Beidou Layout
Since ancient times, the tombs of emperors have been the object of tireless research by later generations. The tombs are representative manifestations of the culture and politics of the dynasty. The tombs of the Western Xia kings have been very popular since they were discovered. It is mysterious. As a royal mausoleum, it is very particular about its location, burial and layout. Next, let’s take a look at why the Xixia royal tombs are laid out in the Bagua Beidou layout? Xixia once occupied an important position in Chinese history. It is a state power with the Dangxiang ethnic group as the main body and including Han, Tubo, Uighur and other ethnic groups. Before the Sui Dynasty, Dangxiang people who were good at nomadic herding began to rise. Soon, they fought in the north and south and occupied parts of today's Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia. In the Song Dynasty, the Dangxiang people engaged in repeated contests with the Song and Liao Dynasties, either rebelling or attaching themselves to each other. In 1032, the leader of Dangxiang ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. From then on, Xixia began its glorious history of nearly 200 years. Influenced by Han culture, Xixia had its own square script and calendar, as well as a complete political system and religious system. It can be said that this nation that is good at war has created its own glorious civilization while integrating multi-ethnic cultures. Starting from Xia Jingzong and Li Yuanhao, ten emperors appeared in Xixia. By the beginning of the thirteenth century, under the strong offensive of the Mongolian army, Xixia had reached the end of its hero. By the time of the late Xia Dynasty, the noble heads of this nation were chopped off in unison under the sharp sabers of the Mongols, and they were forever lost in the long river of history... The mystery of the Western Xia Mausoleums is more reflected in the fact that it has not been solved yet. In terms of architectural form and cultural connotation. Due to the lack of documentation, it is still difficult to determine the owner of each building in the mausoleum area. Each imperial mausoleum in the Xixia Mausoleum District is an independent and complete building group consisting of a palace city and other ancillary buildings. They all face north and south, and their basic structures are roughly the same. The tallest and eye-catching building in the Xixia Cemetery is a rammed earth mound with a residual height of 23 meters, shaped like a wotou. If you look closely, you will see that it is an octagonal structure with layers of residual tiles stacked on it, mostly five layers. Therefore, some scholars concluded that before it was destroyed, it was a solid octagonal and five-story tower with dense eaves. The theory of "mausoleum tower" has been frequently reported in the press. But why is the tower building located in the cemetery, and what is its function? Few people can say it clearly. As for why this "mausoleum tower" was built in the northwest corner of the cemetery, academic circles have different opinions.
What is also puzzling are the cultural relics unearthed from the Xixia royal tombs. The remnant stele of the Xixia Mausoleum is a testimony to the brutal destruction of the Xixia Mausoleum by the Mongolian army. It is also a rare and precious cultural relic for studying the history of Xixia. Judging from the more than 3,300 ruined Xixia steles collected so far, the number of ruined steles unearthed in one place ranges from hundreds to just a few. Except for the ruined steles of the Renxiao Shoulu Mausoleum, a single piece of 16-year-old steles can be read clearly. In addition to the Xixia seal script stele, a large number of other unearthed fragments of stele cannot be pieced together to form a complete inscription. Judging from the ruined stele unearthed in seven places, a large number of ruined stele have not yet been discovered. So people speculated that there was a tomb in the mausoleum area. The monuments that the Mongolian army had no time to smash might have been buried in one or several large pits. As for the eight or nine stone statue bases unearthed in the mausoleum area, with exposed fangs, angry eyes, and squatting postures, some say they are monument bases, while others speculate that they are pillar foundations. There is no conclusion yet, and they are still shrouded in a veil of mystery. Since the discovery of the Xixia royal tombs in the early 1970s, its face has always been looming and foggy. A few years ago, the precise coordinate mapping of the Xixia royal tombs was completed in the hands of experts. Soon, someone was surprised to find that the nine emperor tombs were composed of a pattern of the Big Dipper, and their accompanying tombs were also designed according to the layout of various astrology! This makes the Xixia royal tombs even more mysterious. The layout of the Xixia royal tombs is somewhat puzzling. The Xixia royal tombs not only absorbed the strengths of the Qin, Han, Tang and Song imperial tombs, but also incorporated Buddhist architectural elements into them. It integrates Han culture, Buddhist culture and Dangxiang culture to form a unique and breakthrough architectural style. In Chinese mausoleum culture, royal tombs are generally arranged in chronological order or from south to north, and the royal tombs of the Western Xia Dynasty are no exception. However, the layout of the Xixia royal tombs is particularly weird. The specific arrangement of each royal tomb seems to reflect a pre-designed plan. Looking down from a high altitude, the distribution of the nine royal tombs seems similar to the Big Dipper. But looking at the distribution of the eight royal tombs individually, they are similar to the Bagua pattern.
Some scholars speculate that the positioning and arrangement may be based on Feng Shui culture, so the question arises from this. The Xixia Kingdom went through nine generations from the earliest to the latest, with a time difference of nearly 200 years. Who knew it beforehand? Can you predict that the Western Xia Kingdom will inherit the throne for 9 generations? Besides, the Dangxiang people are a branch of the ancient Qiang people. In their cultural origins, there are no obvious practical examples to prove that the Xixia Kingdom had the characteristics of worshiping gossip and believing in Feng Shui. Neither archaeologists nor historians can explain the reason why the royal tombs are arranged in a Bagua pattern. Xixia is a mysterious nation. Perhaps it is the special cultural environment of Xixia that determines the layout of the Xixia royal tombs in the Bagua Beidou, but what is the meaning of this layout? Due to the lack of historical data, it is difficult for us to guess the real meaning behind this layout.