The Tangut people (
Tangut: , ''mjɨ nja̱'' or , ''mji dzjwo''; ; ; ) were a
Sino-Tibetan people who founded and inhabited the
Western Xia dynasty. The group initially lived under
Tuyuhun
Tuyuhun (; LHC: *''tʰɑʔ-jok-guən''; Wade-Giles: ''T'u-yühun''), also known as Henan () and Azha (; ), was a dynastic monarchy established by the nomadic peoples related to the Xianbei in the Qilian Mountains and upper Yellow River valley, ...
authority, but later submitted to the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
. After the collapse of Tang dynasty, the Tanguts established the Western Xia. They spoke the
Tangut language
Tangut (Tangut: ; ) is an extinct language in the Sino-Tibetan language family.
Tangut was one of the official languages of the Western Xia, Western Xia dynasty, founded by the Tangut people in northwestern China. The Western Xia was annihilate ...
, which was previously believed to be one of the
Qiangic languages
Qiangic (''Chʻiang, Kyang, Tsiang'', Chinese: 羌語支, "''Qiang'' language group"; also Rmaic, formerly known as Dzorgaic) is a group of related languages within the Sino-Tibetan language family. They are spoken mainly in Southwest China, incl ...
or
Yi languages which belong to the
Tibeto-Burman family."
Phylogenetic and historical linguistic accounts, however, reveal that Tangut belonged instead to the
Gyalrongic branch of Tibeto-Burman. Western Xia was annihilated by the
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Euro ...
in 1227, and most of its written records and architecture were destroyed. Today the Tangut language and its
unique script are extinct; only fragments of
Tangut literature remain.
Language
The
Tangut language
Tangut (Tangut: ; ) is an extinct language in the Sino-Tibetan language family.
Tangut was one of the official languages of the Western Xia, Western Xia dynasty, founded by the Tangut people in northwestern China. The Western Xia was annihilate ...
, otherwise known as ''Fan'', belongs to the
Tibeto-Burman branch of the
Sino-Tibetan language family. Like many other Sino-Tibetan languages, it is a tonal language with predominantly mono-syllabic roots, but it shares certain grammatical traits central to the Tibeto-Burman branch. It used to be debated as to whether Tangut belonged to the
Yi or
Qiangic subdivision of Tibeto-Burman. The Tanguts, called the Dangxiang () in Chinese, are typically regarded by Chinese scholars to be synonymous with or at least related to the
Qiang people. Historically, "Qiang" was a collective term for the multiple ethnic groups who lived on the western borderlands of China, including the modern
Qiang people
The Qiang people (Qiangic languages, Qiangic: ''Rrmea''; ) are an List of ethnic groups in China, ethnic group in China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognised by the People's Republic of China, with a population of approx ...
(Rma). The name Tangut first appears in the
Orkhon inscriptions
The Orkhon inscriptions are bilingual texts in Middle Chinese and Old Turkic, the latter written in the Old Turkic alphabet, carved into two memorial steles erected in the early 8th century by the Göktürks in the Orkhon Valley in what is modern- ...
of 735. In their own Tangut language, the Tanguts called themselves ''Mi-niah'' (Miñak). Until the 19th century, the term Minjak was still used to refer to the area inhabited by Qiang people in today's Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. Speakers of the Qiangic
Muya language
Munya or Muya ( zh, t=木雅語, s=木雅语; also ''Manyak'' , ''Menia'' 么呢阿; ) is one of the Qiangic languages spoken in China. There are two dialects, Western and Eastern, which are not mutually intelligible. Most research on Munya has be ...
in western
Kangding calls themselves Minyak. Geographic names such as
Min river and
Min county (Gansu) are pointed to this root.
Appearance
According to
William of Rubruck
William of Rubruck (; ; ) or Guillaume de Rubrouck was a Flemish Franciscan missionary and explorer.
He is best known for his travels to various parts of the Middle East and Central Asia in the 13th century, including the Mongol Empire. His accoun ...
, who travelled to various parts of the
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Euro ...
in the 13th century, the Tanguts were valiant and had big swarthy men among them, in contrast to the
Uyghurs
The Uyghurs,. alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the ti ...
, who were "of medium size, like us".
Origin
The early Tanguts inhabited the steppes and mountains of southeast
Qinghai
Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...
and northwest
Sichuan
Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
. Their home originally was in the highlands of western Sichuan. These regions correspond to the
Amdo and
Kham
Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibet, Tibetan regions, the others being Domey also known as Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The official name of this Tibetan region/province is Dotoe (). The original residents of ...
regions of the Tibetan plateau. At some point their leader
Tuoba
The Tuoba (Chinese language, Chinese) or Tabgatch (, ''Tabγač''), also known by #Names, other names, was an influential Xianbei clan in early imperial China. During the Sixteen Kingdoms after the fall of Han and the Three Kingdoms, the Tuoba e ...
