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Fall of Western Xia
kingdom or empire in ancient China (1038–1227)
- 1227
- Yinchuan
- East Asia
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kingdom or empire in ancient China (1038–1227)
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The Western Xia or the Xi Xia (Chinese: 西夏; pinyin: Xī Xià; Wade–Giles: Hsi1 Hsia4), officially the Kingdom of the Great Xia of the White and Lofty (Tangut: 𗴂𗹭𘜶𗴲𗂧) or Great Xia (大夏; Dà Xià; Ta4 Hsia4), also known as the Tangut Empire, was a Tangut-led imperial dynasty of China that existed from 1038 to 1227 AD. At its peak, the dynasty ruled over 1,000,000 square kilometres (390,000 square miles) of modern-day north-central China.
The capital of the Western Xia was Xingqing, now Yinchuan; another major Xia city and archaeological site is Khara-Khoto. The Western Xia was annihilated by the Mongols in 1227 AD. Most of its written records and architecture were destroyed, and the origins and history of the empire remained obscure until Chinese and Western research in the 20th-century. Today the Tangut language and its unique script are extinct; only fragments of Tangut literature remain.
The Western Xia occupied the area around the Hexi Corridor, a stretch of the Silk Road, the most important trade route between northern China and Central Asia. They made significant achievements in literature, art, music, and architecture, which was characterized as "shining and sparkling". Their extensive stance among the other empires of the Liao, Song, and Jin was attributable to their effective military organizations that integrated cavalry, chariots, archery, shields, artillery (cannons carried on the back of camels), and amphibious troops for combat on land and water.
The full title of the Western Xia as named by their own state means, word for word, 'white', 'high', 'kingdom', 'great' (𗴂𗹭𗂧𘜶, reconstructed as /*phiow¹-bjij²-lhjij-lhjij²/), or 'white', 'high', 'great', 'summer', 'kingdom' ( 𗴂𗹭𘜶𗴲𗂧). K.B. Kepping translates this as the "Great State of White and High". A corresponding Chinese name (白高大夏國, "White High Great Xia State") was also used. Chinese and Japanese scholars commonly interpret the first two words as "upper reaches of the White River", which was possibly referring to the Yellow River. Kepping proposed the translation "the Kingdom of the Great Xia of the White and Lofty", and suggested that the name refers to a peak in the Helan Mountains named the "White and Lofty Mother". During the Western Xia period, the only Tangut language name used was the "Great State of White and High", while Chinese language sources in Western Xia used both the name Xia and the "White High Great Xia State". After the Western Xia was conquered by the Mongol Empire in 1227, Tangut language sources also started using the name Xia in addition to their original Tangut name.
"Western Xia" or "Xi Xia" is a later historiographical term based on the state's Chinese name. "Western" refers to its location to the west of the Liao (916–1125) and Jin (1115–1234) dynasties, as well as the Song. "Xia" (pointing to the Xia dynasty) is a historical name for the region that originated from the 5th-century Hu Xia dynasty. It was used from the Ming dynasty onward and is the standard name in contemporary Chinese scholarship.
Another name the Tanguts used for their state was "State of Ten Thousand Secrets" (/khjɨ-dwuu-lhjij/, 萬祕國).
The region was known to the Tanguts and Tibetans as Minyak (reconstructed Tangut pronunciation: /mjɨ-njaa/). The Tanguts were called Mianyao or Miyao (彌藥) by the Chinese, mi-nyag (མི་ཉག་) by the Tibetans, and Mi-niah or Mi by the Tanguts themselves. The name Tangut (Old Turkic: 𐱃𐰭𐰆𐱃, romanized: Taŋut) first appeared in the Orkhon inscriptions dated to 732-735, which is transcribed in Chinese as Tangwu or Tangute (Tangghut (Tangɣud) in Mongolian). Various forms of Tangut were used as a common name for certain tribes in the Amdo-Kokonor-Gansu region until the 19th century. The name Tangut was transmitted to Western explorers and writers, who passed on the term, making it the most common name in European, American, and Japanese scholarship.
The Tanguts originally came from the Qinghai-Sichuan-Tibet region, whose home originally was in the highlands of western Sichuan. According to Chinese records, which called them the Dangxiang, the Tanguts were descended from the Western Qiang people, and occupied the steppes around Qinghai Lake and the mountains to its south.
