The Tuoba's success in the development of the Northern Wei as a conquest dynasty in fifth-century northern China is demonstrated as a result of their ability to cross between the traditions and practices of the Chinese sphere and those of the Eurasian steppe, through the construction of a 'dual presence' in the Pingcheng period (398-494 CE). A negotiation of material culture in this formative phase of state-building allowed for new notions of kingship, dynastic identity, and representations of daily life to be (re)created. This was manifested separately through the sculptures at the...