"The 18 Songs of a Nomad Flute", composed by Cai Wenji of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), was based on "Miss Wenji," composed by the Huns. Cai, who was fond of music, was captured by the Tatars during war, and was later redeemed by Cao Cao, a general of the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280). She expressed her sadness for being torn away from her family in the song, which has been famous for thousands of years.

The Huns were nomads and lived on horseback all year round, creating a kind of wind-percussion music played on horseback. The music was played during wars, hunting and ceremonies, and it mainly involved musical instruments like thehu xiao(an instrument played by Tatars),jiao, the drum, and so on. During the Qin and Han dynasties (221BC-AD220), this unique musical genre was introduced to the Central Plains, and merged with the folk music of the Han nationality to form a performing style called "blowing vertically" and "drum blowing," which was prevalent in the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-AD24).

 Music of the Xianbei ethnic group

As an ethnic group belonging to the Turki Austronesian of Altai Phylum, the Xianbei (a predecessor of the Uygur ethnic minority) originated from the Donghu (Eastern Tatars) tribe and originally lived in the Great Hinggan Mountain Range. The Xianbei people had many folk songs rich in content and style, including pastoral songs, nostalgic songs, narrative songs, war songs, etc, most of which featured strong and fresh styles, and were wild and unrestrained, with a rich flavor of life in the grasslands. After the Northern Wei unified the Mongolian Plateau, Emperor Taiwu moved more than 300,000 Zhangluo Chi-le people (called "Dingling" or "Gaoche" by the Hans) from the north of Outer Mongolia. In the mid-fifth century, the Chi-le people living on Yinshan Mountain mixed with the Xianbei people. The famous "Chi-le's Song" was a pastoral song sung by the Chi-le people during the Northern Qi period (550-577), and has become very famous. The lyrics are as follows:

"The Chi-le River lies,
Where Gloomy Mountains rise.
The sky is like a dome,
That holds the steppe, our home.
Blue, blue appears in the skies;
Vast, vast the grassland lies.
Winds blow, grass bows and we see the cattle roam."

The royal music of the Xianbei people also left behind quite a number of masterpieces. "Zhenren Daige", also called "Northern Song", is a royal song in the Xianbei language. In the palace of the Northern Wei Period (386-534), people sang this song each morning and evening, accompanied by traditional stringed and woodwind instruments.