The Tanguts, a group of partly nomadic Qiangic-Tibetan people living to the northwest of the Great Wall, had moved from place to place and eventually settled in northwestern China (Ningxia, Gansu, and Shaanxi).

From the moment they entered this region they had undergone a process of sinicization, a term meaning the adoption of Chinese cultural characteristics.

Renouncing their allegiance in 982 to China’s new Song ruler—currently preoccupied with fighting the Tanguts’ Khitan neighbors to the east—the Tangut, under Li Deming, had proclaimed themselves an independent kingdom .

Known in the Chinese language as "Xi-Xia", the Tangut people call their state "The Great State of White and Lofty."

The Khitans had immediately recognized the new state (after 1038 called the Hsi Hsia or Western Hsia).

Following a weak attempt by the Chinese to reestablish dominion, beginning in 990, the Tanguts will soon be left to their own devices.