postscript

Xixia is a minority political power established by the Dangxiang people in northwest China. It has experienced ten emperors and enjoyed the 189th year of the reign of Zuo.

The Dangxiang people, the ancestors of Xixia, originally lived on the Songpan Plateau in Sichuan and moved to northern Shaanxi during the Tang Dynasty. They were granted the title of Xiazhou Jiedushi by the Tang emperor for their contribution to quelling the rebellion. They submitted to the Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty. After the Xiazhou regime was annexed by the Northern Song Dynasty,

, because Li Jiqian was unwilling to surrender, he established the country again and obtained the canonization of the Liao Emperor. Li Jiqian adopted the method of arriving in Song Dynasty from Liao Dynasty and successively occupied Lanzhou and the Hexi Corridor area. In the first year of Baoyuan of Song Dynasty (1038), Li Yuanhao proclaimed himself emperor and founded the country, namely Xia Jingzong, Xixia

The country was officially founded. Xixia, whose real name is Daxia, is also called Xia for short. It also calls itself Bangniding Kingdom or Baigao Daxia Kingdom, Western Dynasty. Because it is in the west, people in the Song Dynasty called it Xixia.

Xixia generally won the Song-Xia War and Liao-Xia War, forming a situation of three kingdoms. After Xia Jingzong's death, power was in the hands of the emperor's queen mother and the mother party, which was known as the mother party rebellion period in history. Xixia was divided between the imperial party and the mother party.

The confrontation led to civil strife, and the Northern Song Dynasty took the opportunity to attack Xia several times. Xixia successfully resisted and defeated the Song army, but the loss of Hengshan left holes in the defense line. The Jin Dynasty rose and destroyed the Liao Dynasty. After the Northern Song Dynasty, Xixia surrendered to the Jin Dynasty and gained a lot of land

The two countries established the Jinxia Alliance and were generally at peace. During the reign of Xia Renzong, natural disasters occurred and Ren Dejing was divided into two countries. However, after reforms, a prosperous period emerged during the Tiansheng period.

However, the Great Mongolia in Mobei rose up and invaded Xixia six times and dismantled the Jin-Xia Alliance, causing Xixia and the Jin Dynasty to fight each other. There were also many regicides and civil strife within Xixia, and the economy also tended to collapse due to wars.

Finally, he died in Mongolia in the second year of Baoyi in Xixia (1227).

Xixia political system

The political system of Xixia was greatly influenced by the Song Dynasty, and the official system basically imitated the Northern Song Dynasty. The central administrative agencies include: Zhongshu Sheng, Privy Council, Third Division, Yushitai, Kaifeng Prefecture, Yiwei Division, Official Accounting Division, and Acceptance Division

, Farmland Department, Group Animal Husbandry Department, Feilongyuan, Grinding and Surveying Department, Wensiyuan, Tibetan Studies, Sinology, etc. The local administrative establishment is divided into prefecture and county levels. In special political centers and important military and national defense areas, counties and prefectures are sometimes established.

.

Xixia politics was a joint politics between Tibetan and Han people, with the Dangxiang people as the main ruling ethnic group, and joint rule with the Han, Tubo, and Uighur peoples. The royal family paid attention to its relationship with the Dangxiang aristocrats, and used intermarriage and power to win over the Dangxiang aristocrats, while the mother party "noble favor"

These often lead to conflicts between the royal family and the parent party and party nobles. In the early stage of Xixia, there was a Tibetan-Han official system like the Liao Dynasty, but after the Song Dynasty system was fully adopted in the middle and late period, the Tibetan official system gradually declined. The Xixia system

From the dualist politics of Fan and Han to the unified Han-French system, the imperial power of Xixia was challenged by the nobility, mother party, powerful ministers and other forces and became unstable.

Xixia central government

The state system and governance style of Xixia were deeply influenced by Confucian political culture. The official system was established after the founding of the country by Xia Jingzong in 1038, and was generally based on the system of the Song Dynasty. The official system was divided into two divisions: civil and military, Zhongshu Division, Privy Division and Three Divisions (Ministry of Salt and Iron, Ministry of Salt and Iron,

The Du Branch and the Household Department respectively manage administration, military and finance. The Yushitai manages supervision, and the Kaifeng Prefecture manages the affairs of the capital area. Others include the Yiwei Department, the Official Accounting Department, the Acceptance Department, the Farmland Department, and the Qunhu Department.

Feilongyuan, Mokan Division, Wensi Institute, Fanxue and Sinology and other institutions. The following year, Xia Jingzong imitated the Song Dynasty system and established the Shangshu Order of Prime Minister and General Affairs, and changed the Song Dynasty's twenty-four divisions into sixteen divisions, divided into divisions of functions, warehouses, and households.

