| In a reconstruction of Tangut history, focusing on the evolution of the Ta Hsia state in the 11th and 12th centuries, the large body of Soviet scholarship and Russian translation of Tangut-language source materials has been consulted along with reports of recent archeological findings and other Chinese and Japanese literature on Tangut studies. Thereby an attempt is made to present a narrative of Hsia history from the vantage point of the development of its characteristic political institutions. These are highly syncretic, and reflect the hybrid origins of Tangut society, the versatility of its ruling elite, and the success of their numerous adaptations to an unstable environment. After an introductory survey of the history of Tangut studies, the opening chapter examines the geographical setting of the Hsia state, reviews the debate over the ethnic origins of the Tangut ruling clan, and offers an English translation (from the Russian translation of the Tangut original) of the Tangut ancestral ode (12th century?). Next, the early history of the Tangut tribes in the 7th-10th centuries is summarized. Chapter Four relates the establishment of the imperial Hsia state in the 11th century, and the domestic ramifications of its foreign entanglements with Sung, Liao, and the Kokonor (Ch'ing-t'ang) Tibetans. Chapter Five focuses on the lengthy reign of the Tangut emperor Jen-tsung (r. 1139-93). In Chapter Six, information drawn from the Tangut legal code (translated into Russian but still unpublished) provides the foundation for a survey of the principle political institutions and governing structures of 12th century Hsia. To illustrate the importance of Buddhism at the Hsia court, a translation of the Chinese text of a bilingual stele inscription from Liang-chou (Wu-wei, Kansu) dated 1094 is included in an appendix. In general the Tanguts maintained a posture of political and cultural autonomy throughout their long history. Institutional borrowings from the Tibetans, Chinese, Khitans, et al were remolded to meet the needs of a state ruled by a semi-nomadic, militarized hereditary elite and sustained by a successful fusion of agriculture and nomadic pastoralism. |
