While it is easy to be slightly cynical about UNESCO World Heritage Sites—many countries compete for designations, and those that do not often are not interested in the conservation obligations that come with membership. But it is beyond debate that the tombs of Western Xia’s imperial family deserve their place in the list of globally cherished sites. Last Friday, state-run media Xinhua reported that at UNESCO’s 47th session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Paris, the World Heritage List was inscribed with the names of these medieval-era tomb complexes.
The mortuary complex is China’s 60th landmark to earn the UN cultural agency designation. There is also the added bonus that the Western Xia civilization (variously known as Xixia or the Tangut Empire), short-lived though it was from its founding in 1038 to its destruction by the Mongols in 1227, is finally being recognized as having an outsize influence on Inner Asia and historical legacy.
The Imperial Tombs are the largest, most important, and most intact surviving archaeological site of the Xixia civilization. According to Xinhua, the site covers nearly 40 square kilometers, and comprises four types of architectural remains: “9 imperial mausoleums, 271 subordinate tombs, a northern architectural complex covering 0.05 square km, and 32 flood control works.” (Xinhua)
This 2025 inscription as a World Heritage Site will bring increased international attention and stricter conservation protocols under UNESCO guidelines. Management plans must be refined to balance tourism, research, and long-term preservation within the UNESCO framework.
What is particularly fascinating and striking is the shape of the mausoleums, which give a tantalizing hint as to what other structures (administrative, religious, and so on) of the Tanguts might have looked like, although it could easily be the case that the tombs had a unique shape and aesthetic. The World Heritage Committee stated that the site is a testament to the cultural fusion and interactions of diverse traditions. It also bears witness to the unique role of the Xixia Dynasty in cultural and commercial exchanges along the Silk Roads during the 11th to 13th centuries. (Xinhua)
The Tanguts demonstrated, both to the Chinese and Mongols, how important control of the region of Inner Asia was for any empire that aspired to control the heartland of Eurasia, which encompassed southern Russia and Mongolia, the north, northwest, and southwest of China, the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau and the Himalayas, and Central Asia. The Mongol Yuan Dynasty and the later Qing Dynasty under the Manchus demonstrated an acute sensitivity for managing this region as part of their continental empires.
I will be travelling to Yinchuan this week to explore the Western Xia Mausoleums and the various locales that comprise the heritage site. Many of the most important items excavated from the imperial tombs proper are now in the Western Xia Museum, as well as the Ningxia Museum in the city of Yinchuan. These museums hold some of the most exquisite and priceless artifacts of the Tangut story.
Yinchuan is itself nowadays a vibrant and modern city, easily one of the more glittering and modernized Tier 3 cities in the People’s Republic. But just west of the main metropolis, running from north to south and just bordering Inner Mongolia, is a slew of sandswept heritage sites dating to the Tangut period. Foremost among these sites is are the Western Xia Mausoleums, silent sentinels to the Iron Hawks heavy cavalry, the onetime masters of Inner Asia.
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China’s Xixia Imperial Tombs inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Site