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夏國上
Western Xia (Part One)
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昔唐承隋後，隋承周、齊，上溯元魏，故西北之疆有漢、晉正朔所不逮者，然亦不過使介之相通、貢聘之時至而已。 唐德既衰，荒服不至，五季迭興，綱紀自紊，遠人慕義，無所適從。 宋祖受命，諸國削平，海內清謐。 于是東若高麗、渤海，雖阻隔遼壤，而航海遠來，不憚跋涉。 西若天竺、于闐、回鶻、大食、高昌、龜茲、拂林等國，雖介遼、夏之間，筐篚亦至，屢勤館人。 党項、吐蕃唃廝囉董氈瞎征諸部，夏國兵力之所必爭者也，宋之威德亦暨其地，又間獲其助焉。 交阯、占城、真臘、蒲耳、大理濱海諸蕃，自劉鋹、陳洪進來歸，接踵修貢。 宋之待遇亦得其道，厚其委積而不計其貢輸，假之榮名而不責以煩縟； 來則不拒，去則不追； 邊圉相接，時有侵軼，命將致討，服則舍之，不黷以武。 先王柔遠之制豈復有加于是哉！ 南渡以後，朔漠不通，東南之陬以及西鄙，冠蓋猶有至者。 交人遠假爵命，訖宋亡而後絕焉。
In antiquity the Tang succeeded the Sui, which in turn had succeeded the Zhou and Qi and looked back to the Northern Wei; the northwestern marches therefore included lands beyond the farthest reach of Han and Jin imperial authority, but relations never went beyond exchanging envoys and receiving tribute at appointed times. Once Tang moral authority waned, the outer realms ceased to present themselves; as the Five Dynasties rose one after another and imperial order dissolved, peoples of the far marches who wished to align with a righteous power found no clear lord to follow. After the Song founder received Heaven's mandate, rival states were subdued and the realm within the Four Seas grew calm. To the east, states such as Koryŏ and Parhae, though cut off by Liao lands, still sailed across the sea from afar without flinching at the hardship of the voyage. In the west, India, Khotan, the Uyghurs, the Arabs, Gaochang, Kucha, Byzantium, and the like—though their routes lay between Liao and Xia—still delivered tribute chests and kept the court's guest officers busy again and again. The Tangut, the Tibetan Gusiluo, Dong Zhan, Xiazheng, and allied tribes were ground that Xia armies had to fight for, yet Song prestige and benevolence extended there too, and the court sometimes won their support. Jiaozhi, Champa, Cambodia, Pu'er, Dali, and other maritime peoples along the southern coast, once Liu Chang and Chen Hongjin had submitted, sent tribute in steady succession. The Song treated them with equal discernment: heaping gifts upon them without scrutinizing what they brought in tribute, granting them honorific titles without imposing vexatious protocol; those who came were not turned away, and those who left were not pursued; where frontiers adjoined and raids occurred, the court sent generals to punish offenders and, once they submitted, let the matter rest without abusing arms. Surely the ancient kings' policy of winning over distant peoples could scarcely have surpassed this! After the court crossed south of the Yangzi, the northern steppe was cut off, yet in the southeast and along the western frontier diplomatic missions still arrived. The Vietnamese long sought enfeoffment from the distant court, and only when the Song fell did that relationship end.
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女直在宋初屢貢名馬，他日強大，修怨于遼，其索叛臣阿疏，責還所掠宋詔，猶知以通宋爲重； 及渝海上之盟，尋構大難，宋遂爲所絀辱，豈非自取之過乎！ 前宋舊史有《女直傳》，今既作《金史》，義當削之。 夏國雖亻面鄉不常，而視金有間，故仍舊史所錄存焉。
In the early Song the Jurchen often sent famous horses as tribute; when they later grew strong and turned against Liao, they still demanded the rebel Ashu back and protested the seizure of Song imperial edicts—showing they still prized relations with the Song; Once they broke the maritime alliance and soon brought catastrophe, the Song were left to their humiliation—was that not largely a calamity of their own making? The old Song History included a Jurchen treatise; now that a separate History of Jin exists, that chapter ought properly to be removed. Though Western Xia was fickle in its bearing toward the Song, it also kept a certain distance from Jin; for that reason the compilers retained the account from the older history.
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李彝興，夏州人也，本姓拓跋氏。 唐貞觀初，有拓跋赤辭者歸唐，太宗賜姓李，置靜邊等州以處之。 其後析居夏州者號平夏部。 唐末，拓跋思恭鎮夏州，統銀、夏、綏、宥、靜五州地，討黃巢有功，復賜李姓。 思恭卒，弟思諫代爲定難軍節度使。 思諫卒，思恭孫彝昌嗣。 梁開平中，彝昌遇害，將士立其族子蕃部指揮仁福。 仁福卒，子彝超嗣。 事具《五代史》。
Li Yixing was a native of Xia Prefecture and bore the surname Tuoba by birth. Early in the Zhenguan reign, Tuoba Chici came over to the Tang, and Emperor Taizong granted the Li surname and established Jingbian and other prefectures to receive his people. Those who later settled separately at Xia Prefecture came to be known as the Pingxia branch. Late in the Tang, Tuoba Sigong held Xia Prefecture and controlled Yin, Xia, Sui, You, and Jing; for his service against Huang Chao he was again granted the Li surname. After Sigong's death his younger brother Sijian became military commissioner of the Dingnan army. When Sijian died, Sigong's grandson Yichang took his place. During the Liang Kaiping era Yichang was killed, and the troops raised his kinsman Renfu, a tribal commander, to lead them. Renfu was succeeded by his son Yichao. The details are recorded in the History of the Five Dynasties.
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宋初，加太尉。 北漢劉鈞結代北諸部來寇麟州，彝興遣部將李彝玉會諸鎮兵禦之，鈞衆遂引去。 建隆初，獻馬三百匹，太祖大喜，親視攻玉爲帶，且召使問曰：「汝帥腹圍幾何？」 使言：「彝興腰復甚大。」 太祖曰：「汝帥真福人也。」 遂遣使以帶賜之。
In the early Song he was made Grand Commandant. When Liu Jun of Northern Han allied with the northern tribes to attack Lin Prefecture, Yixing sent Li Yiyu with allied frontier troops to resist, and Jun's forces withdrew. Early in the Jianlong era he sent three hundred horses as tribute. The Taizu emperor was delighted, personally oversaw the carving of a jade belt, and summoned the envoy to ask, 'How large around is your commander's waist?' The envoy replied, 'Yixing has a very large waist.' The Taizu emperor said, 'Your commander is truly a blessed man.' He then sent an envoy to present the belt as a gift.
