3rd or 4th century belt with Xianbei buckle
Xianbei or Särbi was the name of a presumably proto-Mongolian nomad who lived in Mongolia and Man-Jutland, and established a kingdom from 93 to 234 AD that threatened China's borders. They were descendants of the Donghu.
After the fall of the Han dynasty, they formed a number of Chinese states during the Period of the Sixteen Kingdom, including Early and Late Yan, West Qin and South Liang. Their main condition was, however, Northern Wei, a precursor of the Sui dynasty.
The Kitan would be descendants of the Xianbei. A thousand years ago, the Xianbei were considered barbarians by the Han-Chinese and were built to keep them outside the Chinese empire.
Many Xianbei changed their habits and surnames after they were immigrated to China.
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