Western Xia was a dynasty in Chinese history founded by the Dangxiang people in northwestern China. It dominated the northwest for nearly two hundred years and coexisted with the Liao, Song and Jin dynasties.
On April 29, the "Peach Blossom Stone at the Foot of Helan Mountain - Xixia Cultural Relics Exhibition" was officially opened at the Shanghai Museum of History. More than 100 cultural relics from Ningxia, including a fragment of a Xixia stele, a Xixia chieftain's seal, a Xixia bronze plaque, Yaozhou kiln porcelain, and a gold bowl with peony patterns, show the mysterious and splendid history of Xixia from different angles, and also demonstrate the historical and cultural identity of the ethnic groups in the northwest region with Chinese civilization during the Liao, Song, Xia and Jin dynasties.
Western Xia Tombs at the foot of the Helan Mountains Photo courtesy of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Department of Culture and Tourism
The Western Xia (1038-1227) was a local regime established by the Tanguts in northwest China. It had its capital in Xingqing Prefecture (now Yinchuan, Ningxia) and lasted for nearly two centuries. It “occupied one third of the country and dominated the northwest for two hundred years.” It shared power with the Northern Song and Liao dynasties, and later stood on equal terms with the Southern Song and Jin dynasties. It also blocked Genghis Khan’s Mongolian cavalry many times. However, after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, it was not recorded in history and became a mysterious past.
Exhibition site
Exhibition site
How glorious was the Western Xia? The exhibition is divided into four parts: "Jointly Pursuing the Unification of China", "Sharing the Benefits of China", "Jointly Creating the Beauty of China", and "Jointly Worshipping the Mausoleum of China". It vividly reveals the mysterious and splendid history of the Western Xia and the process of interaction and integration with the Central Plains culture from different aspects such as politics, economy, and culture. The exhibition brings together more than 120 exhibits from the northwest, of which nearly 30% are first-class cultural relics, including black-glazed carved four-handled flat pots, Western Xia carved flower-branch peony pattern gold bowls, stone carved Hercules inscription support, etc., covering a variety of categories of artifacts.
Wang Xiaojun, director of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Museum, introduced during the tour that "the core of the exhibition is to present the inheritance and imitation of the Central Plains culture by the Western Xia from different perspectives through cultural relics, highlighting the historical and cultural identity of the various ethnic groups in the northwest region with Chinese civilization during the Liao, Song, Xia and Jin dynasties, and verifying the important contribution of the Western Xia to the formation of the pluralistic and unified structure of the Chinese nation and a unified multi-ethnic country."
Silk with printed pattern of baby playing with lotus
The 10th to 13th centuries were a period when the Han dynasty of the Central Plains, the two Song dynasties, and the surrounding minority regimes, Liao, Western Xia, and Jin, coexisted. The various regimes often fought each other, but a very interesting phenomenon emerged, that is, each regime self-identified as "China". At the same time, the Western Xia regime "followed the Tang and imitated the Song" in terms of rituals, official system, administration, imperial examinations, laws, etc., which can be exemplified by the unearthed and handed down cultural relics.
For example, the official system of the Western Xia was modeled after the official system of the Song Dynasty, with the Secretariat and the Privy Council in charge of the civil and military classes. There was a regular performance evaluation, transfer, reward and punishment system for officials, and the methods and procedures were very detailed. The head portrait of a Western Xia civil official unearthed in the tomb of the Western Xia Mausoleum can be seen as a stone statue imitating the Central Plains style. It is the same size as a real person, and the headdress it wears is part of the civil official court dress stipulated in the Western Xia Code; the Western Xia official seals on display all inherited the official seal system of the Song Dynasty in terms of shape, script, and back inscription, which verifies the mutual integration of ethnic minority culture and Central Plains culture.
Bronze plaque with the inscription "Stay in the Nei Su" in Xixia script, collected by Ningxia Museum (first-class cultural relic)
In the exhibition, you can see a first-class cultural relic in the Ningxia Guyuan Museum, a bronze plaque with the Xixia characters "Nei Su Dai Ming". This is a Xixia bronze plaque with the words "Nei Su Dai Ming" written on it. Nei Zhu mainly includes two aspects, one is the palace guards, and the other is on duty. The guard card is an indispensable identity certificate for the palace guards to walk in the palace. After the Northern Song Dynasty, the relevant system became increasingly complete and was integrated into the management system of the dynasty as an identification mark. The Xixia also borrowed the management and use methods of the Central Plains dynasty for the talisman. At present, this shovel-shaped guard card is rare in the world, with only 7 pieces known.
