Silk Road Photo Gallery - Xixia Museum

Yinchuan was once the capital of the Western Xia dynasty, an empire ruled by the Tangut tribe from the 11th-13th century. Don't confuse that with China's Xia Dynasty, as the Tangut had named their kingdom after the original Xia.

The Western Xia modeled their government after the Chinese Song Dynasty, although they used a different, more complicated writing system.

The empire had 12 emperors and 9 mausoleum titles, with the last 3 emperors not earning any title. The assumption is they died during the empire's decline and mausoleums weren't built for them.

The first leader buried here was Li Jiqian in 1004 at the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains. The Western Xia dynasty was founded in 1038 and the royal tombs became imperial mausoleums.

Genghis Khan and his Mongol army invaded and destroyed the Western Xia in 1227, inflicting major damage to the mausoleum and it stayed abandoned for the next 700 years. Surveys of the area were carried out in 1972, triggering archaeological excavations that would last into the subsequent decades.

The site is vast so I recommend heading to the 3rd mausoleum first to explore the area, then return back to the 2-storey museum to check out the dynasty's history. The museum is located on the east side of the site and opened in 2019 after a relocation.

The dynasty imitated its government system on the Song Dynasty, so the artifacts on show come from a combination of Western Xia and Song periods.

The Tangut script was invented by an official in 1036, just 2 years before Western Xia was established. There are over 6000 characters in total, which look similar to Chinese but are distinctly different.

While the Tangut worshipped nature and also believed in sorcery, Buddhism was promoted during this time as well with many temples and pagodas built.

Along the Silk Road corridor, there are caves with beautiful Buddhist paintings, and this museum has re-created a few scenes here.

Agriculture was the main industry with tools and techniques from the Central Plains used, supported by water conservation works. They traded with the Song for tea, grain, silk, cloth, and copper.

Western Xia had rich salt resources and it was exported to China.

Here is a map of the vast mausoleum site with the imperial tombs marked.