The Wuhuan, a nomadic people who inhabited Youzhou and Bingzhou, have generally been regarded as one group, but modern scholars have observed differences between the Wuhuan in different areas. Building on this research, this study argues for the importance of the Wuhuan, examining three groups, residing in Shanggu commandery, to its east, and to its west, from the Han through the Northern Wei. At the beginning of the Later Han dynasty, the Wuhuan of Shanggu commandery was the strongest and richest of the Wuhuan tribes, guarding the White Mountain passage into the Central Plains and exchanging goods with the Han. With the rise of the Xianbei, Tanshihuai took White Mountain as a base area and the Han moved the Wuhuan of Shanggu toward the interior. In the last years of Han, the Wuhuan of Shanggu was still the strongest in all Wuhuan tribes. At the same time, the Wuhuan of Shanggu and the Tuoba built a symbiotic relationship. Empress Dowager Qi (祁) and Empress Dowager Wang (王) had great influence in Tuoba, which had shared origins with the Wuhuan of Shanggu.