ABSTRACT
The Northern Wei dynasty maintained the Earth phase for a century after Cui Xuanbo’s proposal was accepted, until 490, when Emperor Xiaowen issued an edict ordering his officials to gather to discuss the adoption of a new dynastic phase. The Northern Wei dynasty’s changing of its elemental phase highlights its effort to meet the historical criterion of legitimacy with the phase that directly succeeded the Western Jin dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Xiaowen, the Northern Wei dynasty gained superiority over its neighbors. In the traditional Chinese context, Heaven is viewed as the origin of legitimacy, so cosmological phenomena are interpreted as signals from Heaven, supporting or negating a dynasty’s legitimacy. As in many other dynasties in China’s history, the state-sponsored historiography was used to highlight the Northern Wei dynasty’s legitimate status. The Northern Wei dynasty had preserved many Tuoba political and cultural practices before Emperor Xiaowen introduced Chinese cultural conventions.