Chici, who was likely of mixed
Xianbei
The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...
and
Qiang heritage, submitted to Tang China rule and was bestowed the title of Captain General of Western-Rong and the surname "Li". In the early 8th century, increasing pressure from the
Tibetan Empire
The Tibetan Empire (,) was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau, formed as a result of expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. It expanded further under the 38th king, Trisong De ...
had forced the Tanguts to migrate north from their homelands in northeastern
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
to the eastern
Ordos region. By the time of the
An Lushan Rebellion (755–763), the Tanguts were the predominant local power in what is now eastern
Gansu
Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
,
Ningxia
Ningxia, officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region in Northwestern China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1954 but was later separated from Gansu in 1958 and reconstituted as an autonomous ...
, and northern
Shaanxi
Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...
.
History

In 881 the Tanguts, who were subjects of Tang China, assisted Tang in suppressing the
Huang Chao rebellion. As a reward the Tang central government granted the Tangut general
Li Sigong the three prefectures of
Xia (, Tangut: ),
Sui (, Tangut: ), and
Yin (, Tangut: ) as hereditary titles under the
Dingnan Jiedushi
Dingnan Jiedushi (), also known as Xiasui Jiedushi (), was a ''jiedushi'' created in 787 by the Tang dynasty that lasted until the early Northern Song dynasty, when its ruler Li Yuanhao proclaimed himself emperor and established the Western Xia ...
. After the collapse of Tang China, multiple warlords started to form new states in the former territories of Tang China. The Tanguts expanded their realm southwest towards their old homelands. In 1002 they conquered
Ling Prefecture and set up their first capital there under the name of Xiping. By 1036 they had annexed the
Guiyi Circuit and the
Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom, even pushing into Tibetan territory and conquering
Xining
Xining is the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. As of the 2020 census, it had 2,467,965 inhabitants (2,208,708 as of 2010), of whom 1,954,795 l ...
. The state of Western Xia was proclaimed in 1038.
Being subjects of Tang China previously for two centuries, the Tangut people adopted many Han/Tang Chinese culture, but also maintained their own customs, as is proven by the vast amount of literature which survived the Tangut state itself.
The Western Xia founder Li Deming's son, Li Yuanhao, enthroned as
Emperor Jingzong, sought to differentiate the Tangut state from that of its rival Han-led Song China and started to nurture a national Tangut identity by ordering the creation of an official
Tangut script and by instituting laws that reinforced traditional Tangut customs. One of the laws he mandated called for citizens to wear traditional ethnic apparel and another required men to wear their hair short or shaved as opposed to the Chinese custom of wearing hair long and knotted. Abandoning the royal Chinese surnames of "Li", previously bestowed by the Tang dynasty Li royal family, and "Zhao", subsequently bestowed by the Song dynasty Zhao royal family, he adopted a Tangut surname , rendered in Chinese as "Weiming" (). He made Xingqing (, modern
Yinchuan
Yinchuan is the capital of the Ningxia, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut people, Tangut-led Western Xia, Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 C ...
) his capital city.
In the thirteenth century,
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...
unified the northern grasslands of
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
and led his troops in six rounds of attacks against the Western Xia over a period of twenty-two years (1205, 1207, 1209–10, 1211–13, 1214–19, 1225–27). During the last spate of the Mongol attacks, Genghis died in Western Xia territory. The official Mongol history attributes his death to illness, whereas legends claim that he died from a wound inflicted in these battles.
In 1227, the capital of Western Xia was overrun by the Mongols, who devastated its buildings and written records: all was burnt to the ground except its monastery. The last emperor was killed and tens of thousands of civilians massacred. However, many Tangut families joined the Mongol Empire. Some of them led Mongol armies, e.g. Cha'an, into the conquest of China. After the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...
(1271–1368) was established, the Tangut troops were incorporated into the Mongol army in their subsequent military conquests in central and southern China. The Tangut were considered
Semu under the Yuan class system, thus separating them from the North Chinese. As late as the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
(1368–1644), there was evidence of small Tangut communities in Anhui and Henan provinces. The people including members of the royal clan emigrated to western Sichuan, northern Tibet, even possibly northeast India, in some instances becoming local rulers. The Tangut people living in Central China preserved their language until at least the 16th century.
