Post-Hunnic Period Northern Wei Tabğaç (Tuoba) Crescent Roundel and Lotus Textile Texture

Very interesting textile sample from the Tabğaç state of Northern Wei. We see these motifs in Sasanian and post-Sasanian textiles as well.

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The Tabğaç (Chinese: 拓拔; Old Turkic: 𐱃𐰉𐰍𐰲) were initially a Xoŋa tribe, descending from the daughter of Ju-di-hou Darğa (且鞮侯), that defected to the Särbi (Xianbei) following the collapse of the Xoŋa empire. Their descendants would establish the Wei dynasty (魏), commonly known as the Northern Wei (北魏). The dynasty ruled from 386 to 535 C.E.
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In the Qishu, it is claimed by Xiao Zixian (蕭子顯) that Li Ling (李陵), the grandson of the Han general Li Guang (李廣), defected to the Xoŋa. There, he is said to have married the daughter of Ju-di-hou Darğa (且鞮侯) who had the name of Tuoba (托跋) LH *tʰɑk-bɑt or Tabğaç. Thus, their descendants were referred to as the Tabğaç. Li Ling and his wife were eventually sent further north in order to escape the fury of the Darğa’s mother, who carried animosity for the former Han general.
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Technically, the Tabğaç belong to the various remnants of the Xoŋa that spread across Inner Asia following their empire's collapse. Thus, they are the first of the Hunnish tribes to make a name for themselves. Though, unlike the other Hunnish tribes and entities, the Tabğaç did not claim ancestry from the Xoŋa, preferring to push the narrative of an origin from the Särbi. Given that they ruled over a mostly Mongolic-speaking tribal confederation, it made little sense for them to claim Hunnic origins given the brutal rule of the Xoŋa over the various Särbi tribes.