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乾德五年，卒，太祖廢朝三日，贈太師，追封夏王。 子克睿立。
He died in the fifth year of Qiande. The Taizu emperor mourned him with three days without court, posthumously made him Grand Preceptor, and enfeoffed him as King of Xia. His son Kerui succeeded him.
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克睿初名光睿，避太宗諱改「光」爲「克」。 彝興之卒，自權知州事，授檢校太保、定難軍節度使。
Kerui had originally been named Guangrui; to avoid the taboo on the character guang used in the Taizong emperor's name, he changed it to ke. On Yixing's death he took provisional control of the prefecture and was appointed Acting Grand Guardian and military commissioner of the Dingnan army.
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開寶九年，率兵破北漢吳堡砦，斬首七百級，獲牛羊千計，俘砦主侯遇以獻，累加檢校太尉。
In the ninth year of Kaibao he stormed the Northern Han fort at Wubao, took seven hundred heads, seized thousands of cattle and sheep, and sent the fort commander Hou Yu as a captive; he was eventually promoted to Acting Grand Commandant.
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太平興國三年，卒，太宗廢朝二日，贈侍中。 子繼筠立。
He died in the third year of Taiping Xingguo. The Taizong emperor observed two days of mourning and posthumously made him Palace Attendant. His son Jiyun succeeded him.
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繼筠，初爲衙內都指揮使、檢校工部尚書。 克睿卒，自權知州事，授檢校司徒、定難軍節度觀察留後。 太宗征北漢，繼筠遣銀州刺史李光遠、綏州刺史李光憲率蕃、漢兵列陣渡河，略太原境以張軍勢。
Jiyun had first served as commander of the inner guard and Acting Minister of Works. When Kerui died he took provisional control of the prefecture and was appointed Acting Minister of Education, surveillance commissioner, and acting military commissioner of Dingnan. During the Taizong emperor's campaign against Northern Han, Jiyun sent the Yin prefect Li Guangyuan and the Sui prefect Li Guangxian with mixed tribal and Han forces across the river to harry the Taiyuan frontier and magnify the Song army's presence.
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太平興國五年，卒，弟繼捧立。
He died in the fifth year of Taiping Xingguo and was succeeded by his younger brother Jipeng.
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繼捧立，以太平興國七年率族人入朝。 自上世以來，未嘗親覲者，繼捧至，太宗甚嘉之，賜白金千兩、帛千匹、錢百萬。 祖母獨孤氏亦獻玉盤一、金盤三，皆厚賚之。 繼捧陳其諸父、昆弟多相怨，願留京師。 乃遣使夏州護緦麻已上親赴闕，授繼捧彰德軍節度使，並官其昆弟夏州蕃落指揮使克信等十二人有差，遂曲赦銀、夏管內。 太宗嘗宴群臣苑中，謂繼捧曰：「汝在夏州用何道以制諸部？」 對曰：「羌人鷙悍，但羈糜而已，非能制也。」 弟權知夏州克文來朝，以唐僖宗所賜其祖思恭鐵券及朱書御劄來上，改博州防禦使。 初，繼捧之入也，弟繼遷出奔，及是，數來爲邊患。 有言繼遷悉知朝廷事，蓋繼捧泄之。 乃出爲崇信軍節度使，克憲爲道州防禦使，克文遣歸博州，並選常參官爲通判，以專郡政。
After Jipeng took power, in the seventh year of Taiping Xingguo he led his kinsmen to the capital. No one in his line had ever presented himself at court in person before; when Jipeng came, the Taizong emperor praised him warmly and gave him a thousand taels of silver, a thousand bolts of silk, and a million in cash. His grandmother, Lady Dugu of the Dugu clan, also presented one jade platter and three gold platters, and the court rewarded them generously. Jipeng explained that his uncles and brothers were bitterly divided and asked to remain at the capital. The court sent envoys to Xia to bring kinsmen in the prescribed mourning grades to the capital, made Jipeng military commissioner of Zhangde, and appointed twelve of his brothers, including the tribal commander Kexin, to various posts; a general amnesty was then proclaimed for the Yin and Xia region. The Taizong emperor once entertained his ministers in the imperial park and asked Jipeng, 'When you were at Xia Prefecture, how did you keep the tribes in hand?' He answered, 'The Qiang are fierce and unruly; one can only keep them on a loose tether with gifts—one cannot truly control them.' His younger brother Kewen, who was acting prefect of Xia, came to court and presented the iron certificate and vermilion imperial rescript that Tang Emperor Xizong had granted their grandfather Sigong; he was reassigned as Defender of Bozhou. When Jipeng first came to court, his younger brother Jiqian had fled into the wilds; by now Jiqian was raiding the frontier again and again. Word spread that Jiqian knew everything happening at court—supposedly because Jipeng had betrayed it. Jipeng was transferred to military commissioner of Chongxin, Kexian was made Defender of Daozhou, Kewen was sent back to Bozhou, and regular court officials were appointed as deputy prefects to keep tight control of local government.
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端拱初，改感德軍節度使。 屢發兵討繼遷不克，用宰相趙普計，欲委繼捧以邊事，令圖之。 因召赴闕，賜姓趙氏，更名保忠，太宗親書五色金花箋以賜之，授夏州刺史，充定難軍節度使、夏銀綏宥靜等州觀察處置押蕃落等使。 賜金器千兩、銀器萬兩，並賜五州錢帛、芻粟、田園。 保忠辭日，宴于長春殿，賜襲衣、玉帶、銀鞍馬、錦彩三千匹、銀器三千兩，又賜錦袍、銀帶五百，副馬百匹。 至鎮數月，上言繼遷悔過歸款，乃授繼遷官，然實無降心也。 二年，加保忠特進、同中書門下平章事。
Early in the Duangong era he was reassigned as military commissioner of Gande. Repeated campaigns against Jiqian failed. Following Chief Minister Zhao Pu's advice, the court decided to put Jipeng back in charge of the frontier and have him deal with Jiqian. He was recalled to court, granted the imperial Zhao surname, and renamed Baozhong. The Taizong emperor personally wrote him a letter on five-colored gold-flowered paper and appointed him prefect of Xia, military commissioner of Dingnan, and commissioner overseeing Xia, Yin, Sui, You, Jing, and the tribal peoples of the region. He received a thousand taels' worth of gold vessels and ten thousand taels' worth of silver, along with cash, silk, fodder, grain, and estates across the five prefectures. On the day he departed, the court feasted him in the Changchun Hall and gave him court dress, a jade belt, a silver-mounted horse, three thousand bolts of brocade, three thousand taels of silverware, five hundred brocade robes with silver belts, and a hundred spare mounts. A few months after he took up his post, he reported that Jiqian wished to repent and submit; the court gave Jiqian an office, but he had no real intention of yielding. In the second year Baozhong was made Special Advancement and Associate Director of the Secretariat-Chancellery.