Six Cao Cao of military, law, and scholars made the Xixia official system and institutions quite large-scale. By the time of Xia Yizong, ministers, ministers, north and south Xuanhui envoys, Zhongshu, bachelors and other officials were added. As a result, the official positions and institutions became more and more detailed.

, Secondly, the reform of the official system shifted from expanding political and military official positions to expanding social, economic and cultural official positions.

Xixia official positions

Fan officials are official positions held exclusively by the Dangxiang people. Some people say that this is a title system. Fan officials are mainly to maintain the dominant position of the Dangxiang nobles in the political power. Non-Dangxiang people cannot hold them. There are Ning Ling (King) and Mo Ning Ling (King).

King Tian), Ding Lu, Ding Nu, Su Zhai, Zu Ru, Lu Ze, Shu Ming and other official titles. After Xia Jingzong added fan officials, he also learned some systems from the Liao Dynasty and Tubo, such as the north-south official system. Xixia's

The Tibetan official system is very complicated, and many official positions were added during the reign of Emperor Xia Yizong. The functions of these official positions are still unclear. There is a saying that Fanguan is just the official name of a Han official in Xixia. A proverb in Xixia also mentions "Yamen officials once upon a time"

", the most important thing is to kill medicine", which shows that there are many officials from the Dangxiang people. As the Xixia emperor increasingly advocated Han law, changed Tibetan rituals, and used Han rituals, the Tibetan official system gradually declined. After Xia Chongzong, Tibetan officials began to

It does not appear in relevant literature either.

Western Xia Law

The old laws of the Western Xia Dynasty had some unclear problems, so Xia Renzong promulgated the "Tiansheng Reform of Old Laws and New Laws" under the proposition of "valuing literature and law", also known as "Tiansheng Laws and Orders" and "Kaisheng Laws and Orders". Mainly composed by the Northern King

Zhongshu ordered Weiming Dibao to have a meal with Zhongshu, important officials of the Privy Council, and important officials such as Zhongxingfu, Dianqiansi, and Hemensi. The code refers to the codes of the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, and is combined with the national conditions of the country.

, public sentiment and military sentiment, making it more realistic. In some aspects (such as animal husbandry, military system, folk customs, etc.) it has the characteristics of the nation.

Xixia Military

Because Xixia is located in the Hexi Corridor and Hetao areas where the great powers are looking around, it adopts a diplomatic strategy of relying on the strong, attacking the weak, and seeking peace through war. The military methods are very flexible, and according to the desert terrain, they can advance when it is advantageous and retreat when it is unfavorable, luring the enemy to set up ambushes.

, a tactic of cutting off the enemy's food routes; it is also assisted by special units such as Iron Kites, Bubazi and Poxi.

The military system of Xixia was developed on the basis of Dangxiang's tribal military system and absorbed the Song system. The Privy Council is the highest military governing body of Xixia, with various divisions under it. The army consists of the central guard army, the capture army and the local army.

Composition. The Central Guard Army includes the "Proton Army", the Emperor's Guard and the Capital Garrison. The "Proton Army" has about 5,000 people. It is a garrison composed of children of wealthy families who are good at riding and shooting. It is responsible for protecting the safety of the emperor. It is known as

There are "six squads within the imperial siege", divided into three groups of guards. There are also 3,000 emperor's trusted guards, which are composed of brave men selected from all the armies in the territory. They are all heavy armored cavalry and are divided into ten teams.

Each team has three hundred people, accompanying the emperor in and out of battle. There is also a well-trained garrison stationed in the capital area, totaling 25,000 people, with excellent equipment, which is the main force of the Central Guards. The number of captured soldiers is about 100,000, which is the Xixia

It is an elite unit whose main task is to undertake fortifications and mobile operations. It got its name because it captured enemy soldiers alive as slaves during the battle. The local army of Xixia is under the jurisdiction of each military supervisory department, with a total of 500,000 people. The main military branches are cavalry and

There are two types of infantry. The Xixia military service system is a military service system for all people. They are not separated from production in peacetime and participate in battles in wartime. The smallest unit is a "chao". Each chai is composed of three people, one for the main force, one for the auxiliary leader, and one for the burden.

The focus of Xixia's military strength was set on a triangle with Xingqing Prefecture as the center, with 70,000 people guarding Xingqing, 50,000 people guarding Xiping Prefecture in the southeast, and 50,000 troops stationed in Helan Mountain in the northwest. The left and right wings and the four north and south sections of Henan

Troops were also deployed on the line. Among them, 50,000 troops were deployed on Youzhou Road on the left side and 50,000 troops on Yanzhou Road in Henan Province to defend against the Song Dynasty. 70,000 troops were deployed on the Anbei Road in Hebei Province to defend against the Liao Dynasty. On the right side, 30,000 troops were deployed on Ganzhou Road to defend against the Tubo and Uighurs. Whenever there was an emergency,

If you want to send troops to the west, gather from the east point and go to the west. If you want to go east, gather from the west point and go to the east. If you are in the middle, gather the east and west points toward the center.

