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Created page with "*''Dates: 1038-1211'' *''Chinese'': 西夏 ''(Xī Xià)'' The Western Xia, or Xi Xia, was a Tangut state controlling parts of Inner Mongolia and northwestern [[Ch..."
*''Dates: [[1038]]-[[1211]]''
*''Chinese'': 西夏 ''(Xī Xià)''

The Western Xia, or Xi Xia, was a [[Tangut]] state controlling parts of Inner Mongolia and northwestern [[China proper]] in the 11th to early 13th centuries. Its territory was located to the west of the [[Khitan]] [[Liao Dynasty]], the northwest of the Chinese [[Song Dynasty]], and north of [[Tibet]]. Though not known for balancing Sinification and nomadic steppe traditions as successfully as the Liao, Xi Xia is still known for its exquisite Buddhist sculpture.

Xi Xia invaded Song territory in [[Shanxi province]] in the year of its founding, in [[1038]], beginning a war with the Song which was to last until [[1044]]. During this time, the Song developed improved crossbows, gunpowder weapons, catapults, shields, and other projectile weapons. Eventually, the two sides achieved an agreement, by which the Song paid [[tribute]] to the Tanguts in exchange for peace, as the Song simultaneously did with the Khitans.

War with the Song broke out again in [[1080]]-[[1081]], and the Xi Xia continued to pose a threat to the Song until its fall to [[Mongol]] forces in [[1211]].

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==References==
*Conrad Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations'', Fourth Edition, Cengage Learning (2012), 194.

[[Category:Historical Periods]]
[[Category:Heian Period]]
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