Xixia

Xixia

Xixia (1038-1227) was a dynasty established in Northwest China by Dangxiang people in Chinese history, calling itself bangniding state or dabaigao state. Because it was in the northwest, Song people called it Xixia. In the early stage, it coexisted with Liao and Northern Song Dynasty, and in the late stage, it coexisted with Jin Dynasty. After ten emperors, he enjoyed the country for 189 years. From 881, when Li Sigong was appointed as the special envoy of Dingnan army, Li's regime lasted for 346 years.

At the end of Tang Dynasty, Li Sigong, the leader of Dangxiang Tuoba, was granted the title of five prefectures for his meritorious service in pacifying Huang Chao. Dangxiang successively submitted to the Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty. After the annexation of Wuzhou by the Northern Song Dynasty, Li Jiqian left to start his own business and was granted the title of King Xia by the Liao Dynasty in 1990. They occupied the Hexi Corridor in succession. In 1038, Li Yuanhao became emperor and founded the country. Xixia won the Song Xia war and Liao Xia war, forming a situation of Three Kingdoms. From Xia Yizong to chongzong, the power was in the hands of Liang's mother party. Because of the confrontation between the imperial party and its mother party, the Western Xia Dynasty was in civil strife. After the rise of Jin Dynasty, Xixia changed to submit to Jin Dynasty. During the reign of Xia Renzong, there were natural disasters and the event of Ren Dejing dividing the country, but after the reform, there was a prosperous age in the reign of Tian Sheng. The great Mongolia in Mobei rose, and Xixia finally died in Mongolia in 1227.

Xixia covers an area of more than 20000 Li in today's Ningxia, Gansu, northeastern Qinghai, western Inner Mongolia and Northern Shaanxi. In terms of external relations, he was a minister to the Liao, song and Jin Dynasties on the surface, but in fact he was an independent emperor at home. In the early stage, there were frequent wars with Liao and Northern Song Dynasty, which maintained the situation of three kingdoms' confrontation. In the later stage, they stood side by side with Jin Dynasty and were threatened by Mongolia in the end.

From Li Jiqian in the early Song Dynasty to the founding of Li Yuanhao, Dangxiang society completed the transformation period from clan commune ownership to feudal ownership. The founding of Yuanhao marked the change from slavery to feudal lords. After qianshun, Yuanhao entered the feudal landlord system, mainly in agriculture and animal husbandry. Since the late Qing Dynasty, the archaeological research on Xixia has been developing and formed a very popular topic

Xixia studies

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Overview picture source: Atlas of ancient Chinese history

National name

In the Tang Dynasty, Zhenwu Shuo was divided into two sections, and xiazhou was set as the governor of xiazhou, which was in the northwest of Hengshan County in Shaanxi Province. After the outbreak of the Huangchao uprising in the late Tang Dynasty, Li Sigong and Li Xiaochang, who ruled Fuzhou (now Fuxian County in Shaanxi Province), swore to beg for thieves. Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty took him as the general of zuowuwei and had the right to know about Xia Suiyin's festival. After Huang Chao was pacified, Li Sigong paid homage to the governor of xiazhou and granted him the title of "Duke of Xia".

After the establishment of Xixia, it called itself "bang Ni Ding state" or "Bai Da Da Xia state" and the Western Dynasty. Wu Tianlong, an expert in Xixia history, believes that bangnidingguo is probably the Xixia transliteration of the Chinese character "baishangguo". The rulers of the Western Xia Dynasty called their country "the white kingdom", which was recorded in literature and proved by cultural relics. At the same time, it is also known as Hexi, because it is located in the northwest of China and is historically known as Xixia.

history

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Early ancestors

Dangxiang, the ancestor of Xixia, originally lived in Songpan plateau of Sichuan Province. The historical origin of Xixia can be traced back to the early Tang Dynasty. Dangxiang is a branch of the Qiang nationality. The Sui book states that "Dangxiang Qiang people are also after Sanmiao.". According to the old book of the Tang Dynasty: "Dangxiang Qiang Other species of Qiang in Western Han Dynasty. After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the Western Qiang were weak, either in China or in the mountains. Since Zhou's extermination of Tang (t à n) Chang and Deng Zhi, Dangxiang began to be strong. "