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淳化初，與繼遷戰于安慶澤，繼遷中流矢遁去。 保忠乞師禦繼遷，遣商州團練使翟守素率兵援之。 賜保忠茶百斤、上醞十石。 乃獻白鶻，名海東青，以久罷畋獵，詔慰還之。
Early in the Chunhua era he fought Jiqian at Anqing Marsh; Jiqian took an arrow wound and fled. Baozhong asked for reinforcements against Jiqian, and Zhai Shousu, training commissioner of Shangzhou, was sent with an army to support him. The court gave Baozhong a hundred jin of tea and ten shi of fine wine. He then presented a white gyrfalcon called Sea East Green; because the court had long suspended falconry, an edict thanked him and sent the bird back.
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五年，繼遷攻靈州，遣侍衛馬軍都指揮使李繼隆討之。 保忠先挈其母與妻子壁野外，乃上言與繼遷解怨，獻馬五十匹，乞罷兵。 帝覽奏，立遣中使督繼隆進軍。 及兵壓境，保忠反爲繼遷所圖，欲並其衆，縛牙校趙光祚，襲其營帳。 保忠方寢，聞難作，單騎走還城，爲大校趙光嗣閉于別室，旦開門迎繼隆，乃執保忠送闕下，待罪崇政殿庭。 帝詰責數四，釋之，賜冠帶、器幣，並賜其母金銀器以撫之。 尋責授右千牛衛上將軍，封宥罪侯，賜第京師。 保忠狀貌雄毅，居環列，奉朝請，常怏怏不自得。
In the fifth year Jiqian attacked Ling Prefecture, and Li Jilong, commander of the palace horse guard, was dispatched against him. Baozhong first moved his mother, wife, and children to a fortified camp in the open, then reported that he and Jiqian had made peace, sent fifty horses as tribute, and asked that the campaign be stopped. The emperor read the report and at once sent a palace envoy to order Jilong forward. As the army closed in, Jiqian turned on Baozhong, hoping to absorb his troops; he bound Baozhong's adjutant Zhao Guangzuo and attacked his camp. Baozhong was asleep when the attack began; he rode alone back to the city, where the senior officer Zhao Guangsi locked him in a side room. At dawn the gates were opened to admit Jilong, and Baozhong was seized and sent to court to await judgment in the Chongzheng Hall courtyard. The emperor rebuked him repeatedly, then pardoned him, gave him cap, belt, and gifts, and sent gold and silver vessels to his mother by way of consolation. He was soon demoted to Senior General of the Right Palace Guard, enfeoffed as Marquis of Pardoned Fault, and given a house in the capital. Baozhong was a man of imposing presence; he lived among the outer courtiers as a regular attendant and was often sullen and dissatisfied.
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咸平中，丁內艱，以本官起復，遷右金吾衛上將軍，判岳州，移復州。
During the Xianping era he mourned his mother, then resumed duty in his former rank, was made Senior General of the Right Golden Crow Guard, served as prefect of Yue, and was later transferred to Fu Prefecture.
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景德元年病劇，上言有子永哥不肖，乞配春州。 帝以其病語，乃授永州別駕，詔監軍察之。 尋卒，贈威塞軍節度使。 克文亦死，贈岳州防禦使。
In the first year of Jingde his illness worsened; he reported that his son Yongge was worthless and asked that he be exiled to Chun Prefecture. The emperor, attributing the request to his illness, made Yongge Vice-Prefect of Yongzhou and ordered the military inspector to keep watch on him. He soon died and was posthumously made military commissioner of Weisai. Kewen also died and was posthumously made Defender of Yue Prefecture.
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天禧四年，錄其孫從吉爲三班奉職。
In the fourth year of Tianxi his grandson Congji was enrolled in the third-rank attendant service.
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繼遷，繼捧族弟也。 高祖思忠，嘗從兄思恭討黃巢，拒賊于渭橋，表有鐵鶴，射之沒羽，賊駭之，遂先士卒，戰沒，僖宗贈宥州刺史，祠于渭陽。 曾祖仁顏，仕唐，銀州防禦使。 祖彝景嗣于晉。 父光儼嗣于周。 建隆四年，繼遷生于銀州無定河，生而有齒。 開寶七年，授定難軍管內都知蕃落使。
Jiqian was Jipeng's clansman and younger cousin. His great-grandfather Sizhong had followed his cousin Sigong against Huang Chao and held the rebels at Weiqiao. When he shot an iron crane on the watchtower so that the arrow sank to its feathers, the rebels were terrified. He then led the charge and fell in battle. Emperor Xizong posthumously made him prefect of You and had him enshrined north of the Wei River. His great-great-grandfather Renyan had served the Tang as Defender of Yin Prefecture. His grandfather Yijing had succeeded under the Jin. His father Guangyan had succeeded under the Zhou. In the fourth year of Jianlong he was born on the Wuding River in Yin Prefecture, already with teeth. In the seventh year of Kaibao he was made commissioner overseeing all tribal peoples within the Dingnan circuit.
20
繼捧之歸宋，時年二十，留居銀州，及使至，召緦麻親赴闕，乃詐言乳母死，出葬于郊，遂與其黨數十人奔入地斤澤，澤距夏州東北三百里。
When Jipeng submitted to the Song, Jiqian was twenty and stayed at Yin Prefecture. When envoys came to summon kinsmen in mourning to court, he pretended his wet-nurse had died, went out for a suburban burial, and fled with several dozen followers into the Dijin Marsh, three hundred li northeast of Xia Prefecture.
21
太平興國八年，知夏州尹憲與都巡檢曹光實偵知，夜襲破之，斬首五百級，焚四百餘帳。 繼遷與其弟遁免，獲其母與妻。 繼遷復連娶豪族，轉遷無常，漸以強大，而西人以李氏世著恩德，往往多歸之。 繼遷因語其豪右曰：「李氏世有西土，今一旦絕之，爾等不忘李氏，能從我興復乎？」 衆曰：「諾。」 遂與弟繼沖、破醜重遇貴、張浦、李大信等起夏州，乃詐降，誘殺曹光實于葭蘆川，遂襲銀州據之，時雍熙二年二月也。 三月，破會州，焚毀城郭而去。
In the eighth year of Taiping Xingguo the Xia prefect Yin Xian and chief inspector Cao Guangshi scouted his camp and struck by night, taking five hundred heads and burning more than four hundred tents. Jiqian and his brother escaped, but his mother and wife were taken. Jiqian married into powerful families one after another, shifted camp constantly, and slowly grew strong. Because the Li clan had long enjoyed prestige in the west, many tribesmen rallied to him. Jiqian told the tribal leaders, 'The Li have held the western lands for generations, and now that hold is gone in a day. You who have not forgotten the Li—will you follow me to restore it?' They answered, 'We will.' He then rose at Xia with his brother Jichong, Pochou, Chongyugui, Zhang Pu, Li Daxin, and others. Feigning submission, he lured Cao Guangshi to his death on the Jialu River, seized Yin Prefecture, and held it—in the second month of the second year of Yongxi. In the third month he stormed Hui Prefecture, burned the city, and withdrew.
