Tangut people
| 党項 | |
|---|---|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Western Xia | |
| Languages | |
| Tangut language | |
| Religion | |
| Buddhism, Root West/Shamanism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Qiang (historical people) |
The Tangut, identified with the state of Western Xia, were a Tibeto-Burman-speaking people who moved to Northwest China sometime before the 10th century. The Tanguts had only one state in their history, the Western Xia or Tangut Empire (1038–1227).
The Tangut is typically regarded by Chinese scholars to represent the Qiang or Dangxiang (党項; Dǎngxiàng). Historically, "Qiang" was a collective term for the multiple ethnic groups who lived on the west of China. The name Tangut first appears in the Orkhon inscriptions of 735. In their own language, the Tangut language, the Tanguts called themselves Mi-niah. "The Hsi-hsia ('Western Hsia') Dynasty, based in the Ordos, owed its founding to the descendants of Tibeto-Burman-speaking Tangut (Miñak) people there, most of whom had migrated from their homeland in West China under pressure from the expanding Tibetan Empire."
The Tanguts divided themselves into two classes: the "Red Faced" and the "Black Headed". The Red Faced Tanguts comprised the commonality while the Black Headed Tanguts were the elite priestly caste. Although Buddhism was extremely popular among the Tangut people, many Tangut herdsmen continued to practice shamanism, known as Root West. The black caps worn by Root West shamans gave the Black Headed caste its name. According to Tangut myth, the ancestor of the Black Headed Tanguts was a heavenly white crane, while the ancestor of the Red Faced Tanguts was a monkey. Ancient sources describe Tanguts as being short, stocky, dark-skinned, and thick-lipped. They wore their hair in the Tufa style, shaved bald except for a long fringe of bangs that framed the face. Tangut kings went by the title of Wuzu.
The founder of the Tangut was a noted prince of the Tuyuhun (284–670). In 881, at the end of the Tang dynasty, the Tanguts brought troops to suppress the Huang Chao rebellion on behalf of the Tang court and took control of the Xia state in northern Shaanxi. "By the time of the An Lu-shan Rebellion, the Tanguts were the dominant local power in the region. Late in the T'ang, their chief T'o-pa Ssu-kung (r. 991- ca. 895), head of the traditional leading clan of the Tangut, drove the rebel Huang Ch'ao from the capital, Ch'ang-an and, as a reward was appointed military governor of the three prefectures of Hsia, Sui, and Yin."
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