Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei
During the Sixteen Kingdoms period in northern China, the Tuoba clan established and ruled the dynastic state of Dai from 310 to 376. In 386, the Tuoba clan restored Dai, only to rename the dynasty "Wei" (known retroactively in Chinese historiography as the "Northern Wei") in the same year. The Northern Wei was a powerful dynasty that unified northern China after the Sixteen Kingdoms period and became increasingly sinicized. As a result, from 496, the name "Tuoba" disappeared by an edict of the Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei, who adopted the Han surname of Yuan (). After the Northern Wei split into the Eastern Wei and Western Wei in 535, the Western Wei briefly restored the Tuoba name in 554.