Xi Xia

This article examines how dynasties applied the Five Elements theory in their respective legitimation discourses throughout the history of imperial China. Drawing on both documentary and visual sources, I reveal that the Liao, Jin, and Yuan rulers constructed different dynastic lineages that challenged the “orthodox” dynastic succession pattern formulated by Han Chinese dynasties. In particular, I will show that the Yuan tacitly invoked Metal as its dynastic element and white as its imperial color. I argue that the Yuan choice of dynastic element essentially claimed succession to the Jurchen Jin, another non-Han conquest dynasty, rather than to the Song as scholars have previously assumed. However, these constructions were later negated by the Ming dynasty, which restored a purely Han Chinese dynastic lineage that excluded the Liao, Jin, and Yuan. These ideological conflicts, which were ultimately grounded in ethnic tensions between Han and non-Han peoples, eventually led to the disappearance of the Five Element theory in the Qing political rhetoric. This article sheds new light on understanding how a dynasty engaged its cultural heritage and ethnic background in its political ideology and how it perceived its own place in the Chinese dynastic lineage.

(Images provided further)
The Xi Xia kingdom, extending from the Gansu to the Ordos, was established as an independent regime in 1038 and lasted until 1227. As the great neighbor of the Song Chinese, Tibetan, Liao and Jin kingdoms, Xi Xia played a crucial role in the region and had strong economic and political influence. Yet, few mentioning of Xi Xia is found in historical records, and its existence would have been largely ignored without, among other archeological discoveries, the Russian expedition of 1907-1909. This expedition, led by Captain Kozlov, excavated the city of Khara Khoto. Among the most exciting finds was a stupa containing printed manuscripts, statues and Buddhist paintings.
This thesis focuses on the Buddhist prints excavated by Kozlov as a preliminary attempt to reconstruct the Xi Xia’s religious practices as well as its socio-cultural and political organizations. Because the prints’ style and iconography blend various Chinese, Tibetan, and Central Asian elements, they will also serve as a base to better understand the cultural exchanges and political relations between Xi Xia and its neighbors, and more specifically the Chinese and Tibetans.

The Mongol adoption of Tibetan Buddhism has been traditionally ascribed almost solely to missionary activities of Tibetan clerics. Recent scholarship, however, has revealed a more complex picture, which shows the Xi Xia background of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia and Yuan China. This essay aims to highlight the Xi Xia traits in Sino-Tibetan art of the Yuan Dynasty. In addition, it challenges the notion of the existence of a dominating Nepalese style-based tradition, allegedly established within the Yuan Imperial workshops by Anige (also known as Aniko and Arniko/Araniko). Full article can be found online http://www.asianart.com/articles/xi-xia/

(This contains only the images from the thesis. See previous download for the text)
The Xi Xia kingdom, extending from the Gansu to the Ordos, was established as an independent regime in 1038 and lasted until 1227. As the great neighbor of the Song Chinese, Tibetan, Liao and Jin kingdoms, Xi Xia played a crucial role in the region and had strong economic and political influence. Yet, few mentioning of Xi Xia is found in historical records, and its existence would have been largely ignored without, among other archeological discoveries, the Russian expedition of 1907-1909. This expedition, led by Captain Kozlov, excavated the city of Khara Khoto. Among the most exciting finds was a stupa containing printed manuscripts, statues and Buddhist paintings.
This thesis focuses on the Buddhist prints excavated by Kozlov as a preliminary attempt to reconstruct the Xi Xia’s religious practices as well as its socio-cultural and political organizations. Because the prints’ style and iconography blend various Chinese, Tibetan, and Central Asian elements, they will also serve as a base to better understand the cultural exchanges and political relations between Xi Xia and its neighbors, and more specifically the Chinese and Tibetans.

A brief sketch of the history of Russian Tangut studies, full of brilliant minds and tragic fates.
I have to apologise - on p. 237 I repeat the Nevsky's version about translation of  Lotus sutra made by some unknown Chinese reader and used by Morisse. Thanks to M. West I know now that it wasn't true - as wrote P. Pelliot, which was a witness of this sutra's finding, it was found without any marks, all Chinese translations were add by Morisse himself. The only help (but huge!) was a piece of paper on which was indicated in Chinese, that it's a Tangut text of Lotus sutra.
And, in addition, this White pagoda it's not 白塔寺, but a pagoda in Beihai park.

隨著近年來新文物的出土、古籍圖書的整理出版、以及跨學科思潮的激蕩，中古中國的視覺文化研究正在蓬勃發展中。本次演講擬介紹一類目前尚未為學界充分運用的視覺材料：十至十五世紀期間製作、爲數可觀的佛教木刻版畫，其中包括西北及北方中國考古發掘的西夏、遼、金、元佛經，佛臟及佛塔内發現的宋、金、明佛經，以及歷代官方及民間刊刻的數版《大藏經》等。這批材料，不論從印刷出版史、科技史、書籍史、宗教史、中外關係史、物質文化史、藝術史的角度檢驗，都是極爲珍貴的知識及文化載體，值得對之進行系統性整理、納入跨學科研究的視覺資料庫。這些曾被大量刊刻流傳的佛教版畫，保留了與古代中國其它視覺媒材（如繪畫、石刻、印章、畫像磚）相關的信息。木刻版畫易于複製，便于攜帶，因此隨著政治、宗教網絡的擴散及交錯，成爲影響深遠的跨國圖源，不僅流傳至日韓諸國，促進周邊文化、區域間的交流，而且藉由黨項人、蒙古人、回鶻人等草原民族，跨越了漢字文化圈，影響遠達與中國不直接相連的文化圈（如伊斯蘭文化圈）。本次報告大綱，就以「木刻與其它視覺媒材之異同」、「木刻的標準化製作」、「木刻在中國與周邊之流傳」等議題爲主，檢討佛教木刻如何為吾人探索文化流變開創新的視野。

The article continues to acquaint readers with results of the study of a xylograph from Khara-Khoto found by Pyotr Kozlov during the Mongol-Sichuan Expedition (1907 - 1909). The author analyzes short dhāraṇīs and mantras included in the xylograph SI 6563 and points out commonly occuring errors in this reconstruction. The transliteration of the dhāraṇīs text is given.

ISBN 978-84-941099-7-3

Desde tiempos inmemoriales Asia ha sido la cuna de numerosos imperios pero, de entre todos ellos, llegando a abarcar desde el Pacífico hasta el Mediterráneo y desde Siberia hasta el Índico, los mongoles crearon el más extenso y poderoso que ha conocido la Historia. Sería el noble Temujin, del clan Borjigin, quien encabezó dicha hazaña al ostentar por vez primera el título de Gengis Kan o Gran Kan. Unió al, hasta entonces, dividido pueblo mongol y convirtió a sus habitantes, nómadas pastores de las estepas (Lane, 2006: 17), en los guerreros más temidos de la Edad Media. Reinos e imperios cayeron a sus pies, tras vencerlos en incontables batallas, obteniendo los mongoles riquezas sin fin. Gracias a diversos cronistas árabes, chinos, rusos, etc., contamos con un conocimiento relativamente amplio y veraz de su historia, aunque la fuente principal procede de la Historia Secreta de los Mongoles, obra de autor desconocido y compilada quizá alrededor del año 1226, un año antes de la muerte del Gran Kan, que junto a numerosas leyendas recoge la tradición oral de los sucesos que narraremos.