Western Xia Tombs

　　  The Western Xia Tombs are the burial sites of the emperors of the Western Xia Dynasty. The tomb complex stretches approximately 4 kilometers from east to west and 10 kilometers from north to south. Within this area of over 40 square kilometers, there are 8 imperial mausoleums and more than 70 accompanying tombs. Each mausoleum is a standalone, complete architectural complex with largely similar layouts, most covering an area of over 100,000 square meters. The orientation of the mausoleums is slightly east of due south. The ground structures of each tomb include watchtowers, gate towers, stele pavilions, outer walls, inner walls, offering halls, tower-shaped spirit platforms, and spirit walls. The overall layout follows the traditional Chinese pattern of a north-south central axis with symmetrical left and right sides.

　　  At the four corners of the mausoleum complex are watchtowers, while the gate towers are positioned at the front, symmetrically on both sides. The center of the southern wall of the inner city features a gate, where artifacts such as ridge ornaments and roof tiles have been unearthed, indicating that a grand gatehouse once stood above the gateway. Inside the inner city lies the site of an offering hall, where the emperors of the Western Xia conducted ancestral worship. In the northwest corner of the inner city stands a tall, tower-like "spirit platform."

　　  From an overall plan perspective, the layout of the Western Xia Tombs incorporates fundamental characteristics of Tang Dynasty imperial mausoleums while also adopting certain architectural arrangements from Song Dynasty imperial tombs, merging the two styles. Between 1972 and 1975, excavation work was carried out on Tomb No. 8 (an imperial tomb) and three accompanying tombs. In front of the underground chamber of the imperial tomb lies a sloping passageway stretching 49 meters in length, leading to a square burial chamber that is narrower in the front and wider at the back, with side chambers on both sides and a depth of about 25 meters. Although the tomb was looted in ancient times, numerous artifacts were still excavated, including gold ornaments, silver-inlaid items, bamboo carvings, bronze armor fragments, pearls, and shards of porcelain. The three accompanying tombs feature either stairway or sloped passageways, with square earthen burial chambers, and commonly included sacrificial objects such as bronze cattle and stone horses. Based on the excavated Chinese stone tablet fragments and other relics found in these tombs, it is believed that this imperial tomb may belong to Emperor Li Zunxu, the eighth ruler of the Western Xia Dynasty.

　　  A large number of fragmentary stone tablets inscribed in both the Western Xia script and Chinese characters have also been unearthed in the Western Xia Tombs. For example, over 1,700 fragments were recovered from the stele pavilion of the Shouling Mausoleum of Emperor Li Renxiao, the fifth ruler of the Western Xia. The Chinese stone tablets are inscribed in regular script, reflecting the strong and graceful style of the Liu-style calligraphy from the late Tang Dynasty, with skilled and refined carving techniques. The Western Xia tablets are written in either regular or seal script. The seal script is used only for the tablet headings, while the regular script is elegant and skillfully executed, demonstrating a high level of calligraphic artistry. (National Cultural Heritage Administration)