During the Tang Dynasty, Dangxiang Qiang and Tuyuhun, who lived on the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, often united against Tubo. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, Tuyuhun was destroyed by Tubo. Dangxiang Qiang, who lost his attachment, asked for it and was resettled in Songzhou (now Songpan, Sichuan) by Tang Dynasty. The later Dangxiang Qiang people gradually developed into several large tribes, among which the Tuoba clan, the leader of the alliance, only occupied the southeast of Qinghai and the south of Gansu.

During the Kaiyuan period of Tang Dynasty, Dangxiang, who lived in the southeast of Qinghai Province and the south of Gansu Province, was attacked by the Tubo army. He asked Tang Xuanzong for help and was moved to Qingzhou (now Qingyang City, Gansu Province).

After the Anshi Rebellion (755-763), Guo Ziyi was afraid of the trouble caused by these ethnic minorities, and suggested that the emperor of Tang Dynasty should move the Tuoba chaoguang tribe in Qingzhou to the north of Yinzhou and the east of xiazhou. This area was the old place of Daxia, which was called pingxia at that time. Therefore, this part of Dangxiang Qiang became the pingxia tribe, which was the ancestor of Xixia royal family in the future.

Five separate states

In Tang Dynasty, Li Sigong, the leader of the Dangxiang department, was granted the title of governor of xiazhou by the imperial court. He once regained Chang'an because of his contributions to the pinghuangchao uprising, and was again granted the surname of Li and the title of "Duke of Xia". From then on, Tuoba Sigong and his descendants with the surname of Li became local vassal forces with the Duke of Xia. This part of the party Xiang Qiang armed forces is also known as the "Dingnan army". At this time, it officially owned Yinzhou (Mizhi County, Shaanxi), xiazhou (Hengshan County, Shaanxi), Suizhou (Suide County, Shaanxi), Yuzhou (Jingbian County, Shaanxi) and Jingzhou (West Mizhi County, Shaanxi).

During the period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, no matter who was in power in the Central Plains, the Li family "bowed to the throne" in exchange for the dominant position and a large number of rewards. During this period, Xixia was very cautious in dealing with the complicated diplomatic relations with the Shatuo regime in the later Tang, later Jin, and later Han Dynasties, the Liao Dynasty established with Yelv abaoji, and the Song Dynasty.

After more than two hundred years of construction, pingxia area is very rich. Feimei ranch, with dijinze area in the south of Ordos as the core, and Qiliping agricultural area at the junction of Xia Dynasty and Song Dynasty as the representative, provided a large amount of cattle, sheep, grain and grass for Xixia. At the same time, Ordos was also rich in superior green salt which could be used as currency at that time, so the Dangxiang power of pingxia gradually expanded. Although Taizu of Song Dynasty seized the military power of the vassal towns, he was still lenient to the northwest ethnic minorities, "Xu's hereditary". When xiazhou governor Li Jibao came to power, the situation changed. Because Li Jibang couldn't solve the internal contradictions of his family, in 982, he personally led his people to Beijing to meet the emperor of Song Dynasty, and voluntarily offered four prefectures and eight counties, namely, Yin, Xia, Sui and you. Li Jibang's younger brother, Li Jiqian, refused to enter Beijing and fled. They fled to dijinze (now Bayannaoer, YIKEZHAO League, Inner Mongolia) three hundred miles northeast of xiazhou, where they gathered forces to harass the border of Song Dynasty.

In the second year of Yongxi reign (985), Li jichong, the brother of Li Jiqian's clan, trapped song general Cao Guangshi, occupied Yinzhou, conquered Huizhou (Jingyuan, Gansu Province), and fell out with Song Dynasty. He also asked Liao to surrender and was granted the title of king of Xia by Qidan people. In the second year of Zhidao (996), Li Jiqian seized 400000 grain and grass from the song army, and then sent out a large army to encircle Lingwu City. Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty was so angry that he sent the fifth Route Army to attack Xia, and all of them were defeated. After the collapse of Song Taizong, song Zhenzong ascended the throne and ceded Xia, Sui, Yin, you (Jingbian, Shaanxi) and Jing (Mizhi, Shaanxi) to Li Jiqian in order to make peace. In fact, he recognized the independent status of Xixia.

