曾統治中國華北地區的北魏王朝，其前身為代國，而代國前身為拓跋部落。拓跋部落發展至代國期間，始與統治中原地區的曹魏、西晉政權接觸和交流，並受曹魏、西晉政權的政治局勢、對外態度影響。 拓跋部落與曹魏、西晉政權接觸的起因，最初是拓跋部落首領拓跋力微將勢力版圖擴展至平城一帶，之後晉人衛操帶領鄉親依附與西晉國內大亂而重新接觸。拓跋部落對曹魏、西晉的外交態度始終友善，並在外交政策上開通彼此貿易與出兵援助。曹魏至西晉對拓跋部落的外交態度，先後是消極→敵對→友好；在外交政策上先是離間、削弱拓跋部落，之後受拓跋部落的軍事援助而以爵位、土地和人才作為回饋。 拓跋部落與曹魏、西晉政權交流後，拓跋部落首領的權威、地位有逐漸上升的趨勢，而西晉國祚間接受拓跋部落的政治立場影響。

The predecessor of the Northern Wei dynasty, Dai Kingdom, which once governed northern China, evolved from the Tuoba Tribe. The Tuoba Tribe maintained contact and exchanges with the dynasties of Cao Wei and Western Jin that ruled central China till the period of the Dai Kingdom, and was under the influence of their political situations and diplomatic attitudes. The reason for the Tuoba Tribe contacting the Cao Wei and Western Jin dynasties was that Tuoba Liwei, the leader of the Tuoba Tribe, expanded the ruling territory to Pingcheng. Then, Wei Cao of the Jin dynasty led native people to attach themselves to Western Jin, again owing to its domestic chaos. The Tuoba Tribe had remained polite to the Cao Wei and Western Jin dynasties, opened mutual trade and dispatched troops as help in terms of foreign policies. The diplomatic attitude of Cao Wei and Western Jin towards the Tuoba Tribe evolved from passive, hostile and finally to friendly, which alienated and weakened the Tuoba Tribe at first and then earned the Tuoba Tribe titles of nobility, land and talents owing to the military assistance provided by the Tuoba Tribe. The authority and status of the leader of Tuoba Tribe tended to rise after the exchange with Cao Wei and Western Jin dynasties, while the Western Jin dynasty were under the political influence of the Tuoba Tribe.