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Chinese History - Western Xia Dynasty 西夏 (1038-1227)

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Western Xia Dynasty
literature and script

period before (Five Dynasties)
-- Song Dynasty
-- Liao Dynasty
-- Jin Dynasty
next period (Yuan)
Map and Geography

The formation of the Western Xia Empire did not only require some administratorial and governmental adaptions to the Chinese Song Empire 宋. Instead of simply using the Chinese script (and therewith the Chinese language), the first rulers of the Western Xia, Li Deming 李德明 and his son Li Yuanhao 李元昊 are said to ave invented or developed a special script for the Tangut language, the script was later perfected by Yeli Renrong 野利仁榮 "Teacher Iri". It is partially modeled after the Chinese characters with diagonal brush strokes prevailing, but the value of the 6600 Tangut characters is rather phonetical than ideographical, that means, that the Tangut script mainly consists of a few hundred syllables, and "pictures" only serve as a complement for understanding. Many logographic characters are composed of two or more other characters, like "not" and "moving" for "fixed", or "mouth", "no" and "water" for "thirsty". More than 160 ideographs are identified today with their meaning, and we are able to understand a great part of the text without knowing the exact pronuniation. The Tangut characters follow the compounding patterns for characters that are also used by the Chinese: two symbols form a new character, or a phonetical (sound) and a semantical (meaning) part form a new character. The sources for the Western Xia language and script are mainly inscriptions of multi-language stelae (steles) of Jiuyongguan, of Liangzhou, of the Mogao Grottoes and some more. Much more important for the deciphering process are the dictionaries found by Kozlov. Some earlier authors differentiate a larger and a smaller Tangut script. The "larger" style is the earlier one that could have incorporated original Chinese characters. The "smaller" style (xiao fanwen zi 小蕃文字) was thoroughly Tangut. The Tangut script did not only endure as long as their own empire lasted (1032-1227). It survived also the Mongol assault and was used in the western parts of modern China still in the 14th century, the Tangut script has therefore a long history of 460 years.
For the understanding of the Tangut script, Xixia dictionaries like Wenhai 文海 and Yintong 音同 are of great importance. Unfortunately, nothing of the Tangut historiography has survived, and we only possess very few other works concerning Confucian literature.

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ichao 李彝超 was able to defend the kingdom of Xia against the Later Tang Dynasty 後唐 and was therefore acknowledged as the supremate head of all Tangut tribes in th 930s. Li Yichao’s brother Li Yiyin 李彝殷 assisted the Later Jin 後晉 empire in their war against the Khitan (Chinese: Qidan 契丹) Liao 遼 empire in 944. After the foundation of the Song Dynasty 宋, the Song emperors were able to control the successing weak rulers of the Tanguts and even took them as hosts to the capital in Bianliang 汴梁 (modern Kaifeng 開封/Henan). Li Jiqian 李繼遷 decided to resist the mighty Song empire and began a rebellion in 984. He forged an alliance with the Liao empire in the northeast and obtained military support. 997 Li Jiqian could arrange a peace agreement with the Song emperor, but he broke this agreement himself. His son Li Deming 李德明 made new agreements with Liao and Song, was installed as military commissioner and King of Great Xia 大夏. Instead of intruding Song territory, he conquered land in the west, defeated the Tubo army and the Qaghan (Khan; Chinese: Kehan 可汗) of the Turkish Oghuz federation (Chinese: Huihu 回鶻, not Huigu!).

Foundation of the Western Xia empire

his capital in Xingzhou 興州 (modern Yinchuan 銀川/Ningxia 寧夏) Li Deming started to rule a relatively peaceful empire, profiting the location along the trade routes to Inner Asia. His son Li Yuanhao 李元昊 was quite conservative and tried to go back to the roots of the Tangut people. He rearranged the military organisation, had created an own Tangut script based on the shape of Chinese characters, he promulgated laws that called for traditional costumes and hairstlyes (short hair or bold heads instead of the long, knotted Chinese hairstyle), he changed his surname in the Tangut name "Weiming" 嵬名 (this is, of course, Chinese pronunciation) and renamed the capital in Xingqing 興慶. After some victorious combats against the Song, Tubo and Oghuz he proclaimed himself emperor of Xia (Western Xia, Xixia 西夏; or “White Superior Country”, Tangut-Chinese: Bangniding 邦泥定, Chinese: Baishangguo 白上國) in 1038. Some years later, he even broke his arrangement with Liao. then on, three empires ruled in China: Xia, Liao, and Song. The official Chinese historiography has never accepted Western Xia as an independent state, hence there is no official dynastic history for the Western Xia empire.

Tangut roots and Chinese habits

The next century in the history of Western Xia is characterized by power struggles between the family of the emperors and the consorts, and by the question of following which customs and political-ritual arrangements, either Chinese or Tangut. To enhance the power of the imperial family and the central government, the emperor had to rely on a Chinese-patterned administration and bureaucracy, and on the other side, he had to gain the support of the mighty Tangut clans by supporting Tangut customs and habits. Li Yuanhao (posthumous Xixia Jingzong 西夏靖宗 - see titles of emperors) was assassinated by his brother-in-law Mozang Epang 沒藏訛龐 who could control the court under the minor emperor Weiming Liangzuo 嵬名諒祚 (Li Liangzuo 李諒祚). Li Liangzuo (posthumous Xixia Yizong 西夏毅宗) could eliminate Mozang Epang and the empress dowager and installed his own brother-in-law, Liang Yimai 梁乙埋 as chancellor who reintroduced Tangut customs and rituals at the court. Li Liangzuo’s son Li Bingchang 李秉常 (posthumous Xixia Huidi 西夏惠帝) relied on Chinese customs but faced harsh opposition among the Tangut gentry, especially the clan of his mother, Liang 梁.
Emperor Li Qianshun 李乾順 (posthumous Xixia Chongzong 西夏崇宗) finally could eredicate the power of the mightiest Tangut clans related to the imperial family. After some desastrous military defeats by the Liao and Song empires since 1114, he saw that it was necessary to construct an effectful civil and military adminstration that could only be established by Confucian-trained scholar officials. This politics was continued by his son Li Renxiao 李仁孝 (posthumous Xixia Renzong 西夏仁宗), whose mother was a Chinese. His most important improvements are the erection of a state academy and the installation of state examinations for officials. These loyal officials should replace the Tangut aristocracy.

The Mongol invasion

At the end of Li Renxiao's reign, many natural desasters lead to the rebellion of exploited peasants, discontent soldiers and unsatisfied Tangut aristocrats under the leadership of Ren Dejing 任得敬. In the years 1205-06 the Mongols for the first time invaded the Xia empire, destroyed cities and abducted people and cattle. now on, it was impossible to keep a working central government intact, and every few years the emperor of Xia was replaced by a relative. During the years 1216 to 1232 when emperor Li Zunxu 李遵頊 (posthumous Xixia Shenzong 西夏神宗) escaped the intruding Mongols his son Li Deren 李德任 hold the fort at the capital Xingqing (renamed to Zhongxing 中興). Western Xia forged an alliance with Jin 金, the succession state of Liao, but in vain: In 1227 Li Xian 李睍, the Last Emperor (Xixia Modi 西夏末帝), submitted to the Mongols and was killed on the way to their headquarters.

Note: The short-lived Eastern Xia empire (Dongxia 東夏) was founded by a sideline of the Silla (Chinese: Xinluo 新羅) empire in Korea and occupied the territory of modern Jilin province. It has nothing to do with the Tangut Western Xia empire.

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