The newly unearthed Zhang Bian’s epitaph is helpful to understand the ancestral memory and development of the Zhang family in Qinghe of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), and it is also a window through which one could get a glimpse into the system of the northern noble families in the Middle Ages. Zhang Bian was different from other Zhang’s figures who held office at court recorded in the official history. As a representative of the local forces, he was only an ordinary nobility, who held office at the county and prefecture level. In terms of official career, he was far inferior than those of the same clan at court, which manifests the competition and differentiation of the house branches within the gentry and reflects the principle of the family status mechanism. However, as a village power, Zhang Bian did play an irreplaceable role in eradicating rebellions and maintaining the local ruling order. The publication of the epitaph fills the gap in the historical records, connects the research line of the evolution history of the Zhang family in Qinghe in the Middle Ages, and provides valuable materials for the study of the family status mechanism and family history in the Northern Dynasties.