The Historical Backdrop of Xi Xia and Liao Tensions

The mid-11th century witnessed a complex geopolitical landscape in East Asia, where the Tangut-led Western Xia dynasty navigated precarious relationships with its powerful neighbors, the Liao Empire to the northeast and the Song Dynasty to the south. Following the death of the formidable Xi Xia emperor Li Yuanhao in 1048, power fell to his consort, the Empress Dowager Zang, and her brother, the general Zang Epang. This regency period marked a significant departure from Li Yuanhao’s calculated statesmanship, setting the stage for a series of diplomatic and military miscalculations that would test the resilience of the young Xi Xia state.

The Liao Dynasty, established by the Khitan people, represented one of the most formidable military powers in the region. Previous conflicts between Xi Xia and Liao had established a pattern of confrontation and reconciliation, most notably during Li Yuanhao’s reign when he achieved significant victories against Liao forces yet demonstrated strategic wisdom by seeking peace afterward. This historical context created expectations for how the new Xi Xia leadership should approach post-conflict diplomacy.

The Ill-Advised Offensive Campaigns

In the first year of the Tianyou Chuisheng era , merely four months after Liao forces had withdrawn from Xi Xia territory, the Zang siblings made their first critical error. Instead of pursuing diplomatic overtures, they dispatched generals Wa Pu, Wei Huo, and Yi Lingji with substantial forces to attack the Liao stronghold of Jinsu City. This decision demonstrated a profound misreading of both military capabilities and political realities.

The Liao defenders, anticipating possible retaliation, thoroughly routed the Xi Xia forces. The battle proved disastrous—Generals Wei Huo and Yi Lingji perished in combat, while Wa Pu suffered arrow wounds and retreated in disgrace. This defeat should have served as a wake-up call for the Xi Xia leadership, but instead of reassessing their strategy, the Zang siblings doubled down on their aggressive approach.

The following month, the Xi Xia leadership committed their second strategic error by sending Observer E Du to establish a position at Sanjiao Chuan , planning to ambush the Liao fortress of Weisaibao. Once again, Liao forces under the command of Xiao Dielide anticipated the move and deployed light cavalry that overwhelmed the Xi Xia troops. E Du was captured alive, and Xi Xia lost significant military supplies and equipment in the engagement.

The Liao Counteroffensive and Siege of Xingqing

The repeated provocations finally exhausted the patience of Liao Emperor Xingzong. In May of 1050, he authorized a substantial counteroffensive, appointing Xiao Punu as commander of the southwestern forces, with Yelü Yixin and Xiao Samo serving as key generals. The invasion force included Bei Gude as army supervisor and Xiao Ge stationed at the border to demonstrate Liao’s military might.

The Liao army advanced decisively into Xi Xia territory, eventually surrounding the capital city of Xingqing. Rather than attempting immediate conquest of the heavily fortified city, the Liao forces implemented a strategy of attrition and psychological warfare, allowing their troops to plunder the surrounding countryside while maintaining pressure on the capital.

The Zang siblings, recognizing their military inferiority, adopted a purely defensive posture, ordering their commanders to secure the city walls and avoid direct engagement. The siege created a stalemate that ultimately worked against the Liao campaign, as maintaining a large besieging army presented significant logistical challenges, particularly regarding food supplies.

The Strategic Pivot to Tanliang City

Recognizing the impracticality of maintaining the siege indefinitely, the Liao command made a strategic decision to shift their attention to Tanliang City, located northwest of the Helan Mountains. This target represented a masterstroke of military intelligence—Tanliang served as Xi Xia’s central grain storage facility, making it a target of immense strategic value.

The agricultural economy of Xi Xia, while functional, could not consistently produce surplus grain, particularly given the state’s relatively large population and vulnerability to droughts and other natural disasters. The grain reserves at Tanliang thus represented national security infrastructure, essential for weathering shortages and maintaining stability.

The Liao assault on Tanliang proceeded with devastating effectiveness. The defenders offered little resistance against the experienced Liao troops, who successfully captured the city and confiscated its entire grain supply. This victory not only provided material compensation for the campaign but also demonstrated Liao’s ability to strike at the heart of Xi Xia’s logistical capabilities.

The Defection and Diplomatic Aftermath

The capture of Tanliang coincided with another significant development—the defection of General Wa Pu to the Liao forces. Having been spared execution earlier through the intercession of Empress Dowager Zang, Wa Pu had been sent to train troops in the Helan Mountains region. As Liao forces advanced deep into Xi Xia territory, Wa Pu recognized his precarious position and chose surrender over likely punishment for his previous failures.

