Editing Northern Wei (section)

=== Background ===
The [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|Jin dynasty]] had developed an alliance with the [[Tuoba]] against the [[Xiongnu]] state [[Han-Zhao]]. In 315, the Tuoba chief, [[Tuoba Yilu]] was granted the title of [[Dai (Sixteen Kingdoms)|Prince of Dai]]. After his death, however, the Dai state stagnated, and with the Jin ejected from northern China, the Dai largely remained a partial ally and a partial tributary state to [[Later Zhao]] and [[Former Yan]], finally falling to [[Former Qin]] in 376.

After Former Qin's emperor [[Fu Jiān]] was defeated by Jin forces at the [[Battle of Fei River]] in his failed bid to unify China, the Former Qin state began to break apart. By 386, [[Emperor Daowu of Northern Wei|Tuoba Gui]] (Emperor Daowu of Northern Wei), the son (or grandson) of [[Tuoba Shiyijian|Tuoba Shiyiqian]] (the last Prince of Dai), reasserted Tuoba independence initially as the Prince of Dai. Later he changed his title to the Prince of Wei, and his state was therefore known as Northern Wei.