Uncovering the Lost Western Xia Dynasty
China’s newest UNESCO site could hold the keys to a lost kingdom. Explore its destruction and how historians are reviving the Western Xia tombs.
On July 11, 2025, the Xixia Imperial Tombs became China’s 60th property on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Western Xia dynasty was established in 1038 by Li Yuanhao (李元昊), leader of the Tangut people who inhabited northwestern China. Li’s subjects encompassed Tanguts, Han Chinese, Uighurs, Tibetans, and more. The dynasty coexisted for nearly 200 years with the Song, Liao, and Jin dynasties in what is now modern Chinese territory, before it was conquered by Mongol forces in 1227. Their historical records were destroyed, and their scripts became encrypted, until generations of historians and archaeologists devoted themselves to solving the mystery.
