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.

The Tangut tribe, who speak a now-extinct Qiangic language (Tibeto-Burman), which is distantly related to Chinese, 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.

Eventually, the Tangut state had been founded in the year 1031 by Li Deming.

Known in the Chinese language as "Xi-Xia", the Tangut people call their state "phiow-bjij-lhjij-lhjij", which translates to "The Great State of Whiteness and Loftiness."

Yeli Renrong, is a scholar close to the Tangut Emperor Li Yuanhao, who, according to the official History of Song, commanded him to design the complex Tangut script in 1036 or 1038, based on Chinese writing, for use in writing the Tangut language.

The Tanguts’ founding father, Li Deming, had not been a very conservative ruler, and thus the Tangut people have begun to absorb more and more of the Chinese culture that surrounds them, but will never lose their actual identity, as is proven by the vast amount of literature that will survive the Tangut state itself.

Li Deming's more conservative son, Li Yuanhao, seeks to restore and strengthen the Tangut people's identity by ordering the creation of an official Tangut script and by instituting laws that reinforce traditional cultural customs.

One of the laws he mandates calls for citizens to wear traditional ethnic apparel, and another requires wearing hair short or shaving the head, as opposed to the Chinese custom at the time of wearing hair long and knotted.

Rejecting the common Chinese surname of "Li" (given to the Xia-xia by the Tang) and "Zhao" (give to the Xia-xia by the Sung) he adopts the Tangut surname "Weiming".

He makes "Xingqing" (present day Yinchuan) his capital city.

At times, the Tangut kingdom operates in the shadow of the Chinese to the East.

Several times, the Chinese are able to mobilize Tibetan tribes against the Tangut state.

However, it is not until 1038 that Li Yuanhao had named himself emperor of Da Xia, and demanded of the Sung emperor recognition as an equal.

The Song court accepts the recognition of Li Yuanhao as 'governor', but not 'emperor', a title considered exclusive to the Sung emperor.

After intense diplomatic contacts, in 1043 the Tangut state accepts the recognition of the Sung emperor in exchange for annual tribute, which implies tacit recognition on the part of the Sung of the military power of the Tangut.

Li nevertheless claims the title of emperor for himself, taking the reign name Jingzong.

The two-year-old son of Emperor Jingzong of Western Xia had succeeded his father in 1048 as Emperor Yizong.

His mother had become the regent and a year later, the Liao Dynasty had launched an invasion of Western Xia, causing Western Xia to submit to the Liao Dynasty as a vassal state.

In 1056, the Dowager is killed and Yizong's uncle becomes the regent.

Yizong, discovering a plot against him by his uncle and cousin in 1061, has them executed and assumes direct control of Western Xia.

Emperor Renzong of Song, despite his long reign of over forty years, is not widely known to history.

His reign marks the high point of Song influences and powers but is also the beginning of its slow disintegration that will persist over the next century and a half.

One possible reason behind its weakness is its interpretation of its own foreign policy.

The official policy of the Song Dynasty at this time is one of pacifism and this has caused the weakening of the military.

Western Xia has taken advantage of this deterioration to wage small scale wars against Song China near the borders.

When Renzong came into power, he had issued decrees to strengthen the military and pays massive bribes to the Liao government, an adversary of Western Xia, in the hope that this would ensure the safety of Song China.

However these policies involve a heavy price.

Taxes had been increased severely and the peasants live in a state of perpetual poverty.

This had eventually caused organized rebellions to take place throughout the country and the breakdown of the government.

Emperor Renzong has elevated the forty-sixth generation descendants of Confucius to the current title of Duke Yansheng.

They had previously been of lower noble ranks.

In 1055, the Emperor Renzong had fallen ill, and as he has no surviving sons, there was a threat to the succession.

Under prompting from his Court officials Renzong had agreed to bring two boys, sons of Imperial clansmen, into the palace.

Yingzong is the thirteenth son of Zhao Yunrang (995–1059), known posthumously as Prince Pu Anyi.

Zhao Yunrang had been the first director of the Great Office of [Imperial] Clan Affairs and so the most important clan official at the time.

Moreover Yunrang had been raised in the Palace as a potential heir to Zhenzong before Renzong was born in 1010.

He was a first cousin of Emperor Renzong.

Yingzong's grandfather was Zhao Yuanfen (969–1005), known posthumously as Prince Shang Gongjing, and younger brother of Emperor Zhenzong.

Yingzong's mother, from the Ren family, was the third wife of Prince Pu Anyi, and was titled xianjun of Xianyou (xianjun is a title literally meaning "first lady of the county," which is given to the wives of a certain category of Chinese civil servants).

Renzong, still without a natural heir, dies in 1063 , and Yingzong assumes the imperial throne.

Yizong, whose uncle and cousin had plotted against him in 1061, had had them executed and assumed direct control of Western Xia.

Yizong expands the central government, adding many offices.

He makes the armies more efficient and improves his control over distant states.

Yizong begins to attack the Song Dynasty and raids their villages; he also forces the surrender of the leader of the Uyghur Khanate in Turfan (aka the Kara-Khanids).

In later years, Yizong begins to improve diplomatic relationships with the Sung and Liao dynasties.

After Yizong's sudden death in 1067, his six-year-old son Huizong is put under house arrest by his mother, the Empress Madame Liang, and she attacks the Song Dynasty, unsuccessfully.

The reign of Yingzong of Song is known for controversy over the correct rituals to be performed by the Emperor for his father.

Yingzong had been adopted by Renzong and so the ritual sense Renzong was Yingzong's father.

In a more strictly biological sense, Zhao Yunrang was Yingzong's father.

Some officials wished Zhao Yunrang to be given the title of "Imperial Uncle", however Yingzong had sided with Ouyang Xiu and others and granted him the title "Parent".

This was not only an early sign of more conflict during Xiaozong's reign but also the Great Rites Controversy, which will take place in the decade following 1524 in Ming dynasty China.

At Yingzong’s death on January 25, 1067, Emperor Shenzong succeeds him.

Emperor Huizong of Western Xia had moved to assume control of the Tangut government when he turned sixteen, but the Dowager continues to dominate until her son’s early death at twenty-six.

When his three-year-old son becomes Emperor Chongzong in 1086, his grandmother (Huizong's mother) becomes regent again and launches an invasion of the Liao Dynasty and the Song Dynasty.

Again, both campaigns end in defeat.

Emperor Chongzong, orphaned at three, had taken direct control of Western Xia in 1099 after the poisoning of his grandmother by a Liao envoy.

He has ended wars with both the Liao and the Song and focused on domestic reform.

Li's reign includes further sinification and removes the power of some significant Tangut clans, which have remained a powerful political force—appointing tribal leaders as kings, forcing them under his power and influence.

The reign of Tangut Emperor Chongzong sees incursions by the surrounding Liao- and Sung-ruled nations, and a series of military defeats from 1114.

He establishes a Confucianist-led administration for several political quarters including civil and military, centralizing his power.

Buddhism is prevalent during his reign, and the scriptures are translated to the Tangut language.