Silver bowl (left), silver washbasin (right)
Economically, the economic and industrial development of Western Xia could not be separated from the technical exchanges and material complementarity with the Central Plains dynasties, and currency is a good example. With the development of the economy, Western Xia established a currency casting and circulation system. Although Western Xia had its own coins, Song Dynasty coins were still the most widely circulated in Western Xia due to the developed economy of the Song Dynasty. According to the statistics of coins unearthed from more than 60 cellars in the former Western Xia area, Northern Song Dynasty coins accounted for more than 80%.
"The copper coins minted by Xixia themselves have two types: Xixia and Chinese. Xixia coins combine the traditional Chinese coin form with the Xixia language, a minority language, and provide a powerful historical testimony for the study of the exchanges and integration of minority cultures with the culture of the Central Plains."
Exhibition site
Brown glaze carved flower four-handled flat pot
A large number of Xixia porcelains were also exhibited in the exhibition. The Dangxiang people originally did not make porcelain, and mainly imported porcelain from the Northern Song Dynasty to meet their living needs. After the establishment of Xixia, they actively learned the porcelain-making technology of the Central Plains and developed the porcelain-making industry. Deeply influenced by the Ding kiln system, Cizhou kiln system and Yaozhou kiln system of the Northern Song Dynasty, they gradually formed a ceramic system with their own characteristics.
White glaze carved peony pattern porcelain jar
At present, porcelain kiln sites from the Western Xia period have been discovered in Ningxia, Gansu, Inner Mongolia and other places where the Western Xia Dynasty once lived. The Lingwu kiln and the Helan kiln are the most famous. The Western Xia porcelain reflects the characteristics of cultural integration in terms of decorative themes and production techniques, and bears witness to the historical facts of ethnic exchanges and integration during this period.
Xixia wood carving
The Remaining Stele of Xixia Wenshou Mausoleum
Fragmentary stele with Xixia inscriptions
Culturally, the exchange and integration between Xixia and Central Plains culture can be seen in writing, religion, painting and murals. Chinese was an important official language of Xixia at that time. The exhibition displays a large number of Xixia Chinese characters and cultural relics related to Xixia characters. For example, the "Lingzhi Song Chinese Characters Fragmentary Stele" found in the Xixia Mausoleum area provides precious physical materials for the study of Xixia documents and calligraphy art; the "Xixia Wenshou Mausoleum Fragmentary Stele" on display is the only stele in the Xixia Mausoleum that can confirm the identity of the tomb owner. The Xixia characters on it are full and symmetrical in structure, and the fonts are strong and upright. It is a rare treasure of Xixia calligraphy art.
Painted clay Buddha head
The painted clay Buddha head was unearthed from the Hong Pagoda. From the perspective of the shape of the Buddha head, it basically inherits the characteristics of Buddha statues in the Gandhara period, with a round and full face, majestic lines, and rich Tang Dynasty statue style. It is a typical material evidence of Xixia's absorption and inheritance of Tang culture. The black glaze in the Buddha's eyeballs overflowed due to the high temperature, like the Buddha's tears shed in compassion for the suffering of the world, making the Buddha statue more compassionate.
The Western Xia Tombs is a mausoleum site complex with unique architectural forms and important cultural connotations, and is also the first World Cultural Heritage declared by Ningxia. The last section of the exhibition unveils the mystery of the Western Xia Tombs to the audience through the introduction of unearthed cultural relics, large stone sculptures, architectural components and materials.
Exhibition site
According to historical records, the Western Xia Tombs were modeled after the Song Tombs in Gong County, Henan Province. However, the Western Xia did not copy them completely. Instead, they selectively absorbed the basic system of imperial tombs that had gradually been perfected since the Han and Tang Dynasties, while combining it with its own cultural characteristics and absorbing cultural elements of Buddhist culture and other surrounding ethnic groups to carry out creative transformation and innovation.
Stone Carved Hercules Support
Kalavinka and the stone-carved Vajrapani became the "guardians" of the Western Xia Tombs, and told the history up-host Miaomiao about the past of the Western Xia... During the exhibition period, the large-space, highly immersive experience of the "Mysterious Western Xia Tombs" will also be opened on the third floor of the west building of the Shanghai Museum of History, using technological means such as virtual reality equipment and human motion capture to allow the audience to "travel" to Western Xia and embark on a journey of exploration.
"Mysterious Xixia Mausoleum" large space high immersion experience poster
From April 29 to May 5, the Shanghai History Museum atrium also held a themed market called "Follow the Exhibition to Visit Ningxia". Dozens of stalls from Ningxia brought local specialties and unique cultural creations to the exhibition, and introduced the beautiful scenery of "Jiangnan on the Great Wall" to the audience, connecting the memory of the exhibition with the expectation of a better life, and building a new consumption scene of cultural and tourism integration.
