Western Xia
| Western Xia | ||
西夏 Chinese: ; pinyin: Xī Xià; Wade–Giles: Hsi1 Hsia4), also known as the Xi Xia Empire, the Tangut Empire and to the Tangut people and the Tibetans as Minyak, was an empire which existed from 1038 to 1227 in what are now the northwestern Chinese provinces of Ningxia, Gansu, eastern Qinghai, northern Shaanxi, northeastern Xinjiang, southwest Inner Mongolia, and southernmost Outer Mongolia, measuring about 800,000 square kilometers.
The state was devastated by the Mongols who founded the Mongol Empire, and most of its written records and architecture were destroyed. Therefore, its founders and history remained controversial until recent research in the West and in China. The Western Xia occupied the area of important trade route between North China and Central Asia, the Hexi Corridor. 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 is ...
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