Editor's note: This article is part of CGTN's "China in Ink" project, which brings the tremendous world of classic Chinese literature to the fingertips of global audiences.

To the west of Yinchuan City, beneath the watchful presence of the Helan Mountains in northwestern China, several enigmatic mounds rise abruptly from the barren plain. Winds laden with sand howl across the landscape, rendering them nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding desert and the jagged cliffs afar.

Traces of human design ripple across the mounds and the wider landscape. They hint at a large, concealed purpose but divulge nothing outright. It is the historical records that offer some clues.

In 1972, a group of construction workers stumbled upon fragments of pottery shards. As they explored deeper, some weathered bricks and artifacts graced with calligraphic prints and ornamental designs revealed themselves. The chance discovery grew into years of archaeological investigation, until the mounds yielded their secret at last, hidden for nearly a millennium: an imperial tomb complex belonging to a long-obscured empire Xixia (1038-1227).

In early July, the site earned a place on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List, drawing renewed attention to a storm-tossed chapter of Chinese history – one marked by splendor and strife, played out against the desert, oases and mountains across the vast landscape of China's northwest.

The story of Xixia begins with the rise of the Tangut, or Dangxiang, an ancient Chinese ethnic group that once roamed the vast reaches of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. They remained on the margins of recorded history until the 7th century. The "Book of Sui," compiled after the dynasty's fall in 618, offers the earliest glimpses, describing Tangut clans of varying scale, some said to command as many as 5,000 horsemen. A record of "Tangut rebellion" in 566 suggests deeper, earlier entanglements between the nomadic tribes and the settled powers of the Yellow River basin.

In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Tangut tribes were drawn into a closer orbit around the imperial power. Prominent clans began settling along the empire's western fringes. They were granted political autonomy by the court in capital Chang'an. Though intermittent clashes persisted, Tangut elites steadily expanded their influence within the Tang's political and military spheres. When the dynasty was left fractured in the wake of the devastating An Lushan Rebellion (755-763), the Tanguts seized the moment to press for greater territory. The newly claimed lands laid the foundation for the future Tangut empire. 

After the Tang Dynasty collapsed in 907, China plunged once again into fragmentation, with short-lived regimes rising and falling in rapid succession. Amid this chaos, the Tanguts not only held their ground but steadily expanded their influence, skillfully navigating the shifting alliances and rivalries of the time. Stability remained elusive until the rise of the Song Dynasty in 960, which was known more for its cultural brilliance than military might. The moment Tangut's leaders had long awaited was finally at hand.

In 1038, Li Yuanhao, already crowned king of Xia, proclaimed his realm an empire, setting it in bold rivalry with both the Song to the east and the Khitan-led Liao Empire to the north. He established his capital in Xingqing, present-day Yinchuan, anchoring his rule in the heart of northwest China. Historically this dynasty is referred to as Xixia, or Western Xia. 

Li Yuanhao aspired to strengthen a distinct Tangut identity. However, despite his efforts, the imprint left on the evolution of the Xixia empire after centuries of close interactions with the Sui, Tang and Song was simply too deep to erase. The emperor commissioned the creation of a Tangut script, which was structurally modeled on Chinese characters. Administratively and ceremonially, Xixia mirrored much from Song. The capital city of Xingqing drew inspiration from the urban planning of Chang'an. Even the royal mausoleum complex – begun at Li Yuanhao's command and now resting as silent ruins within the UNESCO World Heritage Site west of Yinchuan – was built in alignment with the hierarchical burial traditions of the Song Dynasty.

Li Yuanhao's reign was eventually brought to an abrupt end by his assassination, but the dynasty's magnificence lived on. 1146 marked the zenith of the empire's territorial reach. It covered a vast expanse in northern China, including all present-day Ningxia, most of Gansu, northern Shaanxi, the southwestern reaches of Inner Mongolia, the northeastern corner of Qinghai, and parts of what is now Xinjiang.

Beneath Xixia's impressive rise, internal power struggles persisted, clouding imperial succession and weakening the state from within. Meanwhile, conflicts with neighboring dynasties never fully subsided. Xixia had to juggle its diplomatic priorities constantly as political tides quickly shifted in the region. In 1125, the Liao Dynasty fell to the rising Jurchen Jin. Two years later, the Song court, reeling from military defeat and the capture of two emperors at the hands of Jin, fled south to reestablish its capital. None of Xixia's major military campaigns brought lasting security. The balance of power remained fragile. When it did finally break, it was under the weight of a force more formidable than any empire East Asia had ever known before: the Mongols under the command of Genghis Khan.

In 1205, the Mongols launched their first offensive against Xixia. The defenses crumbled like sand. From that moment on, Xixia wavered between resistance of and appeasement of Genghis Khan's army, as intermittent clashes with the Jin Dynasty dragged on. Years of warfare drained Xixia's resources, yet its armies failed to secure a decisive victory that could shift the tide. In 1227, the last emperor of Xixia surrendered to the Mongols, drawing the curtain on the dynasty.

Xixia's realm encompassed the Hexi Corridor, a thousand-kilometer stretch of fertile oases threading through an otherwise forbidding landscape of deserts and mountains. Once a vital artery of the ancient Silk Road, this passage linked East and West, and through it, the Tangut people absorbed diverse currents of influence, shaping a culture with a strikingly original aesthetic. Yet after the dynasty's fall, its legacy faded into obscurity, its traces buried deep in the remote highlands of China's northwest. It wasn't until the 19th century that echoes of Xixia began to surface once more. The discovery of the Imperial Tombs has since cast new light on this forgotten dynasty, restoring a long-overdue place for Xixia in the grand narrative of Chinese civilization.

For further reading on the history of Xixia, see Liao Jin Xixia Shi (History of Liao, Jin and Xixia by Xihou Li and Bin Bai, 2020); for Xixia's arts, see Daxia Xunzong (On the Trail of Great Xia, jointly compiled by the National Museum of China and the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, 2004).