The theme market of "Follow the Exhibition to Visit Ningxia" was held in the atrium of Shanghai History Museum
The exhibition is guided by the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Department of Culture and Tourism (Cultural Relics Bureau), hosted by the Shanghai History Museum (Shanghai Revolutionary History Museum), the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Museum, and the Ningxia Yinchuan Xixia Mausoleum District Management Office, and co-organized by the Ningxia Guyuan Museum, the Ningxia Haiyuan County Cultural Relics Management Office, the Gansu Wuwei City Museum, and the Inner Mongolia Alxa Museum. The exhibition is on display on the second floor of the West Building of the Shanghai History Museum and will last until September 14, 2025.
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Further reading:
Introduction to units and key cultural relics
Unit 1
The first unit, through relevant documents, reflects the political identification of Xixia with "China" and the concept of "the common ancestor of the Chinese and the barbarians" of the Dangxiang and Han peoples. The exhibited cultural relics reflect the inheritance and development of the traditional Chinese political system since the Sui and Tang dynasties in terms of official system, military system, ritual system, and laws by Xixia.
Xixia Wen Tiansheng Bingxu 18th Year Leader Seal Ningxia Museum Collection (First Class Cultural Relics)
The seal of the leader in the 18th year of Tiansheng Bingxu in Xixia is square in shape, with a prong-shaped button and a round hole on it. The seal is inscribed with the two characters "緵薰" in Xixia seal script, which is translated into "leader" in Chinese. The strokes are heavy and thick, and the lines are flexible and powerful, with a white border. The top of the seal button is engraved with the Xixia character "滚", which is translated into "上" in Chinese to identify the direction of the seal. The right side of the seal button is engraved with the Xixia character "猜泊圈矪灯萰翆 (Tiansheng Bingxu 18th year)", and the left side is engraved with the Xixia character "緵薰膹腑没目眯 (leader Miebu Xiaogoushan)".
Unit 2
The second unit takes an economic perspective, explaining the recognition of Chinese culture reflected in Xixia's agriculture, animal husbandry, commerce, printing, porcelain making, metal casting and other economic industries. Through a large number of physical objects, the audience can closely experience the profound cultural integration reflected in Xixia artifacts.
Black-glazed carved four-handled flat pot, Ningxia Museum collection (first-class cultural relic)
After the establishment of Western Xia, it actively learned the porcelain-making technology of the Central Plains and developed the porcelain-making industry. It was deeply influenced by the Ding kiln system, Cizhou kiln system and Yaozhou kiln system of the Northern Song Dynasty, and gradually formed a ceramic system with its own characteristics.
Flat pots are common among Xixia porcelains, and are also the most ethnically distinctive objects. They are exquisitely made and produced in large quantities. The flat pots have two or four ears on both sides, which are convenient for threading a rope to lift or carry. Their shape may have evolved from the leather bag pots used by nomadic people to hold water. The ring foot on the belly of the flat pot serves to stabilize it. The Dangxiang people lived on horseback for a long time, and the flat pots were light and had a shape that was very suitable for carrying on horseback or camelback. They were the favorite daily utensils of the Dangxiang people.
Xixia carved gold bowl with peony pattern, Wuwei Museum collection (first-class cultural relic)
The metalware of Western Xia was exquisitely crafted and beautifully decorated, directly inheriting the smelting and forging technology of the Central Plains. The vessel has a wide mouth, flat rim, straight belly and flat bottom. The outer rim is decorated with two circles of fine string patterns, and the middle is decorated with a circle of winding branches and curling grass patterns; the outer circle of the bottom of the bowl is decorated with winding branches of plum blossoms, and the middle is decorated with round flowers; the round flower is centered on a broken branch of peony, surrounded by lotus, lotus pods, plum blossoms and flower and leaf patterns. It was unearthed in 1987 at the kiln storage site of Dongxiang, Dongda Street Office, Wuwei City, Wuwei District, Gansu Province (now Liangzhou District, Wuwei City).
Unit 3
Cultural identity is the core element and deep driving force of "Chinese" identity. The third unit shows the continuous enrichment of Chinese culture from four aspects: language and writing, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, diverse arts and clothing culture of Xixia society.
Remaining stele of Xixia Wenshou Mausoleum, Ningxia Museum (second-level cultural relic)
The broken stele was unearthed in 1975 at the site of the stele pavilion in the west of the No. 7 Mausoleum in the Xixia Mausoleum District of Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. It is made of white sandstone and was broken when it was unearthed. It was made up of five broken stele stones glued together. It is the one with the most Xixia characters after being pieced together. There are four lines of Xixia seal script engraved on both sides of the stele, with four characters in each line, which is translated into Chinese as "The Inscription of the Shouling of the Emperor of the Great White Gao Kingdom, the God (Saint) De Zhiyi, the Protector of the City". The characters on the stele are neatly written, with even and smooth strokes and a rigorous and full structure. The inscription provides strong physical evidence for identifying the owner of the Xixia Mausoleum. The main text of the tombstone is engraved in Xixia regular script, with a full and symmetrical structure, strong, upright and beautiful characters, and skilled chiseling. The side length of each character is about 3 cm, and the characters are painted in gold, and some strokes still have gold foil inside.
