Yao Xing decides to make peace with Northern Wei.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bobo becomes angry, because his father had been killed by Northern Wei, and he plans rebellion.

He therefore forcibly seizes the horses that Yujiulü Shelun), the khan of Rouran, had recently offered to Yao Xing as a tribute, and then makes a surprise attack on his father-in-law Mo Yigan, capturing Gaoping and killing Mo, seizing his troops.

He then declares himself a descendant of Yu the Great, the founder of Xia Dynasty, and names his state Xia.

He claims the title "Heavenly Prince" (Tian Wang).

Despite Liu Bobo's stated hatred for Northern Wei, he concentrates his efforts on undermining Later Qin, continually harassing Later Qin's northern territories and draining Later Qin's resources.

He therefore does not settle in a capital city; rather, he roved about with his mobile cavalry, constantly looking for Later Qin cities to pillage.

Also in 407, Liu Bobo seeks marriage with a daughter of the Southern Liang prince Tufa Rutan, but Tufa Rutan refuses.

In anger, Liu Bobo launches a punitive raid against Southern Liang, then retreats.

Tufa Rutan gives chase and, believing that he greatly outpowers Liu Bobo, is careless in his military actions.

Liu Bobo leads him into a canyon and locks the exit with ice and wagons, then ambushes him.

The defeat is such that it was said that sixty to seventy percent of Southern Liang's famed officials and generals died in the battle.

Tufa Rutan barely escapes capture.

Yao Xing sends his general Qi Nan to launch a major attack on Liu Bobo in 408.

Liu Bobo initially withdraws to let Qi believe that he fears Qi, and Liu Bobo makes a surprise counterattack and captures Qi.

Subsequently, much of Later Qin's northern territories fall into Xia hands.

Yao Xing himself launches an attack on Liu Bobo in 409, but when he reaches Ercheng (in modern Yan'an, Shaanxi), he is nearly trapped by Liu Bobo, and escapes only after major casualties.

This defeat forces Yao Xing to cancel a mission, commanded by his general Yao Qiang, to try to save Southern Yan from being destroyed by Jin.

(Without Later Qin aid, Southern Yan will fall in 410.)

Emperor Mingyuan sends one of his advisors, Baba Song the Duke of Nanping, to attack the Rouran, in 410 and when Baba is surrounded by Rouran troops, Emperor Mingyuan personally leads an army to relieve Baba.

Yujiulü Hulü, who had begun his rule over the Rouran in May 410, offers a tribute in the following year of three thousand horses to the Han Chinese Northern Yan ruler Feng Ba, with a request to marry Feng Ba's daughter, Princess Lelang, who is probably the daughter of Feng Ba's wife, Princess Sun.

Feng Ba's brother, Feng Sufu, suggests refusing the request and sending the daughter of one of Feng Ba's concubines instead, but Feng Ba is apparently convinced that an alliance with Rouran would be beneficial to his state, and agrees to give Princess Lelang in marriage to Yujiulü Hulü.