Why was Buddhism made the state religion in a place like Xixia where there was a mixture of ethnic groups? Did any of the Xixia royal family worship his religion?

The Xixia, also known as Xia, or Daxia as it is called by the people of that country, was an ancient state in the northwest of China, founded by the Tangut tribe of Tibet. At its height, it covered all of Ningxia, most of Gansu, and parts of Shaanxi, Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia. It was divided into twenty-two prefectures. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Tuoba Sigong, a leader of the Danghang tribe, was awarded the title of Duke of Xia, and given the surname Li, and became the governor of Xiazhou, after having helped the Tang to suppress the Huang Chao rebellion. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, Li Jicheng, the lord of the state, paid tribute and was given the surname Zhao; in the third year of the Yongxi era (986), his younger brother, Jichan, rebelled against the Song Dynasty and was crowned King of Xia by the Liao Dynasty. Later, Jichan's son, Zhao Deming, resumed diplomatic relations with Song. The son of Deming, Yuan Hao, was a man of great talent. In the first year of Baoyuan (1038), Yuan Hao became the emperor, with the name of Xia and the capital of Xingqingfu (present-day Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region). Yuan Hao repeatedly invaded the Song border, and also fought with Jin for more than ten years, exhausting the elite. Passed to Dewang, the Mongolian army to cut down, Dewang worried about palpitations died. His nephew Nanping Wang Goggle succeeded to the throne. Before long, the Mongolian Genghis Khan all over the land, goggle out to surrender. From Yuan Hao to Goggle, where ten masters, a total of 96 years.

This country has long practiced Buddhism, as early as before the founding of the country, Buddhism was imported from the Han Dynasty, at that time, the powerful and wealthy people often sent envoys to offer horses to seek the scriptures, and after the founding of the country, the same; successively, six times from the Chinese Buddhist scriptures. With the importation of Confucian and Buddhist texts and the creation of the Xixia script, the country began to translate and carve and print Buddhist scriptures in Xixia. Among them, the earliest one that attracted the world's attention was the "Buddha's Dome Releasing Immaculate Light into the Universal Door Observing the Heart of All Nu Lai Dharani Sutra" and the "Buddha's Dome Dharma Sutra of Respect and Success", which were engraved in Sanskrit, Chinese, Mongolian, Muslim, Tibetan and Xia scripts on the wall of the Juyongguan Pagoda, about 64 kilometers to the north of Beijing. In addition, modern scholars Boshiwa and Stein in Dunhuang, Xixia Heishuicheng excavated Buddhist historical books and written, published, etc. (all written in Xixia script), by China Luo Fucheng, Luo Fucheng, Japanese Ishihama Juntaro, and the United States, Russia and other scholars of the study, has been determined to have the "Guanmaitreya Bodhisattva on the birth of Dulutha Sutra", the "Great Treasure Jade Sutra of Dharma realm of the body of the nature of the non-differentiation of the meeting, the Dangfangguangfo Huayan Sutra of the Pure and Perfect Vows of the Buddha, the Sutra on the Birth of the Buddha's Mother, the Tripitaka Sutra, and other books.

The Xixia kings all believed in Buddhism, in addition to the scriptures from China and translation, carving and printing of Buddhist scriptures, and is committed to the construction of temples and pagodas, so the territory of the monasteries. For example, Yuan Hao had built in the capital (Xingqing) Gao Dai Temple, built dozens of feet high pagoda; did not hide the (Azuma mother) in the capital of the west to build Chengtian Temple. The above two temples were mainly for the placement of Chinese Buddhist scriptures. The rest of the temples also have other special features. Either for the translation of the Western Xia scriptures (Gautai Temple), or engraving and printing of Chinese scriptures (Helan Mountain Buddha Temple, Wenji Temple Printing Sutra Institute), or engraving and printing of the Western Xia scriptures (Heishuicheng Temple). In addition, the country's Buddhist art, sculpture is also extremely developed, the existing Mogao Grottoes have statues and murals of four eighty caves, the Western Xia opened three caves.

Because of the spread of Buddhism, Xixia territory is very fruitful cultural achievements. In particular, the importance of Buddhist scriptures, stimulating the Xixia printing business flourished. There are quite a lot of Xixia Buddhist cultural heritage remaining in the world. There are Xixia, Chinese written and engraved scriptures, Buddhist paintings, cave murals, magnificent temples and ruins, pagodas of different shapes and so on. Because of the prevalence of Buddhism, although the country died later, the Yuan Dynasty still 'tie up the place with Buddhism'.