By October of 1050, the military situation had become sufficiently dire that even the stubborn Zang leadership recognized the necessity of suing for peace. Xi Xia dispatched envoys to the Liao court seeking reconciliation, but Emperor Xingzong, still angered by Xi Xia’s provocations, initially rejected these overtures.

The Liao emperor instead sent his own envoy, Xiao Youkuo, to demand the return of Tangut communities that had defected to Xi Xia during Li Yuanhao’s reign. The Zang administration refused this demand, creating a diplomatic impasse that demonstrated their continued inability to read political realities. Remarkably, Xiao Youkuo resolved the standoff by personally compensating the Liao court for the expected tribute from these communities, an extraordinary measure that highlighted the peculiar dynamics of the negotiation.

The Path to Normalization

The diplomatic stalemate continued for nearly two years until a unexpected development broke the deadlock. In the summer of 1052, a chieftain from the Zubu tribe approached Xi Xia with an offer to switch allegiance. The Zang administration, perhaps finally developing some diplomatic sense, rejected this overture.

This demonstration of respect for Liao sovereignty finally persuaded Emperor Xingzong to reconsider his position. When Xi Xia again sent peace envoys, the Liao court agreed to negotiations. The subsequent exchange of diplomatic missions gradually normalized relations between the two powers, though the process required considerable time and confidence-building measures.

The Shift Toward Song Confrontation

No sooner had relations with Liao stabilized than the Zang leadership turned their attention southward toward the Song Dynasty. Beginning in February of 1053, General Zang Epang initiated a series of border provocations against Song territory, employing hit-and-run tactics that frustrated Song commanders.

These incursions gradually escalated in ambition and scope, culminating in attempts to annex territory northwest of Linzhou, west of the Quye River. While this land represented a relatively small addition to Xi Xia’s extensive territories, its seizure demonstrated the continued aggressive and shortsighted foreign policy that characterized the Zang administration.

Cultural and Social Impacts

The Zang siblings’ military misadventures had profound implications for Xi Xia society beyond the immediate battlefield losses. The repeated military defeats and particularly the loss of the strategic grain reserve at Tanliang created food security concerns that likely affected the general population more severely than the ruling elite.

The diversion of resources to ill-conceived military campaigns strained an economy that relied on a delicate balance between pastoralism and limited agriculture. The psychological impact of seeing their capital besieged and their food security compromised undoubtedly affected the Tangut people’s confidence in their leadership.

Diplomatically, these events demonstrated that Xi Xia’s survival depended on careful navigation between its powerful neighbors rather than military confrontation. The skilled diplomacy of the Li Yuanhao era had established a precedent that the Zang administration failed to follow, to their detriment.

Legacy and Historical Assessment

The Zang interregnum represents a cautionary tale about the perils of inexperienced leadership in geopolitically sensitive situations. Contemporary historians within the Chinese tradition often used this episode to illustrate the importance of strategic wisdom over brute military force.

The repeated failures against Liao forces exposed the limitations of Xi Xia’s military capabilities when not guided by strategic acumen. While Li Yuanhao had demonstrated that smaller powers could successfully confront larger neighbors through clever strategy and timely diplomacy, his successors showed how quickly these advantages could be squandered.

Modern historians view this period as illustrating the delicate balance of power in 11th-century East Asia. The Liao Empire demonstrated restraint in not pressing its advantages further, perhaps recognizing that a completely defeated Xi Xia would disrupt the regional balance to their own disadvantage.

The eventual normalization of relations, achieved only after considerable self-inflicted damage, established patterns that would characterize Xi Xia foreign policy for decades to come. The state would continue to navigate between the Liao and Song empires, though future leaders would hopefully learn from the Zang siblings’ errors.

The historical assessment of the Zang administration remains overwhelmingly negative—a case study in how not to conduct foreign policy. Their failure to understand their state’s limitations, their inability to read diplomatic cues, and their repeated military miscalculations nearly brought disaster to Xi Xia at a relatively vulnerable period in its development as an independent state.

This episode ultimately reinforces the broader historical lesson that successful statecraft requires not just military capability but strategic wisdom, diplomatic skill, and realistic assessment of one’s position in the international order—qualities that the Zang leadership notably lacked but that their predecessor had possessed in abundance.