proclaimed himself emperor in the Hsia dynasty, or, as the Chinese
generally called it, the "HsiHsia", which means the Western Hsia. This
name, too, had associations with the old Hun tradition; it recalled
the state of Ho-lien P'o-p'o in the early fifth century. The state soon
covered the present province of Kansu, small parts of the adjoining
Tibetan territory, and parts of the Ordos region. It attacked the
province of Shensi, but the Chinese and the Liao attached the greatest
importance to that territory. Thus that was the scene of most of the
fighting.

[Illustration: 12 Ancient tiled pagoda at Chengting (Hopei). _Photo H.
Hammer-Morrisson._]

[Illustration: 13 Horse-training. Painting by Li Lung-mien. Late Sung
period. _Manchu Royal House Collection_.]

The Hsia state had a ruling group of Toba, but these Toba had become
entirely tibetanized. The language of the country was Tibetan; the
customs were those of the Tanguts. A script was devised, in imitation of
the Chinese script. Only in recent years has it begun to be studied.

In 1125, when the Tungusic Juchên destroyed the Liao, the Hsia also lost
large territories in the east of their country, especially the province
of Shensi, which they had conquered; but they were still able to hold
their own. Their political importance to China, however, vanished, since
they were now divided from southern China and as partners were no longer
of the same value to it. Not until the Mongols became a power did the
Hsia recover some of their importance; but they were among the first
victims of the Mongols: in 1209 they had to submit to them, and in 1227,
the year of the death of Genghiz Khan, they were annihilated.