Attachment: Shi Jinbo's "A Brief History of Buddhism in Western Xia", Chapter 10 (excerpt)

The position of Buddhism in the culture of Western Xia

The rulers of Western Xia advocated the belief in Buddhism and accepted the Buddhist system of thought in its entirety. As a result, the Buddhist system of thought occupied an extremely important position in the ideology of Xixia society. It went hand in hand with Confucianism, which was vigorously promoted by the Xixia government. Western Xia rulers in order to better govern the feudal state, has long paid attention to the absorption of Confucianism, to Chongzong, Renzong period so that Confucianism has been unprecedented development. Confucianism as a feudal system of thought, or as a method of rule, often in the Western Xia ruler class influence. The influence of Buddhist thought, on the other hand, was widespread not only in the upper Xixia class, but also among the lower masses. Western Xia rulers usually believe in Buddhism, the use of various opportunities, widely made Buddhism, play a dual role in their own beliefs and foreign propaganda. If the country is in danger, or when infected with a serious illness, it is more Buddhism as a support for relief of suffering, help Buddha's blessing. The general public also tends to pray for the Buddha's blessing, hoping that life will be stable, the wind and rain will be favorable, the harvest will be plentiful, the sick will be cured, and the dead will be able to transcend life.

In the history of the Western Xia, there is a tomato rituals, Chinese rituals of the back and forth

The argument, in fact, is the traditional culture of the Dangxiang ethnic group is the main, or to the Confucianism is the main contest. This shows that one of the ideological pillars of the Xixia rule Confucianism is often challenged. Especially in the middle of Xixia, there are powerful ministers Ren Dejing of Confucianism, although at that time did not become a practical action of Confucianism, but also shows that in the Xixia in the upper echelons of some people have tried to shake the foundation of Confucianism. On the other hand, Buddhism in Xixia was not, as a kind of ideology and culture, once it entered Xixia, it was rooted in the society and became more and more solid. In the Xixia historical data can be seen, has not seen the record of openly exclusion of Buddhism.

Buddhism after the introduction of Xixia, gradually entrenched, so that the Xixia society's thinking has long been religious confinement, coupled with the great influence of Confucianism, which is a very serious bondage of thought, Xixia's social trends, not very active. Influential trend of thought and influential thinkers in the historical record rarely appeared. This has a certain relationship with the development of Buddhism. Buddhist thought is a philosophical thought. The spread of Buddhism in Xixia, so that Xixia in addition to the translation of Buddhist scriptures, but also produced some of their own Buddhist writings, therefore, in the Buddhist theory and philosophical theory, there are some new creations. The Buddhist theories were also elaborated in the Xixia and Chinese texts of the Buddhist scriptures inscribed by the Xixia people.

The development of Xixia Buddhism has always been closely related to the primitive religious beliefs and polytheistic beliefs of the Dangxiang people. On the one hand there is a long and complex conflict between them. For example, the Western Xia "Tian Sheng old change the new law order" stipulates that the self-appointed to bear the grace of God's soothsayers to be sanctioned. On the other hand, they can exist at the same time ****, complement each other, and sometimes even have a clear penetration. During the reign of Emperor Renzong, the monument to the construction of the bridge over the Black Water was dedicated to the gods of mountains, water, dragons, trees, and land, etc., and the praised bridge-builder was known as the Bodhisattva of the Sacred Light of Hyunjue, and in the text there are words such as 'Compassion,' 'Sentient Beings,' and 'All Saints of the Ten Directions. Buddhist terms such as 'all the saints of the ten directions'.

The need for the spread of Buddhism may have been an important reason for the creation of the Xixia script, which, in turn, naturally contributed to the further widespread dissemination of Buddhism. The wide spread of Buddhism in Xixia, and in turn promote the application of Xixia script, Xixia script in the activities related to Buddhism is very widely used, not even less than in the secular aspects of the application. Blackwater City unearthed Western Xia literature, whether it is the Russian Kozlov, or the British Stein, or China's archaeological discoveries in recent years, have proved that the Western Xia surviving Buddhist literature is much more than secular literature. Copying and engraving of Buddhist scriptures in Xixia language, in the process of applying the Xixia script, make the Xixia script more perfect and standardized.

