Xīxià Shìlüè 西夏事略
Brief Account of the Western Xia by 王稱
About the work
A brief historical account (shìlüè 事略) of the Western Xia 西夏 (Tangut kingdom, 1038–1227 CE), compiled by 王稱 Wáng Chēng (fl. 12th c.; CBDB id 10212), the author of the much more substantial Dōngdū Shìlüè 東都事略 (Outline of Events of the Eastern Capital), a major private history of the Northern Song in 130 juàn. The Xīxià Shìlüè provides a concise Song-dynasty overview of the Tangut state from its Tang-dynasty origins through the founding of the Western Xia empire.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
王稱 Wáng Chēng (fl. mid-12th century; CBDB id 10212) is best known for his Dōngdū Shìlüè 東都事略, an unofficial history of the Northern Song compiled in 130 juàn (Wilkinson §50.938). The Xīxià Shìlüè is a minor supplementary work by the same author, drawing on Song court records and diplomatic documents to summarize the history of the Tangut Western Xia state.
The text opens with the career of the Tangut ancestor Lǐ Yìxīng 李彜興, tracing the ruling Lǐ family (originally a Tang-dynasty border general clan) from their early affiliation with the Tang through the Five Dynasties and into the Northern Song, culminating in Yuánhào’s 元昊 proclamation of the Western Xia dynasty in 1038. Given the paucity of Chinese sources on the Western Xia — whose own script, the Tangut script, is still incompletely deciphered — even Song-dynasty summary accounts of the Xia retain historical value.
Translations and research
- Dunnell, Ruth. 1996. The Great State of White and High: Buddhism and State Formation in Eleventh-Century Xia. University of Hawaii Press. Standard English monograph on Western Xia.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §50.938 (on Wang Cheng and the Dōngdū Shìlüè).
Links
- Wikidata: no dedicated entry located