The Dangxiang ethnic group, which was once glorious in the long history, is one of the important ethnic groups in the ancient northwest region. They belong to a branch of the Xiqiang ethnic group, so they are also called "Dangxiang Qiang". This nation not only occupies an important position in history, but also plays an indispensable role in the pluralistic and integrated pattern of the Chinese nation.
Tracing the origins of the Dangxiang people, we can find that the backbone of the Qiang people originated from the "Cizhi" or "Xizhi", which is located in the area of the Yellow River in the southeast of present-day Qinghai Province. In the process of historical evolution, the Dangxiang people have gradually formed their own unique culture, language and traditions. They are known for their bravery and warlikeness, but they also respect culture and knowledge, which is reflected in their social system and in their daily lives.
The Book of Sui and the Biography of the Dang Xiang records in detail the living customs and social forms of the Dang Xiang people. The text describes the tribes divided by surname, and each tribe varies in size, with the largest having more than 5,000 riders and the smaller ones having only more than 1,000 riders. They were armed and had no legal system, and the tribes lived independently and only gathered together in times of war. In normal times, they do not interact with each other and live a nomadic life, relying on yaks, sheep and pigs to make a living. Since there is no agriculture, they do not know how to grow crops.
Culturally, the early Dangxiang people were not engaged in agricultural production, but relied on animal husbandry. They had no writing or calendar, and judged the change of seasons only by the withering of plants and trees. They worship the gods and employ cremation to deal with the dead.
The party members were known for their bravery and belligerence. They emphasized the spirit of mutual assistance among fellow tribesmen, and the need to take revenge if a member of the clan was harmed by a foreigner. Before revenge, the victim is unkempt, barefoot, and abstains from meat until the enemy is killed. In addition, the party members especially advocate white, and call themselves "the big white country".
In the fourth year of Emperor Wen of Sui (584), more than 1,000 Qiang people from the party Xiang Xiang returned to the Sui State like wild geese. The following year, Tuoba Ningcong, the leader of the Dangxiang clan, led the tribes to Xuzhou (in present-day Lintan County, Gansu) and expressed their heartfelt wish to belong to the Sui Dynasty. The Sui Dynasty accepted it and entrusted Tuoba Ning Cong with the post of general, demonstrating his noble status. Since then, under the leadership of the Tuoba clan, the Qiang people began to slowly attach themselves to the Central Plains ** Dynasty.
During the Tang Dynasty, the Dangxiang people experienced two internal migrations, gradually living in eastern Gansu and northern Shaanxi, but they were still mainly scattered tribes. In order to better manage these party tribes, the Tang Dynasty set up a state of fetters in the places where the party gathered, and for the chiefs of the meritorious party tribes, they were appointed as state assassins or other official positions to motivate and appease them.
During the Huangchao Rebellion at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty called on troops from all over the country to come to support. The Youzhou Thorn Shi Tuoba Sigong of the Dangxiang clan responded to the call and led the army to the battle. In order to commend his loyalty and merits, Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty gave Tuoba Sigong the position of "Envoy of the Difficult Army", and later named him the Duke of Xia and gave him the surname Li.
This series of awards and appointments marked that the Dangxiang Tuoba clan group officially had its own territory and sphere of influence. Their territory included Xia, Yin (now southeast of Yulin, Shaanxi), Sui (now Suide), You (now Jingbiandong), Jing (now Mizhidong) and other five prefectures, and they became important feudal towns in the Tang Dynasty. Since then, under the protection of the Tang Dynasty, the Dangxiang Tuoba Group has gradually developed and grown, and finally left a strong mark in history.
During the Song Dynasty, Li Jiqian became the leader of the Dangxiang clan, and he bravely raised the banner of rebellion against the Song Dynasty. In order to better consolidate his dominance, Li Jiqian took a series of measures, the most important of which was to issue baldness orders. The purpose of this order is to unify the hairstyles of the Xiang people, so as to enhance the cohesion and centripetal force of the Xiang people. In carrying out this order, Li Jiqian showed his decisive and resolute leadership skills.
Under the leadership of Li Jiqian, the Dangxiang clan gradually developed and expanded, and gradually formed its own cultural characteristics. In the tenth year of Tiansheng in the Northern Song Dynasty (1032), Li Yuanhao, the son of Li Deming, inherited the throne of Xia Guogong. He showed a strong desire for independence and began to actively plot how to gain independence from the rule of the Song dynasty. In order to assert his uniqueness, he first abandoned the traditional surname Li in favor of his own name, a move that symbolized his break with the past and the beginning of a new era.
Just a year later, Li Yuanhao changed the Song Mingdao era name to Xiandao on the grounds of avoiding his father's name, a move that was significant because it was the first time that Western Xia adopted its own era name, marking its political independence. Over the next few years, he embarked on a series of nation-building projects. He built magnificent palaces, set up civil and military teams, formulated the dress system of officials and people, perfected the military system, and gave the army a mighty name.
A landmark event occurred in the third year of Jingyou of the Northern Song Dynasty (1036), when Li Yuanhao personally directed and referred to Chinese characters to create the Tangut script, and compiled a twelve-volume character book, positioning it as the "national book". This initiative greatly promoted the cultural development of Western Xia and laid a solid foundation for the cultural inheritance of the Dangxiang people. In the first year of Baoyuan in the Northern Song Dynasty (1038), Li Yuanhao finally reached the peak of his life. On October 11, he officially proclaimed himself emperor and established the Great Xia Kingdom, marking the official establishment of Western Xia. The newly born Western Xia Kingdom showed strong vitality and vast territory, with a territory of more than 20,000 li, east to the Yellow River, west to Yumen Pass, south to Xiao Pass, and north to the desert. At this time, Western Xia already owned the vast areas of the Alxa Gobi and Ordos grasslands in present-day Inner Mongolia and the Ba Meng and Baotou in the west.
