Ruins of the Western Xia Summer Palace

Ruins of the Western Xia Summer Palace

The Ruins of the Western Xia Summer Palace is a cultural tourism attraction.

Introduction: Traveling north along National Highway 110 to Shangmiao Township in Pingluo County, take the west-side fork and head up to the entrance of the Dashuigou Valley in the Helan Mountains. On the right side of the valley entrance stands an earthen platform 66 meters high and 133.2 meters wide at the base, which locals call "General Mu Guiying’s Command Platform." Experts have confirmed it as the ruins of a summer palace built by Li Yuanhao of the Western Xia Dynasty.

According to the "Chronicles of the Western Xia": In the tenth year of the Tian Shou Li Fa Yan Zuo era (1047), the first emperor of the Western Xia, Li Yuanhao of the Weiming clan, arranged the marriage of his son Ninglingge to a woman named Moyi. But upon seeing how beautiful his daughter-in-law was, he took her as his own empress. He then constructed a summer palace east of the Dashuigou Valley in the Helan Mountains. The palace featured towers over ten zhang (approx. 33 meters) high, where he often held banquets with his concubines. Research by the Ningxia Museum has confirmed that the ruins of the Western Xia Summer Palace are located on both sides of the entrance to Dashuigou Valley, 45 kilometers southwest of Pingluo County. The site stretches about 4 kilometers from north to south.

The site features dozens of architectural terraces. On the southern side of the valley entrance, there are more than ten building platforms, among which the largest is over 100 meters long and around 70 meters wide front to back, standing about 12 meters above ground. The smallest measures over 20 meters long and 10 meters wide front to back, about 8 meters high. Other terraces vary in height between 5 to 15 meters. On the northern side of the valley entrance, there are three groups of architectural terraces: The first group consists of upper and lower levels—the lower level is nearly 100 meters long north to south and stands about 30 meters high. The second group lies north of the first, built along a 200-meter-long mountainside, divided into four levels from bottom to top, with the top level about 100 meters above the ground, each terrace being about 60 meters wide. The third group is located northeast of the second group, built along a 500-meter slope, with three separate terraces. All terrace surfaces are relatively flat, their rear edges cut vertically into the hillside to form a right angle with the terrace surface, while the front edges are built with block stones forming straight walls. Stone staircases are built on either side or in the center. Numerous architectural remnants from the Western Xia period—glass bricks, roof tiles, ridge ornaments, tile ends, and water spouts—have been found across the terraces and nearby areas. Coins from the Western Xia and Song dynasties have also been unearthed here.

Beneath the ruins of the Western Xia Summer Palace, Western Xia coin hoards and a large quantity of architectural components such as bricks and tiles have been excavated multiple times. About 1 kilometer into the mountain pass lies a largely intact section of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall. Three kilometers away is the site of an ancient temple known as "Shangmiao" (Upper Temple), surrounded by numerous cliff paintings left by ancient nomadic peoples. A mountain spring flows year-round at the valley entrance. The surrounding cliffs are steep, the forest lush, and the air fresh, making it a great spot for hiking and outdoor trips.

Shizuishan City, Ningxia