Legacy and culture thumb|300px|The Shaolin Temple was built by Emperor Xiaowen in 477 AD The Northern Wei dynasty was the most long-lived and most powerful of the northern dynasties prior to the reunification of China by the Sui dynasty. Its most important legacy was the sweeping reforms introduced under Empress Dowager Feng and continued under her successors. While the dynasty officially ended in 557, these reforms, especially the equal-field landholding system, lasted until the mid-eight century CE. The reforms completely reshaped China's political development as they reverted the trends associated with feudalism in earlier times () such as the devolution of power to local strongmen and political fragmentation. Historians generally credit the Northern Wei dynasty for laying the foundation for China's eventual reunification under the Sui dynasty. Ray Huang, for example, pointed out that these reforms brought about the "infrastructure of a regenerated empire" and new rulers after Northern Wei, such as Yang Jian of the Sui dynasty, would inherit "the bulk of the agricultural resources and the peasant manpower" made available via the reforms to reunify the whole of China.
Legacy and culture thumb|300px|The Shaolin Temple was built by Emperor Xiaowen in 477 AD The Northern Wei dynasty was the most long-lived and most powerful of the northern dynasties prior to the reunification of China by the Sui dynasty. Its most important legacy was the sweeping reforms introduced under Empress Dowager Feng and continued under her successors. While the dynasty officially ended in 557, these reforms, especially the equal-field landholding system, lasted until the mid-eight century CE. The reforms completely reshaped China's political development as they reverted the trends associated with feudalism in earlier times () such as the devolution of power to local strongmen and political fragmentation. Historians generally credit the Northern Wei dynasty for laying the foundation for China's eventual reunification under the Sui dynasty. Ray Huang, for example, pointed out that these reforms brought about the "infrastructure of a regenerated empire" and new rulers after Northern Wei such as Yang Jian of the Sui dynasty, would inherit "the bulk of the agricultural resources and the peasant manpower" made available via the reforms to reunify the whole of China.