22
三年，遼以義成公主嫁繼遷，冊爲夏國王。 四年，知夏州安守忠以三萬衆戰于王亭鎮，敗績，繼遷追至城門而返。 端拱元年，繼捧之節制夏台，言能歸款，即授洛苑使、銀州刺史。
In the third year the Liao married Princess Yicheng to him and enfeoffed him as King of Xia. In the fourth year the Xia prefect An Shouzhong fought him at Wangting with thirty thousand men and was defeated; Jiqian pursued to the city gate and then withdrew. In the first year of Duangong, while Jipeng held authority over Xia, Jiqian said he would submit and was made Luoyuan Commissioner and prefect of Yin.
23
淳化初，復與繼捧戰于安慶澤，不利。 轉攻夏州，繼捧乞師，及翟守素來，又奉表歸款，授銀州觀察，賜名保吉，子德明管內蕃落使、行軍司馬。
Early in the Chunhua era he fought Jipeng again at Anqing Marsh and was beaten. He then attacked Xia Prefecture. Jipeng called for reinforcements, and when Zhai Shousu arrived Jiqian submitted again, was made surveillance commissioner of Yin, given the name Baoji, and his son Deming was appointed commissioner of tribal peoples and army marshal.
24
淳化四年，轉運副使鄭文寶議禁鹽池，用困繼遷。 數月，邊人四十二族萬餘騎寇環州，屠小康堡，太宗乃遣錢若水弛其禁，因撫慰之。
In the fourth year of Chunhua, Transportation Vice Commissioner Zheng Wenbao proposed closing the salt ponds to choke off Jiqian. Within months, tribesmen of forty-two frontier groups—more than ten thousand cavalry strong—raided Huan Prefecture and massacred Xiaokang Fort. Emperor Taizong sent Qian Ruoshui to lift the ban and soothe them.
25
五年正月，繼遷徙綏州民于平夏，部將高文岯等因衆不樂反，攻敗之。 繼遷復圍堡砦，掠居民，焚積聚，遂攻靈州，詔遣李繼隆等進討。 繼遷夜襲保忠，走之，獲其輜重以歸。 七月，乃獻馬以謝。 又遣弟廷信獻馬、橐駝，太宗撫賚甚厚，遣內侍張崇貴詔諭，賜茶藥、器幣、衣物。
In the first month of the fifth year Jiqian relocated the people of Sui Prefecture to Pingxia. Subordinate general Gao Wenqi and others rebelled when the populace grew restive and routed him. Jiqian again besieged forts and outposts, looted the populace, and burned stores, then attacked Ling Prefecture. The court ordered Li Jilong and others to march against him. Jiqian struck Baozhong in a night attack, drove him off, and returned with his supply train as booty. In the seventh month he sent horses as a gesture of conciliation. He also sent his brother Tingxin with horses and camels. Taizong rewarded them lavishly, sent palace attendant Zhang Chonggui with an edict of instruction, and granted tea, medicines, vessels, silks, and clothing.
26
至道初，遣左都押衙張浦以橐駝、良馬來獻。 太宗令衛士翹關、超乘、引強、奪槊于後園，俾浦等觀，且令兵士皆拓兩石弓。 帝笑問浦曰：「羌人敢敵否？」 浦曰：「羌部弓弱矢短，但見此長大人則已遁矣，況敢敵乎！」 繼遷乞禁邊盜掠，詔令謹守疆場，還所盜物。 遣閣門副使馮訥、中使賈繼隆持詔拜繼遷鄜州節度使，不受。 乃以浦爲鄭州團練，留京師。 繼遷表鄭文寶誘其部長嵬囉、嵬悉，遂貶文寶藍山令。 繼遷以千騎攻清遠軍，守臣張延擊退之。
Early in the Zhidao era he sent Left Chief Military Instructor Zhang Pu with camels and fine horses as tribute. Taizong had his guards perform gate-lifting, vaulting, strong-bow drawing, and spear contests in the rear garden for Pu and his party to watch, and ordered the soldiers to draw two-stone bows. The emperor smiled and asked Pu, "Would the Qiang dare stand against such men?" Pu answered, "The Qiang use weak bows and short arrows. At the sight of such tall warriors they would already flee—let alone fight them!" Jiqian asked that frontier raids be suppressed. An edict ordered strict border discipline and the return of all stolen property. The court sent Gate Deputy Commissioner Feng Ne and imperial envoy Jia Jilong with an edict appointing Jiqian military commissioner of Bian, but he refused. Pu was made regimental trainer of Zheng Prefecture and kept at court. Jiqian reported that Zheng Wenbao had suborned his chiefs Weiluo and Weixi, and Wenbao was demoted to magistrate of Lanshan. Jiqian attacked Qingyuan Army with a thousand cavalry; defender Zhang Yan drove him back.