In 608, the Tanguts helped the Sui dynasty defeat the Tuyuhun, however they were betrayed by the Sui forces, who took the chance to loot the Tanguts. In 635, they were requested to serve as guides for Emperor Taizong's campaign against Tuyuhun, but the Tang forces double crossed them in a surprise attack and seized thousands of livestock. In retaliation, the Tanguts attacked the Tang and killed thousands of their soldiers.
By the 650s, the Tanguts had left their homeland to escape pressure from the Tibetans and migrated eastward, to what are now parts of Shanxi and Shaanxi. In 584-5 Tuoba Ningzong led the first group of Tanguts to submit to the Sui. In 628-629 another group under the leadership of Xifeng Bulai surrendered to the Tang. After the Tuyuhun were defeated in 635, the Tanguts under Tuoba Chici also surrendered. The 340,000 Tanguts were divided into 32 jimi prefectures under the control of Tangut chieftains appointed as prefects. Another wave of Tanguts entered Tang territory in 692, adding as many as 200,000 persons to the population in Lingzhou and Xiazhou. In 721–722, Tuoba Sitai, a descendant of Tuoba Chici, aided the Tang in putting down a Sogdian-led revolt in Shuofang. By the time of the An Lushan Rebellion in the 750s, the Tanguts had become the primary local power in the Ordos region in northern Shaanxi. In the 760s, the military commander, Ashina Sijian, harassed six Tangut tribes and took their camels and horses. The Tanguts fled west across the Yellow River and started working for the Tibetans as guides on raiding expeditions. In 764, the Tanguts joined the Tibetans and Uyghurs in supporting the Tang rebel Pugu Huaien. After the Tang reasserted their authority, a descendant of Tuoba Chici, Tuoba Chaoguang, was put in charge of the loyal Tanguts. The Yeli, Bali, and Bozhou clans continued to side with the Tibetans, however the Tanguts also came under Tibetan predation, and frontier settlements continued switching between Tang and Tibetan control for many years. In 806, the Acting Minister of Works, Du You, admitted that they treated the Tanguts badly:
In recent years, corrupt frontier generals have repeatedly harassed and mistreated [the Tanguts]. Some profited from [unfair trading in] their fine horses; some seized their sons and daughters. Some accepted their local products as bribes, and some imposed corvée on them. Having suffered so much hardship, the Tanguts rebelled and fled. They either sent envoys to contact the Uighurs or cooperated with the Tibetans to raid our borders. These are the consequences of [Tang frontier generals’ wrong] deeds. We must discipline them.
— Du You
In 814 the Tang appointed a Commissioner for Pacifying the Tanguts to Youzhou (modern Otog Banner), however this did not resolve the Tangut problem. In 820 the Tanguts were subjected to the tyranny of a local governor, Tian Jin. They retaliated by joining the Tibetans in raids on Tang garrisons. Sporadic conflict with the Tanguts lasted until the 840s when they rose in open revolt against the Tang, but the rebellion was suppressed. Eventually the Tang court was able to mollify the Tanguts by admonishing their frontier generals and replacing them with more disciplined ones. The Tanguts also fought against the Uyghurs after the collapse of the Uyghur Khaganate because they both wanted to monopolize the horse trade which passed through Lingzhou.
In 873, the senior Tangut leader at Xiazhou, Tuoba Sigong, occupied Youzhou and declared himself prefect. When Chang'an fell to Huang Chao in 880, Sigong led a Chinese-Tangut army to assist Tang forces in driving out the rebels. For his service, he was granted in 881 control of Xiazhou, Youzhou, Suizhou, Yinzhou, and later also Jingbian. Together the territory was called Dingnan Jiedushi, also known as Xiasui, centered on modern Yulin, Shaanxi. After the Huang Chao rebellion's defeat in 883, Sigong was granted the dynastic surname Li and enfeoffed as "Duke of Xia". In 878, the Shatuo chieftain Li Guochang attacked the Tanguts but was repelled by a Tuyuhun intervention.
