Xixia Imperial Tombs

Prologue: Pyramids on the Gobi

On an early-autumn dusk, a herder rode across the gobi beneath the Helan Mountains. The west wind carried the sand; his gaze moved beyond his flock and settled on rows of yellow earthen mounds — like oversized grave mounds, or silent pyramids, lined up along the mountain’s foot as far as the eye could see.

The herder did not know that a dynasty slept inside those mounds. That dynasty had its own script, its own glory, its own two centuries — and eight hundred years ago it was crushed by hooves and fire into a legend.

1038: A Royal Title Proclaimed

In 1038, Li Yuanhao, leader of the Tangut people, proclaimed himself emperor at Xingqingfu (modern Yinchuan), founding the state of Great Xia, known to history as the Western Xia — standing with the Song and Liao (Jin) as a third power for nearly two centuries.

From that time onward, successive Xia emperors raised their mausoleums on the eastern flank of the Helan Mountains. The tomb precinct stretches ten kilometres from south to north, with nine imperial tombs and more than two hundred accompanying graves surviving today. Each imperial tomb is a rammed-earth octagonal tower-mound; the tallest rises more than twenty metres, standing over the gobi like a pyramid — and people today call it “the Eastern Pyramids.”

1227: Hooves Across the Tomb Precinct

In 1227, Mongol forces destroyed the Western Xia. The tomb precinct was wrecked, its surface buildings reduced to broken walls, and a dynasty — together with its script — was buried by history.

The Western Xia had created a distinctive script of its own, its strokes dense and close as a cipher. When the dynasty fell, the script died swiftly; for centuries afterwards, almost no one could read a single Xixia character. The wind blew down from the passes of the Helan Mountains, grinding bricks and rubble into ever finer sand and sprinkling it over the nine mounds.

Archaeologists Enter the Precinct

Since the twentieth century, the inscribed steles, gilded bronze oxen and ridge ornaments of the tombs have come to light one after another — the sleeping dynasty began to be seen again.

In the 1970s, systematic archaeological excavation of the Xixia Imperial Tombs began in earnest, yielding great numbers of precious artefacts. Archaeologists pitched their tents beneath the Helan Mountains and questioned each mound with their trowels — a dynasty carried off by hooves and fire was brought back, centimetre by centimetre, by the spade.

2025: A Name on the World Heritage List

In 2025, the Xixia Imperial Tombs were inscribed on the World Heritage List under criteria (ii) and (iii) — the first time the mausoleums of a northwestern minority regime have been inscribed as a whole, setting a worldwide seal on the eight-hundred-year glory of the “Great Xia” empire.

Today a museum stands at the edge of the gobi, and visitors walk along the boardwalks toward the mounds. Herders still graze nearby and the wind still blows — only the once-forgotten tomb precinct now has an audience of the whole world.

Epilogue: The Wind Remembers

At dusk, the yellow mounds still stand beneath the Helan Mountains, a line of silent pyramids.

Eight hundred years ago, hooves and fire failed to level them; eight hundred years later, they have found their audience. The wind remembers the name of every dynasty — this time, it carried the Xixia name to the whole world.

Outstanding Universal Value (OUV)

• Criterion (iii): The Xixia Imperial Tombs are an exceptional testimony to the Western Xia dynasty and its Tangut culture.
• Criterion (ii): The Xixia Imperial Tombs carry on the Tang-Song mausoleum system while absorbing Buddhist faith and Tangut customs, witnessing the cultural and commercial exchange along the Silk Road in the 11th–13th centuries.

Facts at a Glance

• Nine imperial tombs and over 200 accompanying graves, stretching about 10 km
• Inscribed in 2025; the rammed-earth tower mounds are known as the “Eastern Pyramids”