The music and dance culture in the time when the Northern Wei took Pingcheng as its capital are mainly the arts of the ethnic minorities represented by the Xianbei people who lived in north China and Central Asia. The six chapters with identified titles of Zhenren daige(Songs of the Ethnic Minorities of North China)recorded in the Old Tang History: Music have their counterparts in The Collection of Yuefu Poetry though they differ from the originals. In the middle of the 5th century, various schools of music and dance from Kucha,Shule, Western Liang, the An kingdom, Korea, and Gorgeo came to Pingcheng, forming a cultural diversity composed of both alien and indigenous Han Chinese elements. The construction process of this music and dance culture in the Pingcheng-based Northern Wei is a perfect example of the integration process occurring between various peoples that finally led to the creation of the Zhenren daige which included both alien and Han Chinese styles.