Culture
Tangut society was divided into two classes: the "Red Faced" and the "Black Headed". The Red Faced Tanguts were seen as commoners while the Black Headed Tanguts made up the elite
priestly caste. Although
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
was extremely popular among the Tangut people, many Tangut herdsmen continued to practice a kind of
shamanism
Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...
known as Root West (Melie). The black caps worn by Root West
shaman
Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...
s give the Black Headed caste its name. According to Tangut myth, the ancestor of the Black Headed Tanguts was a
heavenly white crane, while the ancestor of the Red Faced Tanguts was a monkey. Tangut kings went by the title of Wuzu.
According to sources in the Tangut language, the Tangut state known now as the
Western Xia
The Western Xia or the Xi Xia ( zh, c=, w=Hsi1 Hsia4, p=Xī Xià), officially the Great Xia ( zh, c=大夏, w=Ta4 Hsia4, p=Dà Xià, labels=no), also known as the Tangut Empire, and known as Stein (1972), pp. 70–71. to the Tanguts ...
was named translated as "Great State of White and Lofty" (''phôn¹ mbın² lhi̯ə tha²''). Although the Chinese translation of this name () was occasionally used in Tangut sources, the state was most commonly referred to as the "Great Xia" (大夏) in Chinese-language sources of the Tangut or as the "Xia State" () to the Song. In later historiography and in modern Chinese the Tangut state is referred to as the "Western Xia" (''Xī Xià'' 西夏). The
Mongols
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...
and other steppe tribes referred to the Tangut kingdom as "Qashi" or "Qashin", which was derived from the Middle Chinese name for
Hexi, the region the Tanguts controlled ().
Religion

The Tanguts were primarily Buddhists. Tangut Buddhism was influenced by external elements. The entire
Chinese Buddhist canon
The Chinese Buddhist canon refers to a traditional collection of Chinese language Buddhist texts which are the central canonical works of East Asian Buddhism. The traditional term for the canon is Great Storage of Scriptures ().Jiang Wu, "The ...
was translated into the Tangut language over a span of 50 years and published around 1090 in about 3700 fascicles. Buddhism in the Tangut state is believed to be an amalgamation of Tibetan and Chinese traditions, among which the
Huayan-
Chan tradition of
Guifeng Zongmi (Chinese: 圭峰宗密, 780–841) and his master
Huayan Chengguan was the most influential. A number of texts previously believed to be of native Tangut origin turned out to be translations of
Khitan source texts. The degree of Tibetan impact on the formation of Tangut Buddhism still remains unexplored, especially in the light of new discoveries showing that Tangut Buddhism owed more to the local culture in
North China
North China () is a list of regions of China, geographical region of the People's Republic of China, consisting of five province-level divisions of China, provincial-level administrative divisions, namely the direct-administered municipalities ...
than to pure Tibetan or Chinese influences. Texts belonging to the Tibetan
Mahamudra
Mahāmudrā (Sanskrit: महामुद्रा, , contraction of ) literally means "great seal" or "great imprint" and refers to the fact that "all phenomena inevitably are stamped by the fact of wisdom and emptiness inseparable". Mahāmud ...
tradition demonstrate that Tangut Buddhism initially evolved along the
Karma Kagyu
Karma Kagyu (), or Kamtsang Kagyu (), is a widely practiced and probably the second-largest lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The lineage has long-standing monasteries in Tibet, China, Russia, M ...
rather than
Sakya lines of Buddhist transmission.
A number of Tangut Buddhist institutions, such as "Imperial Preceptor" survived the Tangut State itself and could be found during the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...
. One of the more definite sources of Tangut Buddhism was
Mount Wutai
Mount Wutai, also known by its Chinese name Wutaishan and as is a sacred Buddhist site at the headwaters of the Qingshui in Shanxi Province, China. Its central area is surrounded by a cluster of flat-topped peaks or mesas roughly correspondin ...
, where both Huayan and
Chinese Esoteric Buddhism Chinese Esoteric Buddhism refers to traditions of Tantra and Vajrayana, Esoteric Buddhism that have flourished among the Chinese people. The Tantric masters Śubhakarasiṃha, Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra, established the Esoteric Buddhist ''Zhenyan'' ...
flourished from the late
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
up to the time of the
Mongol conquest
The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...
.
Solonin (2005: unpaginated) links the Tanguts, the
Helan Mountains and the Chan teachings of both
Kim Hwasang and Baotang Wuzhu:
Worship of
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...
also existed in the Western Xia, which has led to some claims that the Tangut religion was rooted in Confucianism, but this was incomparable with the degree of popularity of Buddhism. Tangut literature is dominated by Buddhist scriptures while secular teachings including the
Chinese classics
The Chinese classics or canonical texts are the works of Chinese literature authored prior to the establishment of the imperial Qin dynasty in 221 BC. Prominent examples include the Four Books and Five Classics in the Neo-Confucian traditi ...
were rarely available in the Tangut language.