In 1002, Li Jiqian led the tribes to capture Lingzhou, an important town of the Song Dynasty, and changed its name to xipingfu. Later, he captured Liangzhou, an important town in the northwest, cutting off the trade between the Song Dynasty and the western regions, cutting off the tribute from the western regions to the song Dynasty, and forbidding the western regions to sell horses to the Song Dynasty, which seriously affected the national defense construction of the Song Dynasty. During his alliance with Tubo, Li Jiqian was intrigued by Tubo people. He was shot by a crossbow and died at the age of 42.

Rejuvenating and founding the country

After Li Deming succeeded to the throne, he devoted himself to the development of Hexi Corridor, attacking Tubo in the South and Uighur in the west, which greatly expanded the living space of Dangxiang Qiang people. Li Deming believed that Xiping Prefecture was located in the four fortresses, which was not conducive to defense and was not as favorable as Huaiyuan. In 1020, he Chengzhen, the Minister of state, was sent to lead his officers to build the city by crossing the Yellow River to the north, and to build the palace and the ancestral clan land. The capital was set here, which was named Xingzhou. He was still a minister to the song and Liao dynasties, but he was completely imperial at home. And wait for the opportunity to develop westward. In a few years, the West attacked Tubo and Uighur, and seized Xiliang Prefecture, Ganzhou, Guazhou, Shazhou and other places. Its sphere of influence extended to Yumenguan and the whole Hexi corridor.

In 1032, Li Yuanhao, the son of Li Deming, took over the throne of Xia and began to actively prepare to leave the Song Dynasty. He first abandoned the surname Li and called himself Wei. In the second year, in the name of avoiding father's taboo, the name of Dao in song and Ming Dynasties was changed to Xiandao, and Xixia began to use its own name. In the following years, he built a palace, established a civil and military class, stipulated the dress of the officials and the people, established the military system, established the name of the army, created his own national characters (Xixia), and issued the bald order. And sent troops to capture three strategic areas of Tubo, namely, Guazhou, Shazhou and Suzhou. In this way, Yuanhao already has Xia, Yin, Sui, you, Jing, Ling, Hui, Sheng, Gan, Liang, Gua, Sha and Su prefectures, namely, northern Ningxia, small part of Gansu, Northern Shaanxi, Eastern Qinghai and part of Inner Mongolia.

On October 11, 1038, the first year of Baoyuan in Song Dynasty, Li Yuanhao called himself Emperor and founded the country as Daxia. The Song Dynasty was unwilling to recognize Li Yuanhao as an emperor, and issued an imperial edict to "deprive officials of their surnames" and stop trading. Li Yuanhao frequently sent detailed works to the border to spy on military intelligence, and incited Dangxiang people and Han people in the Song Dynasty to attach to Xia. He publicly cut off the diplomatic contacts between Xixia and Song Dynasty, sent "gashu" to Song Dynasty, and accused Song Dynasty of treachery and mocked song army for corruption and incompetence. At last, it shows that Xixia is willing to make peace with Song Dynasty. The war between Xia and song was inevitable.

The Northern Song Dynasty

After Li Yuanhao became emperor, the Song court was very angry, and the relationship between the two sides broke down. In the following years, Yuan Hao launched four major battles, including the battle of sanchuankou, the battle of haoshuichuan, the battle of linfufeng, and the battle of dingchuanzhai, and annihilated tens of thousands of elite people in the northwest of the song army. In 1044, he defeated Liao Xingzong who carried 100000 elite imperial drivers to fight in the battle of Hequ. At this time, the total strength of Xixia was about 500000.

After the defeat of Song Dynasty and Liao Dynasty, Yuan Hao indulged in wine and sex and enjoyed great achievements, which led to the corruption of Xixia

Chinese PinYin : Xi Xia