{"product_id":"b0fh2n6pt9","title":"The Frontier Capital: Datong Under the Northern Wei, 398-494 CE","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 398 CE, on the windswept frontier between the Mongolian steppe and agricultural China, the nomadic Tuoba Xianbei people made a radical choice. Instead of conquering and occupying a traditional Chinese city, they built their own: Pingcheng, the City of Peace. For nearly a century, this metropolis served as the capital of their powerful Northern Wei dynasty.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHistory has often dismissed this period as a simple story of Sinicization—the process of barbarians inevitably becoming Chinese.  The Frontier Capital  reveals a far more complex and fascinating reality. Drawing on archaeological evidence from the city's ruins, a critical re-reading of court histories, and a deep analysis of its spectacular art, this book argues that Pingcheng was a laboratory for a new kind of empire.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHere, Tuoba rulers governed with a hybrid system that blended steppe clan politics with Chinese bureaucracy. They became fervent Buddhist monarchs, sponsoring the creation of the magnificent Yungang Grottoes—colossal Buddhas carved into cliffsides in a revolutionary style that fused Indian, Central Asian, and Chinese art. This was not assimilation. This was innovation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Frontier Capital  is the definitive story of this forgotten city, a gripping investigation into how a frontier zone became a creative center that redefined the meaning of China and left a lasting legacy on all of East Asia.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ANT","offers":[{"title":"Ebook","offer_id":52830711873752,"sku":"YSL48941","price":7.79,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0835\/3356\/2072\/files\/81Scd1p3NBL._SY1500.jpg?v=1793192835","url":"https:\/\/www.bookmebay.com\/products\/b0fh2n6pt9","provider":"BookMebay","version":"1.0","type":"link"}