In 1990 this scripture fragment was discovered along with other Buddhist artifacts at the ruins of a temple site known as Luchengzi, located approximately twelve miles from Kara Khoto. The paper was crafted out of linen, and the text has been rendered through printing (one of the pages also includes a woodblock printed illustration). The text describes certain esoteric rituals, and may have been used as an instruction manual.¹ In 1038 the Xia court appointed thirty-two Tangut monks the task of transcribing the entire Buddhist canon into Xia script. We do not know whether or not this project was ever completed, but it is possible that this scripture fragment was a produced as result of this endeavor.

While many other East Asian cultures adopted the Chinese writing system without significantly altering it, a number of Central Asian groups (including the Tanguts, the Khitan and Jurchens) adopted their own scripts. Though they are closely modeled on Chinese characters, the written Xia language of the Tanguts is an indigenous invention, illegible to those literate in Chinese.

(1) Adam Kessler, Empires Beyond the Great Wall: the Heritage of Genghis Khan (Los Angeles: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 1994), p. 129.