27
二年春，命洛苑使白守榮等護送芻粟四十萬于靈州，且令車重先後作三隊，丁夫持弓矢自衛，士卒布方陣以護之，遇敵則戰，可以無失。 復令會州觀察使田紹斌率兵應援。 而守榮乃並爲一運，繼遷邀擊于浦洛河，紹斌不救，衆潰，運饋盡爲繼遷所得。 太宗聞之怒。 四月，復命李繼隆爲環、慶等州都部署。 會四方館使曹璨自河西至，言繼遷衆萬余圍靈武，城中上表告急，爲繼遷所得，遂頓兵不去。 時朝議或云率輕騎三道搗平夏； 或云暑涉旱海無水泉，糧運艱辛，不如靜以待之，帝不聽。 九月，親部分諸將，繼隆出環州，丁罕出慶州，範廷召出延州，王超出夏州，張守恩出鄜州，五路進討，直抵平夏。 繼隆以環州路迂，乃自青岡峽繞靈武徑趨平夏，兵行數日，與丁罕合，又行十餘日無所見，乃引還。 張守恩遇之，不戰而遁。 王超、範廷召遇之于烏白池，大小數十戰，不利，諸將失期，士卒困乏。 繼遷復令軍主史不癿駐屯橐駝口以阻歸宋人，繼隆遣田敏等擊之。
In the spring of the second year the court ordered Luoyuan Commissioner Bai Shourong and others to escort four hundred thousand bundles of fodder and grain to Ling Prefecture. The wagons were to travel in three successive columns, laborers armed with bows for self-defense, and soldiers in square formations for protection—fighting if attacked, so that nothing would be lost. Tian Shaobin, surveillance commissioner of Hui Prefecture, was also ordered to bring troops in support. Shourong, however, combined everything into a single convoy. Jiqian ambushed it on the Pulu River; Shaobin failed to intervene, the force scattered, and Jiqian captured the entire supply train. When Taizong heard of it he was furious. In the fourth month Li Jilong was again made overall commander of Huan, Qing, and neighboring prefectures. Four Directions Commissioner Cao Shen arrived from Hexi reporting that Jiqian had more than ten thousand men besieging Lingwu. The city's urgent petition had been intercepted by Jiqian, who therefore kept his army in place. Court debate split: some urged three columns of light cavalry to strike Pingxia directly; others argued that summer marches across the dry sea meant no water, supply lines would be brutal, and the court should wait—the emperor would not hear of it. In the ninth month he personally deployed his generals: Jilong from Huan, Ding Han from Qing, Fan Tingzhao from Yan, Wang Chao from Xia, and Zhang Shou'en from Bian—five armies marching on Pingxia. Finding the Huan route too long, Jilong cut through Qinggang Gorge via Lingwu straight toward Pingxia. After several days he joined Ding Han; after ten more days with no enemy in sight, he turned back. Zhang Shou'en met him and fled without a fight. Wang Chao and Fan Tingzhao met him at Wubai Pool and fought several dozen engagements, large and small, without success. The generals missed their rendezvous and the troops were worn out. Jiqian posted army master Shi Bufei at Camel Pass to block the Song retreat. Jilong sent Tian Min and others to attack him.
28
咸平春，繼遷復表歸順。 真宗乃授夏州刺史、定難軍節度、夏銀綏宥靜等州觀察處置押蕃落等使，加邑千戶，實封二百戶，益功臣號，乃放張浦還。 復遣押衙劉仁謙表讓恩命，詔不允，賜仁謙錦袍、銀帶。 尋遣弟繼瑗來謝恩，授繼瑗亳州防禦使，封繼遷母衛慕氏衛國太夫人，子德明爲定難軍節度行軍司馬。 未幾，復抄邊。
In the spring of the Xianping era Jiqian submitted again, professing loyalty. Zhenzong then invested him as prefect of Xia and military commissioner of the Dingnan Army, with authority over Xia, Yin, Sui, You, Jing and neighboring prefectures as commissioner of tribal affairs, added a thousand nominal and two hundred actual fief households, augmented his merit title, and released Zhang Pu to return home. He sent military instructor Liu Renqian with a memorial declining the honors; the court refused and rewarded Renqian with a brocade robe and silver belt. Soon he sent his brother Jiyuan to give thanks. Jiyuan was made defensive commissioner of Bozhou; Jiqian's mother, Lady Wei of the Weimo clan, was enfeoffed Grand Madam of Wei; and his son Deming was appointed army marshal under the Dingnan commission. Before long he was raiding the border again.
29
四年，麟府副部署曹璨率熟戶兵邀繼遷輜重于柳撥川，殺獲甚衆。 九月，來攻破定州、懷遠縣及堡靜、永州，清遠軍監軍段義叛，城遂陷。 五年三月，繼遷大集蕃部，攻陷靈州，以爲西平府。
In the fourth year Deputy Commander Cao Shen of Lin and Fu led allied tribesmen in an ambush of Jiqian's supply train at Liubo River, inflicting heavy casualties. In the ninth month he attacked and captured Ding Prefecture, Huaiyuan County, and the prefectures of Baojing and Yong. Duan Yi, military supervisor of Qingyuan Army, defected, and the city fell. In the third month of the fifth year Jiqian mustered his tribal forces, took Ling Prefecture, and made it his capital of Xiping.
30
六年春，遂都于靈州，詔遣張崇貴、王涉議和，割河西銀、夏等五州與之。 六月，復以二萬騎圍麟州，詔金明巡檢李繼周擊之。 圍未解，麟州部署請濟師，真宗閱地圖曰：「麟州依險，三面孤絕，戮力可守，但城中乏水可憂耳。」 乃遣兵走援。 繼遷果據水砦，薄城已五日。 知州衛居寶出奇兵突戰，縋勇士城下，城上鼓噪，矢石如注，殺傷萬餘人，繼遷乃拔去。 遂率衆攻西蕃，取西涼府，都首領潘羅支偽降，繼遷受之不疑。 羅支遽集六穀蕃部及者龍族合擊之，繼遷大敗，中流矢。 八月，復聚兵浦洛河，聲言攻環州，詔張凝等分兵以待之。
In the spring of the sixth year he established his capital at Ling Prefecture. The court sent Zhang Chonggui and Wang She to negotiate peace and cede five Hexi prefectures including Yin and Xia. In the sixth month he besieged Lin Prefecture with twenty thousand cavalry. The court ordered Jinming Inspector Li Jizhou to strike him. Before the siege lifted, Lin's commander asked for reinforcements. Zhenzong studied the map and said, "Lin sits on defensible ground, isolated on three sides—it can be held if the garrison stands together, but the shortage of water inside the walls is the real worry." Troops were dispatched at once to relieve the city. Jiqian had indeed seized the water supply and had been pressing the city for five days. Prefect Wei Jubao launched a surprise attack, lowered warriors over the wall, and with drums and shouts from the ramparts and a rain of arrows and stones killed and wounded more than ten thousand. Jiqian then lifted the siege. He then marched against the western Tibetans and took Xiliang Prefecture. Paramount chieftain Pan Luozhi feigned submission, and Jiqian accepted it without suspicion. Luozhi swiftly rallied the Six Valleys tribes and the Zhelong to attack together. Jiqian was routed and took an arrow wound. In the eighth month he massed troops on the Pulu River, claiming he would attack Huan Prefecture. The court ordered Zhang Ning and others to divide their forces in anticipation.
31
景德元年正月二日卒，年四十二，子德明立。 祥符五年，德明追上繼遷尊號曰應運法天神智仁聖至道廣德孝光皇帝。 元昊追諡曰神武，廟號太祖，墓號裕陵。
On the second day of the first month of the first year of Jingde he died at forty-two. His son Deming succeeded him. In the fifth year of Xiangfu, Deming posthumously honored Jiqian as Emperor Yingyun Fatian Senshen Rensheng Zhidao Guangde Xiaoguang. Yuanhao gave him the posthumous title Shenwu, the temple name Taizu, and the tomb name Yuling.