In order to witness the history and glory of the Tangut Dynasty, many Tangut ruins have been discovered. Among them, the Baiyan Kiln Cave Temple in the Etuoke Banner of Ordos City, the Xixia Heicheng in the Ejina Banner of the Arab League, the Ancient City Tower of the Dalat Banner of Ordos City, and the Ancient City of the High Oil House in the Linhe River of the Ba League have all become witnesses of history. These ruins tell the glory and glory of Western Xia, and also give us a deeper understanding of that period of history. In the long history of China, the Western Xia Kingdom, founded by the Dangxiang people, was once a country with considerable political, economic and cultural development. However, over time, Genghis Khan unified the Mongol tribes and formed a powerful Mongol state power. The Mongol power gradually expanded into the land of China, and the Western Xia Kingdom became their only way to the Central Plains.
Under the leadership of Genghis Khan, the Mongols launched a series of wars against the Western Xia. These wars brought great disasters to the Western Xia, and their national power gradually weakened. Finally, in the second year of Baoyi (1227), the last emperor of Western Xia, Li Wei, was forced to surrender to the Mongol Khanate. However, Genghis Khan died shortly after Li Wei's surrender, but the Mongols kept it secret to prevent the Western Xia from repenting. After Li Li surrendered, the Great Khan of Ogedai killed him according to Genghis Khan's will, and the Western Xia royal family and even the entire Dangxiang clan were also exterminated. This event marked the demise of Western Xia.
After the fall of the Western Xia, the Tuoba nobles of the Xia Kingdom led some of the people to migrate to Muya, a Tibetan area in the area of Ganzi in present-day Sichuan, and re-established the Western Wu Kingdom. This historical Western Wu Kingdom has been verified by experts to be the continuation of the Western Xia Kingdom. Although the Western Wu Kingdom did not leave a deep imprint in history like the Western Xia, as a continuation of the Western Xia Kingdom, it carried the history and culture of the Dangxiang people to a certain extent.
To this day, the legend of the King of Western Wu is still circulating in the Ganzi area of Sichuan. These legends not only enrich the local cultural heritage, but also provide valuable clues for us to understand the history and culture of the Dangxiang people.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, scholars have been fascinated by the traces of the remnants of the party after the fall of the Western Xia, and their research has been like a beacon that illuminates the long history of the demise of this nation. Through these explorations, we can get a glimpse of how this nation has gradually disappeared and turned into dust in the vicissitudes of history. This period of history is not only a mournful elegy, but also a magnificent historical picture.
After the fall of Western Xia, it seemed to disappear without a trace in the long river of history. Their splendid culture and unique Tangut script were deeply buried in the thick loess of the northwest and the few wrecks left. If you are fortunate enough to understand this amazing history, if you can also meditate quietly under the wreckage of the Xixia Tombs, and feel the vicissitudes and magnificence of history, then you seem to be in dialogue with heaven and earth, and tell those indescribable stories with the Xixia Tombs under the Helan Mountain. At this moment, your heart will be filled with an endless sense of desolation.
In the torrent of history, the Dangxiang people withered like autumn leaves. Under the butcher's knife of the Mongolian iron horseman, the blood was filled, and the land where they once lived together was scorched. Those people of the Dangxiang tribe who escaped death by luck are like lost lonely geese, intertwined with other ethnic groups and jointly weaved a new chapter of life. Time flies, time flies, and they gradually melt and assimilate into the arms of the Tibetans, Mongolians, and Hui, and can no longer distinguish each other.
In the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu (1908), a special team appeared on the land of China. The team, led by Lieutenant Colonel Kozlov of the Russian Navy, received permission from the Qing to conduct geographical expeditions, but in reality, they came to search for treasures and artifacts from all over the world. The civilization they excavated from Heishui City, which was later called "Western Xia Studies", made people re-understand a national culture in the Middle Ages on the land of China. However, it is heart-wrenching that most of the Tangut artifacts have since fallen into the hands of collectors in Russia and abroad, which is undoubtedly a great loss to Chinese civilization.
In 1987, Shi Jinbo of the Institute of Ethnic Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Li Fan Wen of the Ningxia Academy of Social Sciences embarked on a trip to visit the Soviet Union as Chinese scholars. In that cold winter, they braved the coldest weather in Leningrad for 50 years and bravely entered the reading room of the Special Collections Department of the Institute of Oriental Studies. There, they witnessed the full extent of Tangut documents, which were well preserved in 12 tall and wide bookcases, like precious texts from the Middle Ages of China.
It is very gratifying to note that the documents are quite well preserved, and some of them, although broken, can still be repaired and mattred. Chinese academics and publishers have seized this rare opportunity to carry out in-depth research with the St. Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the possibility of jointly publishing Blackwater literature.
The negotiation process was full of twists and turns, but in the end it was a bright moment. In April 1993, the Chinese joint working group went to Russia twice to sort out and compile the literature on the spot, and achieved complete success. After returning to China, on the basis of the research results of Russian scholars, the Chinese experts conducted an in-depth analysis of the photographs of the documents they brought back, studied the origins, distinguished the academic chapters, conjugated and cut the spells, determined the topic and determined the date, and carefully printed them. It is very emotional that documents that have been dusted for nearly a century have finally been resurfaced. These precious documents are not only treasures of Chinese history and culture, but also an important part of human civilization.