After the Xianbei general Yuwen Tai killed the Northern Wei emperor Yuan Xiu, he installed Yuan Baoju as emperor of Western Wei while Yuwen Tai would remain as the virtual ruler.

Due to its better economical conditions, Western Wei was even able to conquer the whole western part of the Liang empire in the south and occupied the territory of modern Sichuan.

Marital alliances with the nascent Turkic Empire also took place, as Bumin Qaghan (r.552), first khagan of the Göktürks, married the Western Wei princess Changle (長樂公主) in June 551, before he was able to unite his tribes and revolt against the Rouran Empire, thereby establishing the First Turkic Khaganate in 552.

[4] Buddhism and Buddhist art flourished under the Western Wei, even though the dynasty only lasted twenty-two years.

Western Wei caves opened at Dunhuang and Maijishan.