The White and High is the name of an English book I saw in the museum window. I felt weird at the time, what are white and high? After looking through the information, I found out that it was the Bai Gao Kingdom, also known as Xixia.
This name sounds mysterious. It is estimated that most people do not have much impression of Xixia except Xu Zhu and Meng Gu who are familiar with it from "The Eight Parts of the Dragon".
The shape resembles Chinese characters, but I don’t recognize it. It looks like "Jingyan Weixiang", which means Dabai Gaoguo in Chinese. "Big" is a special name for the self-esteem of dynasties in the past dynasties to express the sanctity and supreme dignity of national power. "Bai Gao Country" is because the Dangxiang people first lived in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. The source of the Yellow River is not yellow in color, so it has been known as the "White River" since ancient times. In order to show the nostalgia and admiration of the Dangxiang people for this area, the name of the country is used to praise it. "Dabai Gaoguo" is a country established by the people whose ancestors lived in the upper reaches of Baihe River. It is a practical and special country name in Xixia.
CCTV filmed a documentary called "The Mysterious Xixia". The history and culture of less than 200 years has disappeared like a bright meteor in the long river of time, leaving all kinds of mysteries to future generations.
In the yellow sand of the desert, several towering mounds, as high or low as steamed buns, stand in the wilderness as far as the eye can see. Surrounded by broken rammed earth walls, there are clusters of yellow withered grass. Interspersed with dust and rubble, as well as antique bricks, the stacks of Helan Mountains can be seen in the distance. It happened to be a cloudy day and a few drops of rain had just fallen. This kind of weather is more suitable for nostalgic times. At this time, looking at this place thousands of years ago, I can imagine the magnificent scene of "the desert is solitary, the smoke is straight, and the sun is setting over the long river."
This is the famous Xixia Royal Tomb. The Bull Demon King and the Supreme Treasure had a fight here before, no wonder they were a bit familiar.
The 58 square kilometers of loess are dotted with 9 imperial mausoleums and more than 200 tombs of princes and relatives. Unfortunately, almost all the buildings on the ground have been razed. Except for a few isolated piles of loess, there is nothing left. The stele pavilions and stone statues are gone.
Walking in the mausoleum area has a special feeling. It is desolate and empty. If you don’t understand some of the history and culture of Xixia, you will be nothing more than a loess bag. This is not much different from the tomb of Cyrus the Great. There is really nothing interesting to see. Only the things behind it are worth remembering.
Approaching the mausoleum, it is a cone-shaped structure made of rammed loess, with seven levels and eight sides, which is an obvious Buddhist feature. No wonder some people say this is the "Pyramid of the East". Although the appearance is far different from the pyramid, it is still mysterious.
The mystery is mainly due to the ambiguity of Xixia history, which is scattered in various classics and there is no special writing. The historians of the Yuan Dynasty revised the "History of the Song Dynasty", "History of the Liao Dynasty" and "History of the Jin Dynasty", but did not revise the "History of the Western Xia Dynasty". Maybe it was because they did not want to kill the enemy? Let me tell you slowly.
At the beginning of the 13th century, Genghis Khan led the Mongolian army to conquer Xixia five times but failed. According to unofficial history, he died at the mouth of a princess of Xixia (you can Baidu this erotic and bloody story by yourself). It was not until 1227 that the sixth army was sent out to finally conquer Xixia. In accordance with Genghis Khan's will of "kill them all", the city was massacred and destroyed, and all the palaces, temples, and classics in Xixia were reduced to scorched earth.
Naturally, the Xixia royal tombs could not escape the bad luck. They were burned and their corpses were exhumed and exhumed. This shows that Mongolia hates Xixia.
Actually, I doubt whether there is Li Yuanhao’s body under the loess pile now.
Speaking of Li Yuanhao, the founding emperor of the People's Republic of China, history books commented that he was "a man of strong character and great strategy", which shows his talent in literature and military strategy. The young Yuan Hao was called "truly brave" by the famous Song Dynasty general Cao Wei. As an adult, he repeatedly advised his father Li Deming not to surrender to the Song Dynasty. After proclaiming himself emperor in 1038, he named himself "Dabai Gaoguo". Get rid of the control of the Song Dynasty and achieve the independence of the party. Relying on the brave and skillful Xixia army, they negotiated with their neighboring countries and fought while fighting, and defeated the Song Dynasty in the battle of Haoshuichuan. Since then, Xixia has become a tripartite power with Song and Liao.
It must be said that Li Yuanhao is a hero, but as the author of "A Brief History of Xixia" said, he is even more a tyrant. Yuan Hao was suspicious, jealous, greedy for women, and arbitrary. He killed his mother, uncle, wife and children. In the end, he had his nose cut off by his son Ning Lingge because of his daughter-in-law, and he died of blood. It's pitiful, so many heroes still can't pass the beauty test.
After that, Yuan Hao's son Liang Zuo succeeded to the throne, and the Zang family began to have exclusive power.
The history behind it is messy and uninteresting. Finally destroyed by Mongolia, Xixia died in 189. In fact, Xixia had existed for more than 150 years before the official founding of the country. Looking back, it begins when his distant ancestor Tuoba Sigong was given the surname Li during the Tang Dynasty for his meritorious service in conquering Huang Chao.
It’s a bit far. In fact, what I want to say is that Xixia is definitely worth a visit, and the Xixia royal tombs are also worth a visit.