[Chow Yun-Fat, PhD]

I am curious as to the meaning of the name of western Xia. Xia is the founding dynasty of the Chinese, and the Tibetans still call the Chinese by the cognate name 'rgya'. Why is this state referred to as the western xia?

As well as the meaning of the name Tangut, the Mongol designation for this country. It seems to curiously approximate the name of the Tang dynasty.

According to the Wiki article on the Tangut,

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the Tangut people called their state "phiow¹-bjij²-lhjij-lhjij²", which translates to "The Great State of White and Lofty."

Tangut is classified as a Tibeto-Burman language, making it part of the larger Sino-Tibetan family of languages. I am curious as to whether there are any cognates (although they could just as well be borrowed words, which would not be surprising but would somehow be less awesome) within this name of their Great State. Does bjij² = bai2 = white? Does phiow¹ = piao4? These are but example conjectures; they go far beyond reliable data, although if I had to guess out of the two, the former is one that I would bet on.

What did the Tibetans call them? And what about the demographics of the country? There is surely still a sizeable population of Tang colonists.

Thanks to all who can help

[Snafu]

The name Tangut undoubtedly comes from Central Asia. It first appeared in an Orkhon runic inscription of the 8th century. It became a pretty general term for the people of the Amdo/Gansu region and was used right up until the 19th century. In their own language the Tanguts called themselves Mi or Mi-niah. The Tibetans called them Mi-nag.

The Mongolian word for person is "gun". The plural is gud/gut and it was a common suffix in the names of tribes or people in Central Asia. So Tangut might easily be a Mongolian term meaning "people of Tang." It could also be a Mongol or Turkic variation of another term that is lost to history.

[Yun]

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I am curious as to the meaning of the name of western Xia. Xia is the founding dynasty of the Chinese, and the Tibetans still call the Chinese by the cognate name 'rgya'. Why is this state referred to as the western xia?

The Tangut founders of the Xia state named it after an earlier state ruled by Xiongnu in that same area (the Ordos Loop). The Xiongnu Helian Bobo had named his state Xia in the Age of Fragmentation, because of the legend that the Xiongnu were descended from the first ruler of the Xia dynasty. Ever since that time, the Ordos Loop has been associated with the name 'Xia', leading also to the name Ningxia Uyghur Autonomous Province.

The Tangut state was called Great Xia by its own people, but Western Xia by historians to distinguish it from the first Chinese dynasty, as well as Helian Bobo's kingdom.

[urofpersia]

Yun, on Oct 2 2005, 08:53 PM, said:

The Tangut state was called Great Xia by its own people, but Western Xia by historians to distinguish it from the first Chinese dynasty, as well as Helian Bobo's kingdom.

Does this mean it was not called Xi Xia by the Song comtemporaries at the time?