In the north, local ethnic Han gentry clans responded to the chaos by constructing fortified villages. Clans would then carve de facto fiefs out of these highly cohesive family-based self-defense communities. Lesser peasant families would work for the dominant clan as tenants or serfs. The chaos also led these Han gentry families to avoid government service, before the Northern Wei court launched the sinicization movement. Northern gentry were therefore highly militarized as compared to their refined southern counterparts, and this distinction persisted well into the Sui and Tang dynasties centuries later.
In the north local ethnic Han gentry clans responded to the chaos by constructing fortified villages Clans would then carve de facto fiefs out of these highly cohesive family-based self-defense communities Lesser peasant families would work for the dominant clan as tenants or serfs The chaos also led these Han gentry families to avoid government service before the Northern Wei court launched the sinicization movement Northern gentry were therefore highly militarized as compared to their refined southern counterparts and this distinction persisted well into the Sui and Tang dynasties centuries later