Xixia Economy

Xixia's economy is mainly based on animal husbandry and commerce. Foreign trade is susceptible to the influence of the Central Plains dynasty. The monopoly of the Hexi Corridor and the Northern Song Dynasty currency has brought great help to the Xixia economy. The main agricultural products are barley, rice, long beans and highland barley.

etc. Medicinal materials and some handicrafts are also particularly famous. Xixia also has a certain scale and level of handicraft production such as smelting, salt mining, bricks and tiles, ceramics, textiles, papermaking, printing, brewing, gold, silver and woodware making.

After the Qingli peace talks, the Song court set up a foray and resumed trade between the two sides. Handicraft production and commercial trade in Xixia developed rapidly. During the periods of Xia Chongzong and Xia Renzong, the Xixia economy developed greatly. Goods from all over the world gathered in the capital Xingqing and entered the Xixia economy.

its most prosperous period.

With the demise of Xixia, the writing also disappeared

Xixia has been dominant in China's Ningxia, Gansu, Shaanxi, and Qinghai areas for more than 300 years, creating a series of splendid cultures including Xixia literature, and then suddenly disappeared without leaving any traces in the existing historical materials, making it an extremely mysterious

At the beginning of the founding of the Xixia people's Republic of China, Xixia used the radicals and character-formation methods of Chinese characters to create its own writing - Xixia script, with a total of more than 6,000 characters, which had been in circulation for more than 400 years. However, it was mysteriously lost until the middle of the 19th century.

People still don’t know that one of the six stone carvings on the doorway of the Juyongguan Great Wall in Beijing is the long-lost Xixia script.

Xixia territory

When the Xixia Kingdom was established in the first year of Baoyuan of the Song Dynasty (1038), its territory included present-day Ningxia, northwest Gansu, northeastern Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, and northern Shaanxi. It bounded the Yellow River in the east, Yumen in the west, and Xiaoguan (today's Tongxinnan, Ningxia) in the south.

It controls the desert in the north and covers an area of ​​more than 20,000 miles. The northeast of Xixia is adjacent to the Xijing Road of the Liao Dynasty, and the east and southeast are adjacent to the Song Dynasty. After the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Liao and Song Dynasties, the northeast, east and south of Xixia were adjacent to the Jin Dynasty. The southern part of Xixia

To the west are the Tubo tribes, and the Ganzhou Uighurs are adjacent to the Xizhou Uighurs. More than two-thirds of the country is desert terrain, and the water source is mainly groundwater formed by the Yellow River and snow water on the mountains. The Yinchuan Plain where the capital Xingqing Prefecture is located, west

With the Helan Mountain as a barrier and the Yellow River as an irrigation source in the east, it is known as "the Yellow River in the world enriches Ningxia".

Xixia is a dynasty established by the Dangxiang tribe. The Dangxiang tribe originally settled in the Songpan Plateau area of ​​​​Sichuan. They were oppressed by the Tibetans during the Tang Gaozong period, and finally moved to the Hetao and northern Shaanxi areas with the help of the Tang court. They were divided into the Pingxia tribe and the Dongshan tribe. This established the Longshan tribe of Xixia.

The place of prosperity. In the first year of Zhonghe in the Tang Dynasty (881), due to his contribution to the rebellion of Pingxia Tuoba Sigong Ping Huangchao, he was granted the title of Jiedu Envoy of Xiazhou. From then on, he officially took possession of Yinzhou (Mizhi County, Shaanxi Province), Xiazhou (

Hengshan County, Shaanxi Province), Suizhou (Suide County, Shaanxi Province), Youzhou (Jingbian County, Shaanxi Province) and Jingzhou (west of Mizhi County, Shaanxi Province).

During the Song Dynasty, Song Taizong annexed the land of Xiazhou Jiedushi. However, Li Jiqian was unwilling to surrender and led his troops to attack everywhere, and finally recovered the land of the five states. After capturing Lingzhou, he expanded his power to the Hetao area of ​​the Yellow River and the Hexi Corridor.

After Jingzong succeeded to the throne, he continued to consolidate the Hexi Corridor and founded the country and proclaimed himself emperor, expanding the territory to twenty states. Then Xia Jingzong and the Song Dynasty fought in the Hengshan area and intended to occupy Guanzhong. After Xia Jingzong, Xixia and the Northern Song Dynasty started a tug-of-war, and the two sides fought against each other.

Occupy the other side's fortresses and expand to the Hehuang and Qinghai areas. Xia Chongzong lost the Hengshan area in the later period, which once caused a crisis. After the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Liao Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty, Xixia successively regained the lost territory and occupied the Qiantao area of ​​the Yellow River. However, its power was
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