The Tangut state enforced strict laws pertaining to the teaching of religious beliefs and rigorously screened potential teachers. Before he was allowed to teach, a newcomer entering the state from Tibet or India first had to seek the approval of local authorities. Doctrines taught and methods used were carefully supervised to ensure there was no possibility that the Tangut people might misunderstand the teachings. Anyone found to be a fortune-teller or charlatan faced immediate persecution. Deeming it contrary to Buddhist ethical beliefs, the Tangut state strictly forbade religious teachers from accepting compensation or reward for their teaching services.
Although the state did not support an official school of Buddhism, it did protect all religious sites and objects within the country's boundaries.
As in China, becoming a
Buddhist monk required government approval and anyone found to have taken the vows of a monk without such government oversight faced severe punishment. Remarkably for the time, women played a role in Tangut religious practices by serving as
nuns
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of Evangelical counsels, poverty, chastity, and obedience in the Enclosed religious orders, enclosure of a monastery or convent.' ...
, a position that could only be held by a woman who had been widowed or who was an unmarried virgin.
Suchan (1998) traces the influence of the first several
Karmapa
The Karmapa Tulku lineage of the Gyalwa Karmapa is the oldest among the major incarnating lineages of Tibetan Buddhism,The Karmapa, "The Karmapas Lineage", Kagyu Office established in 1110 CE by the 1st Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa.
Karmapa means " ...
s upon the Yuan and
Ming courts as well as the Western Xia, and mentions
Düsum Khyenpa, 1st Karmapa Lama:
After the fall of the Western Xia, the influx of refugees into Tibet led to the adoption of the
Pehar deity into
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...
, eventually in the important role as the state oracle, the
Nechung Oracle
The Nechung Oracle () is the personal oracle of the Dalai Lama since the second Dalai Lama. The Medium (spirituality), medium currently resides in Nechung, Nechung Monastery established by the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, Dharamsa ...
.
Gallery
File:Hongfo Pagoda Arhat head.jpg, Statue head of a Buddhist arhat
In Buddhism, an ''Arhat'' () or ''Arahant'' (, 𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁆) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved ''Nirvana (Buddhism), Nirvana'' and has been liberated from the Rebirth (Buddhism ...
, Western Xia
The Western Xia or the Xi Xia ( zh, c=, w=Hsi1 Hsia4, p=Xī Xià), officially the Great Xia ( zh, c=大夏, w=Ta4 Hsia4, p=Dà Xià, labels=no), also known as the Tangut Empire, and known as Stein (1972), pp. 70–71. to the Tanguts ...
dynasty, from Hongfo Pagoda
The Hongfo Pagoda (), meaning 'Grand Buddha Pagoda', is an octagonal brick Chinese pagoda, pagoda located in Helan County, just north of Yinchuan city, in Ningxia, China. The pagoda was built during the Western Xia (1038–1227), and when it was ...
, Helan County, Ningxia
Ningxia, officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region in Northwestern China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1954 but was later separated from Gansu in 1958 and reconstituted as an autonomous ...
File:Anonymous - Tangut Horseman - 13.100.19 - Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg, Tangut Horseman
File:Tangut servants.jpg, Tangut bride
File:Xixia.jpg, Western Xia tomb mound
See also
*
Tangut script
*
Tangut language
Tangut (Tangut: ; ) is an extinct language in the Sino-Tibetan language family.
Tangut was one of the official languages of the Western Xia, Western Xia dynasty, founded by the Tangut people in northwestern China. The Western Xia was annihilate ...
*
List of Tangut books
*
Dingnan Jiedushi
Dingnan Jiedushi (), also known as Xiasui Jiedushi (), was a ''jiedushi'' created in 787 by the Tang dynasty that lasted until the early Northern Song dynasty, when its ruler Li Yuanhao proclaimed himself emperor and established the Western Xia ...
, de facto independent Tangut kingdom
*
Western Xia
The Western Xia or the Xi Xia ( zh, c=, w=Hsi1 Hsia4, p=Xī Xià), officially the Great Xia ( zh, c=大夏, w=Ta4 Hsia4, p=Dà Xià, labels=no), also known as the Tangut Empire, and known as Stein (1972), pp. 70–71. to the Tanguts ...
(also called the Tangut Empire)
References
Bibliography
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* (alk. paper)
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* (paperback).
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External links
* http://www.omniglot.com/writing/tangut.htm
* http://kepping.net Last works and documents of
Ksenia Kepping
* http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Song/xixia.html
The Tangut Royal Tombs – Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman. 1993. The Tangut Royal Tombs near Yinchuan. In Muqarnas X: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture. Margaret B. Sevcenko, ed. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
{{Authority control
*
Ethnic groups in Chinese history