At various times in the history of the Xi Xia state, Tangut rulers adopted a wide range of official court attitudes towards the Chinese cultural and political model. At the beginning of the 11th century, the Tangut kings organized their government along the same lines as that of Song China. After the consolidation of Tangut holdings in 1031, the first Tangut emperor Yuan Hao balanced the ideology of the state on "twin pillars" of Buddhism and Chinese political precedents, in an attempt to reduce the extent of Chinese influence. Approximately a century later, however, the Tangut emperor Renxiao re-adopted the Chinese Confucian state model, and Song court culture once again became the norm to which the Xi Xia adhered.¹

Just as in politics, Chinese culture also had a tremendous impact on the Tanguts. In the case of ceramics, Song styles and techniques became the ideal to which Tangut ceramics craftsmen aspired. This vase from the collection of the Inner Mongolian Museum at Huhehaote is an excellent example of the type of Song-inspired ceramics produced in Xia kilns. The design is created by first dipping the entire vase in brown glaze, then using a tool to incise the desired pattern, scraping away the glaze. The motif here is Chinese crabapples blossoms set against an abstracted wave pattern in the background.

(1) Y. I. Kychanov, "The Tangut Hsi Hsia kingdom (982-1227)," History of civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. IV. The age of achievement: A.D. 750 to the end of the fifteenth century. Part One. The historical, social and economic setting, M.S. Asimov and C. E. Bosworth, eds. (Paris: UNESCO, 1998), p. 211.