32
德明小字阿移，母曰順成懿孝皇后野利氏，即位于柩前，時年二十三。 邊臣以德明初立，乞詔撫之，因賜詔令審圖去就。 又詔蕃族萬山、萬遇、龐羅逝安、萬子都虞候、軍主吳守正馬尾等，能率部下歸順者，授團練使，銀萬兩、絹萬匹、錢五萬緡、茶五千斤； 其有亡命叛去者，釋罪甄錄。 既而康奴𡗀移等率屬來降。 德明遣牙將王旻奉表歸順，賜旻錦袍、銀帶，遣侍禁夏居厚持詔答之，因詔河西羌族各守疆場。 德明連歲表歸順。
Deming's childhood name was Ayi. His mother was Empress Shuncheng Yixiao of the Yeli clan. He took the throne before his father's coffin at twenty-three. Frontier officials, noting that Deming had only just succeeded, asked the court to reassure him. An edict was issued urging him to weigh his options carefully. Another edict promised the tribal leaders Wanshan, Wanyu, Pangluoshi'an, Wanzidu yuhou, army master Wu Shouzheng Mayi, and others that whoever brought his followers over would receive the rank of regimental trainer, ten thousand taels of silver, ten thousand bolts of silk, fifty thousand strings of cash, and five thousand jin of tea; and any who had fled or defected would be pardoned and received back into service. Before long Kangnu Xiyi and others brought their followers in submission. Deming sent staff officer Wang Min with a memorial professing loyalty. Min was given a brocade robe and silver belt; attendant Xia Juhou was sent with a reply edict, and the Hexi Qiang were ordered to keep to their borders. Deming sent memorials of loyalty year after year.
33
三年，復遣牙將劉仁勖奉誓表請藏盟府，且言父有遺命。 帝嘉之，乃授特進、檢校太師兼侍中、持節都督夏州諸軍事、行夏州刺史、上柱國，充定難軍節度、夏銀綏宥靜等州管內觀察處置押蕃落等使，西平王，食邑六千戶，食實封一千戶，仍賜推忠保順亮節翊戴功臣。 遣內侍左右班都知張崇貴、太常博士趙湘等充旌節官告使，賜襲衣、金帶、銀鞍勒馬、銀萬兩、絹萬匹、錢三萬貫、茶二萬斤，給奉如內地。 因責子弟入質，德明謂非先世故事，不遣。 乃獻御馬二十五匹、散馬七百匹、橐駝三百頭謝恩。
In the third year he sent staff officer Liu Renxu with a sworn memorial asking that the covenant be kept in the imperial archives, citing his father's dying wish. The emperor approved and invested him as special advanced grandee, honorary grand preceptor and palace attendant, area commander of Xia military affairs and acting prefect of Xia, pillar of state, military commissioner of the Dingnan Army with authority over Xia, Yin, Sui, You, Jing and neighboring prefectures as commissioner of tribal affairs, King of Xiping, with six thousand nominal and one thousand actual fief households, and the merit title Loyalty-Preserving, Submission-Maintaining, Bright-Integrity, Assist-Enthroning Merit Lord. Zhang Chonggui, director of the Left and Right Bans, Doctor of the Grand Sacrifices Zhao Xiang, and others were sent as credential-bearers with formal robes, a gold belt, a silver-saddled horse, ten thousand taels of silver, ten thousand bolts of silk, thirty thousand strings of cash, and twenty thousand jin of tea, and his stipend was set equal to officials in the interior. The court also demanded hostages from among his kin. Deming replied that this was not a precedent of earlier times and refused. He sent twenty-five imperial horses, seven hundred ordinary horses, and three hundred camels in gratitude.
34
大中祥符元年，以天書降，加賜守正功臣，益食邑一千戶，食實封四百戶。 俄境內旱，詔榷場勿禁西人市糧，以振其乏。 東封，又遣使來獻，禮成，加兼中書令，益食邑千戶，實封四百戶。 時遼亦遣使冊德明爲大夏國王。 明年，出侵回鶻，恒星晝見，德明懼而還。
In the first year of Dazhong Xiangfu, when the Heavenly Writ descended, he received the additional merit title Righteousness-Maintaining Merit Lord, plus one thousand nominal and four hundred actual fief households. When drought struck his territory, the court ordered border markets not to bar western peoples from buying grain, to ease their want. At the Eastern Mount feng sacrifice he sent tribute again. When the rite was complete he was made concurrently grand councilor, with a thousand additional nominal and four hundred actual fief households. The Liao at the same time sent envoys to invest Deming as Great King of Xia. The next year he marched against the Uyghurs. A star appeared in daylight; Deming took it as an omen and turned back.
35
三年，境內饑，上表求粟百萬，朝議不知所出。 時王旦爲相，請敕有司具粟百萬于京師，詔其來取。 德明既得詔，曰：「朝廷有人。」 遂止。 大起宮室于𨫼子山。 會旱，西攻河州、甘州宗哥族及秦州緣邊熟戶。 遂出大里河，築柵蒼耳平。
In the third year famine struck his realm. He asked for a million measures of grain, and the court could not see where to find it. Chancellor Wang Dan proposed that the relevant offices prepare a million measures at the capital and that Deming be told to come and take it. When Deming received the edict he said, "The court has men of talent." And he dropped the request. He undertook a major building program on Tuanzi Mountain. When drought struck, he marched west against He Prefecture, the Zongge clan of Gan Prefecture, and the allied tribes on the Qin frontier. He then advanced to the Dali River and built a stockade at Cangerping.
36
四年，祀汾陰，進中書令。 五年，聖祖降，加守太保。 七年二月，謁太清宮，遣使來獻方物，加宣德功臣。 八年，築堡于石州濁輪穀，將建榷場，詔緣邊安撫司止之。
In the fourth year, at the Fenyin sacrifice, he was promoted to grand councilor. In the fifth year, when the Holy Ancestor descended, he was made guardian grand mentor. In the second month of the seventh year, when the emperor visited the Grand Pure Palace, Deming sent tribute and received the merit title Virtue-Proclaiming Merit Lord. In the eighth year he built a fort at Zhuolun Valley in Shi Prefecture, planning a border market. The frontier pacification office was ordered to prevent it.