Sigong died in 886 and was succeeded by his brother Sijian. In 905 Li Keyong's independent regime allied with the Khitans, which pushed the Tanguts into an alliance with Later Liang, which awarded the Dingnan rulers with honorary titles. Sijian died in 908 and was succeeded by his adopted son Yichang, who was murdered by his officer Gao Zongyi in 909. Gao Zongyi was himself murdered by soldiers of Dingnan and was replaced by Yichang's uncle, Renfu, who was a popular officer in the army. In 910 Dingnan came under a monthlong siege by the forces of Qi and Jin but was able to repel the invasion with the aid of Later Liang. In 922 Renfu sent 500 horses to Luoyang, perhaps to aid the Later Liang in fighting the Shatuo. In 924 Renfu was enfeoffed as "Prince of Shuofang" by Later Tang. When Renfu died in 933, Later Tang tried to replace his son, Yichao, with a Sogdian governor, An Congjin. An Congjin besieged Xiazhou with 50,000 soldiers, but the Tanguts mounted a successful defensive by rallying the tribes and stripping the countryside of any resources. The Later Tang army was forced to retreat after three months. Despite Later Tang aggression, Yichao made peace with them by sending 50 horses as an offering.
Yichao died in 935 and was succeeded by his brother Yixing. Yixing discovered a plot by his brother, Yimin, to overthrow him in 943. Yimin fled to Chinese territory, but was returned to Xiazhou for execution. Over 200 clan members were implicated in the plot, resulting in a purge of the core ranks. Yimin's post was taken by a loyal official, Renyu. Not long afterward, Renyu was killed by the Yemu Qiang, who departed for Chinese territory. In 944 Yixing may have attacked the Liao dynasty on behalf of the Later Jin. The sources are not clear on the event. In 948 Yixing requested permission to cross the border and attack the Yemu Qiang but was refused. Instead Yixing attacked a neighboring circuit under encouragement from the rebel Li Shouzhen, but retreated upon encountering an imperial force. In 952 the Yeji people north of Qingzhou rebelled, causing the Tanguts significant difficulty. Honorary titles were given out by the Later Han to appease local commanders, including Yixing. In 960 Dingnan came under attack by Northern Han and successfully repelled invading forces. In 962 Yixing offered horses as tribute to the Song dynasty. Yixing died in 967 and was succeeded by his son, Kerui.
Kerui died in 978 and was succeeded by Jiyun. Jiyun ruled for only a year before dying in 980. His son was still an infant, so Jiyun's brother, Jipeng, assumed leadership. Jipeng did not go through the traditional channel of acquiring consent from the elders, which caused dissent among the Tangut elites. The Tangut prefect of Suizhou challenged Jipeng's succession. In 982 Jipeng fled to the Song court and surrendered control of Dingnan Jiedushi. His brother or cousin, Jiqian, did not agree to this and refused to submit to Song administration. Jiqian led a group of bandit holdouts and resisted Song control. In 984, the Song attacked his camp and captured his mother and wife, but he narrowly escaped. He rebounded from this defeat by capturing Yinzhou the next year. Along with Yinzhou, Jiqian captured large amounts of supply, allowing him to increase his following. In 986, Jiqian began paying tribute to the Liao dynasty and in 989, Jiqian married into Khitan nobility. In 990, Jiqian accepted the title "King of the Xia State" (夏國王) from the Liao emperor. Jiqian also made symbolic obeisance to the Song, but the Song remained unconvinced of his intentions. Jipeng was sent by the Song to destroy Jiqian, but he was defeated in battle on 6 May 994, and fled back to Xiazhou. Jiqian sent tribute on 9 September as well as his younger brother on 1 October to the Song court. Emperor Taizong of Song was receptive of these gestures, but Jiqian returned to raiding Song territory the next year. In April 996, Taizong sent troops to suppress Jiqian, who raided Lingzhou in May and again in November 997. For a brief period after 998, Jiqian accepted Song suzerainty, until the fall of 1001 when he began raiding again. Jiqian died on 6 January 1004 from an arrow wound. His son and successor, Deming, proved to be more amicable towards the Song than his predecessor.
Deming sent tribute missions to both the Liao dynasty and the Song dynasty. At the same time he expanded Tangut territory to the west. In 1028, he sent his son Yuanhao to conquer the Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom. Two years later the Guiyi Circuit surrendered to the Tanguts. Yuanhao invaded the Qinghai region as well but was repelled by the newly risen Tibetan kingdom of Tsongkha. In 1032, Yuanhao annexed the Tibetan confederation of Xiliangfu, and soon after his father died, leaving him ruler of the Tangut state.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Western Xia”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.