The circulation of Xixia Buddhism also had considerable influence on the development of Chinese and Tibetan culture in the Xixia region. In order to adapt to the development of Buddhism in Xixia, Xixia cultivated and used a lot of talents who were well versed in Xixia, Chinese and Tibetan languages. These people not only played a great role in the development of Buddhism, but also contributed to the development of the whole Xixia society and culture with their specialized cultural training. Especially at that time, the Tubo regime was still not very stable, and internal wars often occurred, so the development of national culture was greatly restricted. At that time, Xixia, due to the promotion of Buddhism, gave a higher status to the Tubo people in the territory of Xixia, and invited Tibetan monks to enter the country to preach the Dharma, so that Tibetan Buddhism could be circulated and developed in Xixia, and the Tibetan scriptures were also popularized and protected. Obviously, this was also very beneficial to the development of Tibetan culture. Later, after the demise of the Western Xia, Tibetan culture, especially Tibetan Buddhism, was able to spread to the Central Plains through the Western Xia homeland, and I am afraid that it also depended on the good foundation of the Western Xia period.

The prosperity and development of Buddhism, accordingly stimulated the Xixia art progress. The development of Buddhism, the requirements of various art forms for the publicity. Various forms of art in the promotion of Buddhism, the process of serving Buddhism also enriched and developed themselves. Buddhist art centrally reflects the fantasy of Buddhism, but in terms of artistic expression and often closely linked to real life, the Buddhist emptiness and art of the real, also rooted in the soil of reality. Xixia Buddhist art is no exception. Xixia's painting, sculpture, calligraphy, architecture and other art forms of achievement, and Buddhism have formed an unbreakable bond, many Xixia's art treasures, from the Xixia Buddhist activities supplies. In Xixia shrouded in the atmosphere of reverence for Buddhism, art for the Buddhist use, or stained with the colors of Buddhism is very natural. Whether in the historical documentary records, or archaeological excavations of cultural relics, can be seen, Xixia Buddhist art in the whole Xixia art occupies a large proportion. Xixia's Buddhist art due to the Xixia government and society to promote and pay attention to, not only can get more manpower, financial resources, material support, and the creators of works of art more than holding a pious and serious attitude, so that the Xixia Buddhist art creation is no lack of fine works of art, so as to raise Xixia art to a new level. Although Buddhism is an imported product, but once he took root and developed in Xixia, it will be integrated into the local content and style. This is particularly prominent in Buddhist art. Buddhist art in Xixia has the connotation and characteristics of Xixia culture. It has the content and form of general Buddhist art, but also shows obvious local and national colors. This kind of art, which is a part of national art, is exactly what we need to explore and study seriously. Of course, due to the limitations of Buddhism itself, certain forms of art have a tendency to be formulaic and stereotypical, which has a certain confining effect on the development and prosperity of art.

The gradual flourishing of Buddhism in Xixia, especially the emphasis on Buddhist scriptures, stimulated the flourishing of Xixia's printing industry. Xixia own engraving and printing of Buddhist scriptures, since the early stage has begun, to the middle and late stage of the prosperity of the situation. The engraved text, there are Xixia text, there is also Chinese, between Tibetan and Sanskrit. In addition to the text, there are still Buddhist paintings. Passed down to the world a lot of fine works, the calligraphy of skillful, skillful painting, all show the fine engraving technology of xixia, comparable to the developed business of engraving and printing of the song dynasty. Due to the large number of Western Xia Buddhism, the number of printed Buddhist scriptures is also very large, some of a Buddhist scriptures printed up to 100,000 volumes at a time. Western Xia carved and printed scriptures in more than one place, the scriptures of the board style, font is different, showing different artistic styles. Heishuicheng site of a variety of wood carving sutra board, for the study of the printing industry of xixia provides important cultural relics information. Of course, the great development of the Western Xia printing business and the influence of the Song Dynasty printing business is inseparable. After entering the Yuan Dynasty, the engraving and printing of the Xixiawen Da Zang Jing, especially the printing of the Xixiawen Buddhist scriptures with movable type boards, occupies an important position in the history of China's printing. The prosperity of the Xixia printing industry, prominently manifested in the Buddhist activities, which plays an important role in the Xixia cultural endeavors.

In short, the Xixia Buddhism circulation, so that the Xixia territory of the fruit of culture more fruitful. At present the Xixia Buddhism cultural heritage, such as hundreds of Xixia, Chinese writing and engraved Buddhist scriptures, hundreds of Xixia scroll paintings, nearly a hundred grottoes in a large area of Xixia murals and different types of Xixia clay sculpture, magnificent temples and ruins, pagodas of different shapes and so on, are typical representatives of the cultural heritage of the Xixia. Obviously Xixia Buddhism in the Xixia culture occupies an extremely important position.