37
九年，因表邊臣違約招納逃亡，云：「自景德中進誓表，朝廷亦降詔書，應兩地逃民，緣邊雜戶不令停舍，皆俾交還。 自茲謹守翰垣，頗有倫理。 自向敏中歸闕，張崇貴雲亡，後來邊臣，罕守舊制，各務邀功，不虞生事，遂致綏、延等界，涇、原以來，擅舉兵甲，入臣境土； 其有叛亡部族，劫掠主財，去者百無十回。 臣之邊吏，亦務蔽藏，俱失奏論，漸棄盟約。」 詔答已令鄜延、涇原、環慶、麟府等路約束邊部，毋相攻劫，其有隱蔽逃亡，畫時勘送。 本國亦宜戒部下，毋有藏匿，各遵紀律，以守封疆。
In the ninth year he memorialized that frontier officials were violating the treaty by sheltering fugitives, writing: "Since I submitted the sworn memorial in the Jingde era and the court issued its edict in reply, fugitives from either side and mixed frontier households were not to be given shelter—all were to be handed back. Since then both sides have kept the border with some propriety. Since Xiang Minzhong returned to court and Zhang Chonggui died, later frontier officials have rarely kept the old rules. Each seeks glory without regard for provoking trouble. On the Sui and Yan frontiers and from Jing and Yuan westward, they have taken up arms on their own authority and entered my territory; and of defectors who raid my people's goods, fewer than one in ten ever come back. My own border officers conceal them as well. Neither side reports the truth, and the covenant is being cast aside." The reply edict stated that the Bian-Yan, Jing-Yuan, Huan-Qing, Lin-Fu, and other frontier commands had been ordered to restrain their border populations from mutual raids, and that any who sheltered fugitives must investigate and return them immediately. Deming's state was also to warn its people against harboring fugitives and to keep discipline and guard the frontier.
38
五年，德明追尊繼遷爲太祖應運法天神智仁聖至道廣德光孝皇帝，廟號武宗。 七年，甘露降國中。
In the fifth year Deming posthumously honored Jiqian as Emperor Taizu Yingyun Fatian Senshen Rensheng Zhidao Guangde Guangxiao, with the temple name Wuzong. In the seventh year sweet dew fell across the realm.
39
天禧元年正月，加守太傅，食邑千戶，實封四百戶。 三年春，德明丁繼立母憂，除起復如前制，以屯田員外郎上官亻必爲吊贈兼起復官告使，閣門祗候常希古爲致祭使。 冬，郊祀，又加崇仁功臣。
In the first month of the first year of Tianxi he was made guardian grand tutor, with one thousand additional nominal and four hundred actual fief households. In the spring of the third year Deming entered mourning for his mother. He was recalled to office under the usual regulations. Field Officer Second Rank Shangguan Bi was sent as envoy for condolences, posthumous gifts, and recall credentials, and Gate Usher Chang Xigu as envoy to present sacrifices. That winter, at the suburban sacrifice, he received the merit title Respect-Benevolence Merit Lord.
40
四年，遼主親將兵五十萬，以狩爲言，來攻涼甸，德明帥衆逆拒，敗之。 五年，遼復遣金吾衛上將軍蕭孝誠齎玉冊金印，冊爲尚書令、大夏國王。
In the fourth year the Liao emperor personally led five hundred thousand men, claiming a hunting expedition, to attack the Liang region. Deming met him in force and routed him. In the fifth year the Liao sent General-in-Chief of the Golden Quarters Guard Xiao Xiaocheng with a jade patent and gold seal to invest him as Director of the Department of State Affairs and Great King of Xia.
41
乾興元年，加純誠功臣。 德明自歸順以來，每歲旦、聖節、冬至皆遣牙校來獻不絕。 而每加恩賜官告，則又以襲衣五，金荔支帶、金花銀匣副之，銀沙鑼、盆、合千兩，錦彩千匹，金塗銀鞍勒馬一匹，副以纓、復，遣內臣就賜之。 又遣閣門祗候賜冬服及頒《儀天具注曆》。
In the first year of Qianxing he received the merit title Pure-Sincerity Merit Lord. Since submitting to the Song, Deming sent staff officers with tribute every New Year, imperial birthday, and winter solstice without fail. Whenever new honors came with appointment patents, the court also sent five formal robes, a gold lychee-branch belt, a gold-flower silver casket, a thousand taels of silver in gongs, basins, and boxes, a thousand bolts of brocade, a gold-plated silver-saddled horse with full tack, delivered by palace envoys. Gate ushers were also sent with winter clothing and copies of the Yitian Annotated Calendar.
42
明年，攻慶州柔遠砦。 巡檢楊承吉與戰不利，命曹瑋爲環、慶、秦州緣邊巡檢安撫使禦備之。 德明城懷遠鎮爲興州以居。
The following year he attacked Rouyuan Stockade in Qing Prefecture. Inspector Yang Chengji was beaten in the fight. Cao Wei was made frontier inspector and pacification commissioner for Huan, Qing, and Qin to meet the threat. Deming fortified Huaiyuan into Xing Prefecture and made it his seat.
43
天聖六年，德明遣子元昊攻甘州，拔之。 八年，瓜州王以千騎降于夏。 火星入南斗。 九年十月，德明卒，時年五十一，追諡曰光聖皇帝，廟號太宗，墓號嘉陵。 宋贈太師、尚書令兼中書令，以尚書度支員外郎朱昌符爲祭奠使，六宅副使、內侍省內侍押班馮仁俊副之，賻絹七百匹、布三百匹，副以上醞、羊、米、面。 將葬，賜物稱是，皇太后所賜亦如之。 帝與皇太后成服于苑中。 子曩霄立。
In the sixth year of Tiansheng Deming sent his son Yuanhao against Gan Prefecture and took it. In the eighth year the lord of Guazhou surrendered to Xia with a thousand cavalry. Mars entered the constellation of the Southern Dipper. In the tenth month of the ninth year Deming died at fifty-one. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Emperor Guang Sheng, with temple name Taizong and tomb name Jialing. The Song posthumously granted him Grand Preceptor, Director of the Department of State Affairs, and Director of the Secretariat. Zhu Changfu of the Revenue Bureau was sent as condolence envoy, assisted by Feng Renjun of the Palace Domestic Service. The court gave seven hundred bolts of silk and three hundred of cloth for the obsequies, with fine wine, sheep, rice, and flour besides. As burial approached, the court gave commensurate gifts, and the Empress Dowager's presents matched them. The Emperor and Empress Dowager donned mourning garb in the palace garden. His son Nangxiao succeeded him.
