Western Xia mausoleums

Tombs nos. 1 and 2

The Western Xia mausoleums occupy an area of some 50 km2 (19 sq mi) at the foot of the Helan Mountains in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of northwestern China, and include nine imperial mausoleums and 250 tombs of imperial relatives and officials of China's Western Xia dynasty. This burial complex lies some 40 km (25 mi) westward from capital city of the Western Xia, the Xingqing fu or Xingqing, what is modern-day Yinchuan, capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.[1]

Some 17,000 m2 (180,000 sq ft) have so far been excavated, and efforts are underway to secure and preserve the remains of this poorly understood era.[2]

  1. ^ Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman (1993). "The Tangut Royal Tombs near Yinchuan". Muqarnas (PDF). 10. Brill Publishers: 369–381. doi:10.2307/1523201. JSTOR 1523201. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  2. ^ "Xixia (Western Xia) Mausoleums: Excavation and Protection Underway". People's Daily. Retrieved July 15, 2009.