Xixia Buddhism in China's Buddhism in the status of the rise and development of Buddhism in Xixia, in China only belongs to a localized area in the northwest. Before the rise of Buddhism in Xixia, China's Buddhism has nearly a thousand years of history, so from the time point of view, Xixia Buddhism in China is only a stage of the problem. However, this localized area, in a period of time, the development of religion, but the development of Buddhism in China has a considerable impact on the development of Buddhism in China has an important position in the history of the development of Buddhism in China. In the past, due to less historical documents, coupled with the Xixia national written materials have long been buried, the history of Xixia Buddhism is little known, naturally, the status of Xixia Buddhism in the history of Buddhism in China has not attracted enough attention.

When the end of the Tang Dynasty, after the Five Dynasties, in the center of the development of Buddhism in China - the Central Plains, Buddhism has begun to go downhill. And another area of the development of Buddhism in China - the Tibetan area, due to the local exclusion of Buddhist activities, the end of the former period of Buddhism, the development of Buddhism also fell at the bottom of the saddle shape. Being this period, Buddhism but in the northwest corner of the Xixia flourished, doubled in value. The revitalization of Buddhism in the northwest gave another shot in the arm to the development of Buddhism in China. It not only became a transitional zone for the prominent development of Buddhism in the great unified Yuan Dynasty, but also made an important pavement for this development both practically and theoretically. In addition, Xixia Buddhism also played a complementary role to the development of Tibetan Buddhism in the latter part of the period, mirroring each other.

After the introduction of Buddhism into China, Tantric Buddhism also entered the central plains, but for quite some time its influence was not great, and it was difficult to compare it with the power of other sects. After Buddhism's Tantric Buddhism was introduced to Tibet, it evolved with the local indigenous religions and developed into the distinctive Tibetan Buddhism. In the middle and late Xixia, Tibetan Buddhism flourished in the western part of Xixia, near Tubo, and was impregnated with the deep imprints of Tibetan Buddhism over a wide area. The popularity of Tibetan monks, the large number of Tibetan scriptures translated into Xixia and Chinese, the appearance of Tibetan Buddhist caves and murals, and the construction of Tibetan Buddhist style pagodas and temples proved that the western part of the Hexi region had become an important area for Tibetan Buddhism. After the Mongol occupation of Xixia, they used it as a base to further develop Tibetan Buddhism in some other parts of the country by utilizing the Hexi monks and Tibetan monks to get in touch with the Buddhist leaders in the Tibetan areas. Of course, the Mongolian rulers used Buddhist beliefs to enlist the Hexi and Tibetan areas in order to achieve the unification of the regions as soon as possible and to strengthen the management of the ethnic areas, has gone beyond the development of Buddhism itself, and has become a special ruling policy.

Special worth mentioning is that the first appearance of the Western Xia imperial division, in the history of Buddhism in China occupies an important page. The Imperial Master was not only higher in status than the State Master, but his activities were also directly connected with the imperial family of the court, and he had an extremely high status in Buddhism. In China's feudal society, this special religious system first appeared in the Xixia, where the Dangxiang tribe held power, and then in the Yuan dynasty, where another minority, the Mongols, held power, inherited and perfected this imperial teacher system. This system had a tremendous impact on the development of Buddhism in the Yuan Dynasty and on the governance of areas where ethnic minorities practiced Buddhism.

Western Xia, in the process of flourishing Buddhism, translated thousands of volumes of Buddhist scriptures with the national script of the Danghang ethnic group, forming the Xixi Xiawen Dazhongjing (Great Tibetan Scriptures), which added a national script to our country's Great Tibetan Scriptures, and added important documents to our country's Buddhist cultural treasury, making it more colorful. This is one of the earliest of the great Tibetan scriptures inscribed and printed in minority scripts.

China's Chinese-language dazang scriptures as a collection of engraving, the earliest time is in the Northern Song Dynasty - Kaibao years, soon the Western Xia government repeatedly introduced from the Song Dynasty Chinese-language dazang scriptures, and later the Western Xia itself in the Helan Mountains to complete the Chinese-language dazang scriptures of the engraving. In the past, people only paid attention to the Chinese-language dazang scriptures engraved by the minority regimes in this period, but only noticed the "Khitan Collection" engraved by the Liao Dynasty and the "Zhao Cheng Collection" engraved by the Jin Dynasty, and did not mention that there was another Chinese-language dazang scripture engraved by the Xixia, "Xixia Collection". The Xixia Man Da Zang Jing, which was translated and formed in Xixia, and the Xixia Man Da Zang Jing, which was engraved and printed in Xixia in Chinese, are two strange flowers blooming side by side in the garden of Buddhism in Xixia.

