Vassalage of Western Xia to Great Jin: Map & History

History

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.

Military

Since ancient times we have fought using both infantry and cavalry. Although we have the Iron Hawks that can charge on the plains and the Trekker infantry that can fight in the hills, if we happen to encounter some new tactic our cavalry will have difficulty deploying. If we encounter [Mighty- Arm bows], then our infantry will be scattered. The problem is our troops can only fight according to convention and are unable to adapt to changes during battle.

In 1980, the Wuwei Bronze Cannon was discovered in a cellar dating to the Western Xia period. Dating to the early 13th century, it is one of the earliest cannons ever discovered. It weighs 108 kg and was discovered with an iron ball about 9cm in diameter inside its barrel.

Culture

The kingdom developed a Tangut script to write its own Tangut language, a now extinct Tibeto-Burman language probably related to the Horpa taxon.

Tibetans, Uyghurs, Han, and Tanguts served as officials in Western Xia. It is unclear how distinct the different ethnic groups were in the Xia state as intermarriage was never prohibited. Tangut, Chinese and Tibetan were all official languages.

to time; Buddhist sutras were donated no fewer than six times and some of them were translated and printed. After the Mongol conquest of Tangut and China, a Tangut edition of the Tripitaka in the Hsi-hsia script, in more than 3620 chüan, was printed in Hangchow and completed in 1302, and about a hundred copies were distributed to monasteries in the former Tangut region.