Two major subdivisions of the Donghu had developed by the first century: the Xianbei in the north and the Wuhuan in the south.

The Xianbei, who by the second century CE are attacking Chinese farms south of the Great Wall, establish an empire, which, although short-lived, gives rise to numerous tribal states along the Chinese frontier.

Among these states is that of the Tuoba (T'o-pa in Wade-Giles), a subgroup of the Xianbei, in modern China's Shanxi Province.

The Wuhuan also are prominent in the second century, but they disappear thereafter; possibly they are absorbed in the Xianbei western expansion.

The Xianbei and the Wuhuan use mounted archers in warfare, and they have only temporary war leaders instead of hereditary chiefs.

Agriculture, rather than full-scale nomadism, is the basis of their economy.

In the sixth century CE., the Wuhuan will be driven out of Inner Asia into the Russian steppe.