Gilded bronze statue of Manjusri Bodhisattva, collected by Ningxia Museum (first-class cultural relic)
After the establishment of Western Xia, the rulers vigorously promoted Buddhism, and Buddhism became the most important religious belief in Western Xia. The statue is gilded all over. It is 58.5 cm tall, 46.5 cm wide on the front, and 25.5 cm wide on the side. The upper part is Manjusri Bodhisattva, wearing a high crown, a round face, big ears hanging down to the shoulders, and eyes slightly closed. He is wearing a wide-sleeved tight-fitting celestial garment, a necklace on his chest, and a ribbon around his body. He holds a Ruyi in his hand, with his left hand on top and his right hand on the bottom. He sits cross-legged on a lotus seat, and a blanket with a pattern of a dragon playing with a pearl and a fire cloud pattern is placed under the lotus seat on the back of the green lion on the lower mount. The lion has wide eyes and a curled tail. The Bodhisattva looks peaceful, and the lion lies prone, showing a posture that is both docile and obedient, yet powerful and strong.
Painted clay Buddha head
This Buddha head is hollow in clay, with spiral hair on the top of the head and a white bun in the middle. The face has a square chin, raised eyebrows, and white hair between the eyebrows. The eyeballs are dark and shiny, and are made of black glaze. There are black "tear marks" on the lower eyelids. The Buddha's nose is high and straight, and the lips are closed. The thick lips are painted with ink lines to form a mustache, and the lower jaw is painted with ink lines to form sun, moon, and cloud-shaped patterns. The face was painted with white powder twice. A total of 6 such clay Buddha heads were unearthed from the Hongfo Pagoda. From the perspective of the shape of the Buddha head, it basically inherits the characteristics of Buddha statues in the Gandhara period. The face is round and full, the lines are majestic, and it is full of the legacy of Tang Dynasty statues. It is a typical material evidence of Xixia's absorption and inheritance of Tang culture. The black glaze in the Buddha's eyeballs overflowed due to the high temperature, like the tears shed by the Buddha out of compassion for the suffering of the world, making the Buddha statue more compassionate.
Unit 4
The last unit of the exhibition invites visitors to get close to the important cultural heritage - the Western Xia Tombs, and introduces its unique architectural form and rich cultural connotations through unearthed cultural relics and pictures and texts. It is worth mentioning that on the third floor of the West Building of the Shanghai History Museum, the "Mysterious Western Xia Tombs" large-space highly immersive experience project also provides visitors with the opportunity to join a journey of exploration.
Stone Carved Hercules Zhiwen Support, Collection of Ningxia Museum (First-Class Cultural Relic)
The Hercules support is a male figure in the round, with a round face, high cheekbones, thick eyebrows, wide-open and protruding eyes, a thick and short nose, exposed fangs, lower jaw placed on the chest, naked, with a bellyband on the abdomen, shoulders and head level, elbows bent back, hands on knees, lower limbs bent and kneeling, back straight. There are three lines of Xixia characters engraved on the upper right corner of the top of the seat, with a total of 15 characters. The first line has four characters, which are translated into Chinese as "小虫宽负", the second line has four characters, which are translated into Chinese as "志文支座", and the third line has seven characters, which are translated into Chinese as "瞻行通雕寫流". The back is engraved with Chinese characters "棋列匠高世昌", which is the name of the Xixia stone carving craftsman, and is extremely precious. At present, a total of 14 such supports have been unearthed from the Xixia Mausoleum, but this is the only one engraved with Chinese and Xixia characters, which is a proof of the integration of various ethnic cultures.
Red Pottery Kalavinka, Collection of Xixia Mausoleum Museum (Second-level Cultural Relic)
The object has a human head and a bird body, with a calm and peaceful expression, large breasts and a thin waist, and both hands clasped together in front of the chest. "Garuda" is a transliteration of Sanskrit, also translated as "pinga", which means "bird with beautiful voice", "bird with good voice" and "bird with wonderful voice". It offers and entertains the Buddhas with its beautiful voice and graceful dance. The earliest known Chinese garuda decoration appeared on the Northern Wei stone carvings. As Buddhism flourished in China during the Tang Dynasty, the use of garuda decorations became increasingly widespread, mostly appearing on murals and gold and silver wares. The Western Xia garuda image continued the tradition of the Tang Dynasty, and it is the first time that it has appeared as a building component in archaeological discoveries.