New perspectives on the suppression of Buddhism during the Northern Wei: On the importance of ethnicity and religion in Medieval China

Previous scholarship about the suppression of Buddhism during the fifth cen tury by the Northern Wei emperor Taiwudi (r. 435-452) has focused on the dy nasty's political history, the on-going struggle between Buddhism and Taois m, and even the tensions between Buddhism and Confucianism. In this paper, I attempt to approach this topic from a new and different perspective: one that takes into account the problems of ethnicity and religion in north Chi na during the medieval era. This paper begins with a description of the geopolitical environment of nor th China during the first half of the fifth century, with special attention being devoted to the origins of the Lushui people, their migration to nort h China, and their links to both Central Asia and the Southern Dynasties. T his is followed by a description of Gai Wu's rebellion. The next section of the paper concerns the links between Gai Wu's rebellion and Taiwudi's supp ression of Buddhism, while the final section treats Taiwudi's attempts to e xterminate those ethnic groups that opposed him both during and after the s uppression of Buddhism.