Kongdong Mountain

　　The Yuwen tribe was not originally Xianbei; they were a distant branch of the Southern Chanyu of the Xiongnu, who had long inhabited the eastern Yin Mountains. They originally had twelve tribes. In the first century AD, after the Northern Xiongnu were defeated and migrated westward, over a hundred thousand Xiongnu households that remained in the northern deserts migrated eastward to Liaodong, where they lived alongside the Xianbei. The Yuwen tribe was one of the Xiongnu tribes that migrated east at this time. The language they spoke was the Xiongnu language of the Altaic language family. The Xianbei, on the other hand, spoke the Eastern Hu language of the Tungusic language family. Hence, historical records state that the language of the Yuwen Xianbei was quite different from that of the Xianbei. During their eastward migration, the upper echelons of the Yuwen tribe came to rule over the Xianbei in the Liaodong region. They also joined the tribal confederation established by Tanshihuai, becoming the eastern chieftains within the alliance. From then on, they gradually became Sinicized as Xianbei and came to be known as the Yuwen Xianbei.

　　The origin of the name "Yuwen Xianbei": It is said that they once obtained three jade seals inscribed with the characters “Di Di Yu Xi” (帝帝玉玺), which they believed were bestowed upon them by heaven. In the Xianbei language, “heaven” is “Yu” (宇), and “ruler” is “Wen” (文), hence they called themselves the “Yuwen Kingdom,” meaning “Heavenly Ruler.” This is how they came to be called the Yuwen Xianbei. The Yuwen Xianbei were active north of the Murong tribe, with their main territory located in the Huolin River basin, south of the Wulijimuren River, and along both banks of the Xar Moron River. In September 1983, a “Mother-and-Son Horse Gold Inlay Decoration” was unearthed in Fuxingdi, Kai’lu County, Tongliao City. In April 1984, a “Double Horse Gold Inlay Decoration,” “Mythical Beast Gold Inlay Decoration,” and “Chained Golden Horse Inlay Decoration” were excavated in Liujiazi Gacha, Xibehua Sumu, Kezuozhong Banner, Tongliao City.

　　Among the tribes belonging to the Yuwen Xianbei, the Yaonian clan, which was stationed along the Wulijimuren River, the Lao Ha River, and the Xar Moron River in Zhalute Banner, the Xi clan, stationed upstream of the Xar Moron River, and the Diela clan, stationed downstream, were particularly notable. Kongdong Mountain, located in the northwest of Zhalute Banner, is referred to as Daledeshan (大勒得山) in the History of Liao. It was the birthplace of the Daledewang (大勒得王) of the Dahe clan of the Yuwen Xianbei. The Dahe clan was the progenitor of later Chinese compound surnames such as Helan (贺兰), Helou (贺楼), Heyue (贺岳, also written as He’ruo), and Helian (贺连).

　　The Diela clan of the Yuwen tribe initially roamed the middle and upper reaches of the Huolin River, before gradually moving south to the area between the Wulijimuren River and the Xar Moron River. By the mid-fourth century AD, a tribal confederation centered around the Diela clan and the Wuwan clan was established at the confluence of the Lao Ha River and the Xar Moron River. This marked the emergence of the Eight Tribes of the Khitan. In 916 AD, Yelü Abaoji, the Yilijin (夷离堇) of the Diela clan, held a heaven-and-earth worship ceremony at “Jinlinggang” (present-day Heilongba to Hujagang area in Kai’lu County), ascended the throne, and founded the Khitan Dynasty. He established the era name “Shence” and made “Longhua Zhou” (near the Ximengjiadian Reservoir at the border of Naiman Banner and Kai’lu) his capital. Another tribe of the Yuwen Xianbei, the Xi clan, roamed the upper reaches of the Xar Moron River and the Lao Ha River, eventually developing into the Kumoxi (库莫溪) tribe. They settled in the present-day Ningcheng area of Chifeng City and frequently participated in the central plains conflicts during the Sixteen Kingdoms period through the Sui and Tang dynasties. The tribe was relatively powerful in the early Sui Dynasty but was later conquered by the Khitan and assimilated into the Khitan people.