The Xixia royal family's advocacy of Buddhism is very prominent among Chinese dynasties. Xixia's emperor and empress not only directly advocate the translation of scriptures, scripture printing, for all kinds of activities, and for the Xixia Sanzang Sacred Preface and for the translation and printing of a Buddhist scripture made by the imperial preface is also significantly more than the Tang and Song dynasties. More prominent is the Xixia's several emperors and empress dowager to the sutra's translator, the school signed the name at the time of the translation, the school of the sutra volume. In this way, the relationship between the royal family and Buddhism is more closely linked. Although the emperors and empresses of the Western Xia did not necessarily translate and proofread Buddhist scriptures themselves, their formal autographs changed them from general advocates to practitioners of major Buddhist activities. This is rare in all dynasties.

The successive rulers of Xixia were very religious about Buddhism, but there were changes before and after their knowledge of Buddhism and the degree of reliance on it. In the early Xixia preaching Buddhism in the discourse, often mixed with the influence of Confucianism. For example, in the preface to the Myoho-renge-kyo Sutra of the Western Xia during the Yi Zong period, it says: 'Now the Holy Mother of God has succeeded to the throne, respect and believe in the Three Jewels, and the right country is practicing virtue. The ancestral rites have flourished, and will be practiced by future emperors. To act according to virtue, to be the same as the sun and the moon, to rule the people with filial piety, to which all the nations belong. Here, while emphasizing reverence for the 'Three Jewels', 'virtue' and 'filial piety', which are strongly advocated by Confucianism, are also proclaimed. Since its introduction into China, Buddhism has had a close relationship with Confucianism and Taoism, competing with each other on the one hand and penetrating each other on the other. The early Buddhism of the Western Xia preached a mixture of Confucianism, and the influence of Buddhism in the Central Plains was not unrelated. The late Xixia rulers were more dependent on Buddhism than the emperors of the Tang and Song dynasties, and elevated Buddhism to a higher level than the early Xixia rulers. In the Chinese text of the Sutra on the Three Refuges of the Holy Mahayana, Renzong emphasized:

'Neng Ren (meaning Shakyamuni) has enlightened, and has allowed him to be the teacher of the three worlds; and the holy teachings have prospered, and have been a blessing to all living beings forever. I wish to transform those who are lost in the true world, so that they may know the reason for entering the holy world. Therefore, we hang the sun of wisdom high in the street of darkness, and sail the sea of bitterness in a wide voyage of mercy. With the help of this secret code, we can get rid of the dust and cages. If the living beings are earnest in practicing, the saints will surely be induced. I will use the metaphor of the future to show the future. Witnessing this wonderful Dharma, I am reminded of the difficulty of securing this person. If we do not rely on the Three Jewels, how can we save the four living beings?

This is in fact to vigorously promote Buddhism as the faith of all people, and to take Buddhism as the only way to save the suffering of the society. From this, we can see the tendency of Xixia to pay more attention to Buddhism in various ideologies at that time; we can also see the traces of the gradual transformation of Buddhism into a state religion in Xixia. In this way, we can better understand the ideological basis of the feudal imperial division in the specific social environment of Xixia. In short, the changes in the Western Xia rulers' understanding of Buddhism and the special status of Buddhism in the late Western Xia period cannot be ignored in the history of Chinese Buddhism.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that the Western Xia also made its own contribution to the Buddhist exchanges between China and India. As early as the early days of the Western Xia, Yuan Hao invited 'Xitian Dashi' to enshrine the Buddha's relics and had forcibly retained Indian monks who visited the Northern Song Dynasty. Yan Dan, the teacher of Wiman Si Neng, who built the Great Buddha Temple in Ganzhou during the reign of Chongzong, traveled to India and became the only Western Xia monk known to have visited India. In the time of Emperor Renzong, when he translated the Buddhist scriptures, he asked a Buddhist monk to hold the Sanskrit text to prove the meaning, and this Indian monk was honored as the 'Five Obvious Tantric Masters' in Western Xia, and was awarded the official position of the Secretary of the Department of Merits and Virtues. He had outstanding achievements in the development of Buddhism in Xixia and in the cultural exchange between China and India. Xixia as a smaller dynasty, but also managed to strengthen and the birthplace of Buddhism - India's Buddhist contacts, accommodate and respect Indian monks, to play their special role, is also rare.