44
曩霄本名元昊，小字嵬理，國語謂惜爲「嵬」，富貴爲「理」。 母曰惠慈敦愛皇后衛慕氏。 性雄毅，多大略，善繪畫，能創制物始。 圓面高准，身長五尺餘。 少時好衣長袖緋衣，冠黑冠，佩弓矢，從衛步卒張青蓋。 出乘馬，以二旗引，百餘騎自從。 曉浮圖學，通蕃漢文字，案上置法律，常攜《野戰歌》、《太乙金鑒訣》。 弱冠，獨引兵襲破回鶻夜洛隔可汗王，奪甘州，遂立爲皇太子。 數諫其父毋臣宋，父輒戒之曰：「吾久用兵，疲矣。 吾族三十年衣錦綺，此宋恩也，不可負。」 元昊曰：「衣皮毛，事畜牧，蕃性所便。 英雄之生，當王霸耳，何錦綺爲？」 德明卒，即授特進、檢校太師兼侍中、定難軍節度、夏銀綏宥靜等州觀察處置押蕃落使、西平王，以工部郎中楊告爲旌節官告使，禮賓副使朱允中副之。
Nangxiao's given name was Yuanhao, his childhood name Weili—the national tongue took wei to mean "cherished" and li to mean "noble and prosperous." His mother was Empress Weici Dun'ai of the Wei clan. Bold and resolute by nature, he had broad strategic vision, painted well, and could conceive and create things anew. He had a round face and prominent nose, and stood more than five chi tall. In youth he favored long-sleeved scarlet robes, a black cap, bow and arrows at his belt, with foot guards holding a green canopy over him. Abroad he rode with two banners going before and more than a hundred mounted men in his train. He knew Buddhist learning and both Tangut and Chinese writing. Legal codes lay on his desk, and he often carried the Song of Field Combat and the Golden Mirror Secrets of Taiyi. At his coming of age he personally led a raid that shattered the Uyghur qaghan Yeluoge, seized Gan Prefecture, and was named crown prince. He often urged his father to stop serving the Song as a vassal. Deming would always warn him: "I have fought for years and am worn out. For thirty years our people have worn brocade and fine silk—that is Song favor, and we must not betray it." Yuanhao replied: "Furs and hides, tending herds—that is what a frontier people do best. A true hero is born to reign as king or hegemon—what need has he for brocade?" After Deming's death the court at once confirmed Yuanhao as Special Advancement, Acting Grand Preceptor and Palace Attendant, military commissioner of the Dingnan Army, observation and disposition commissioner over Xia, Yin, Sui, You, and Jing with charge of frontier tribes, and King of Xiping. Yang Gao of the Ministry of Works carried the appointment patent as envoy, assisted by Zhu Yunzhong of Ceremonial Reception.
45
既襲封，明號令，以兵法勒諸部。 始衣白窄衫，氈冠紅裏，冠頂後垂紅結綬，自號嵬名吾祖。 凡六日、九日則見官屬。 其官分文武班，曰中書，曰樞密，曰三司，曰御史台，曰開封府，曰翊衛司，曰官計司，曰受納司，曰農田司，曰群牧司，曰飛龍院，曰磨勘司，曰文思院，曰蕃學，曰漢學。 自中書令、宰相、樞使、大夫、侍中、太尉已下，皆分命蕃漢人爲之。 文資則襆頭、鞾笏、紫衣、緋衣； 武職則冠金帖起雲鏤冠、銀帖間金縷冠、黑漆冠，衣紫旋襽，金塗銀束帶，垂蹀躞，佩解結錐、短刀、弓矢韣，馬乘鯢皮鞍，垂紅纓，打跨鈸拂。 便服則紫皂地繡盤球子花旋襽，束帶。 民庶青綠，以別貴賤。 每舉兵，必率部長與獵，有獲，則下馬環坐飲，割鮮而食，各問所見，擇取其長。 初，宋改元明道，元昊避父諱，稱顯道于國中。
After succeeding to the fief he tightened command and governed the tribes by military discipline. He now wore a white close-fitting robe and a felt cap lined in red, with a red knotted cord hanging from the back of the crown, and took the style Weiming Wuzu. On the sixth and ninth of each month he held audience with his officials. His government divided civil and military service into a Secretariat, Bureau of Military Affairs, Three Departments, Censorate, Kaifeng Prefecture, Guard Bureau, Fiscal Bureau, Receipt Bureau, Agriculture Bureau, Herds Bureau, Flying Dragon Court, Review Bureau, Literary Craft Court, Tangut College, and Han College. From Secretariat Director, chancellor, military commissioner, grand counselor, palace attendant, and grand marshal on down, Tangut and Han men were appointed in turn. Civil officials wore putou caps, boots and court tablets, and purple or scarlet robes; Military officers wore gold-inlaid cloud-scroll caps, silver-inlaid gold-thread caps, or black lacquer caps, with purple round-collared gowns, gold-plated silver belts and dangling belt plaques, knot-awls, short knives, and quivers at the hip. Their mounts had crocodile-skin saddles with red tassels, and they beat pommel cymbals as they rode. Informal dress was a purple-black round-collared robe embroidered with ball-flower patterns, with belt. Commoners wore blue-green clothing to mark their rank apart from the elite. Before every campaign he led the tribal chiefs on a hunt. When game was taken they dismounted, sat in a ring to drink, carved fresh meat, and each gave his counsel—the best was chosen. When the Song changed the era name to Mingdao, Yuanhao avoided his father's taboo and used Xiandao at home.
46
二年，加兼中書令。 遣其令公蘇奴兒將兵二萬五千攻唃廝囉，敗死略盡，蘇奴兒被執。 元昊自率衆攻貓牛城，一月不下。 既而詐約和，城開，乃大縱殺戮。 又攻青唐、安二、宗哥、帶星嶺諸城，唃廝囉部將安子羅以兵絕歸路，元昊晝夜角戰二百餘日，子羅敗，遂取瓜、沙、肅三州。 元昊既還，欲南侵，恐唃廝囉制其後，復舉兵攻蘭州諸羌，侵至馬銜山，築城凡川。
In the second year he was also made concurrent Director of the Secretariat. He sent his commandery duke Sunu'er with twenty-five thousand men against Gusiluo. The force was destroyed almost to the last man, and Sunu'er was taken. Yuanhao personally besieged Mao Niu City, but it did not fall within a month. He then pretended to sue for peace; when the gates opened he massacred the population. He next attacked Qingtang, An'er, Zongge, Taixingling, and other towns. Gusiluo's officer An Ziluo blocked his retreat, and Yuanhao fought night and day for more than two hundred days before Ziluo fell. He then seized Gua, Sha, and Su. After returning home Yuanhao planned a southern invasion but feared Gusiluo would strike from behind. He marched again against the Qiang around Lan Prefecture, raided as far as Maxian Mountain, and built a fort at Fanchuan.
47
元昊既悉有夏、銀、綏、宥、靜、靈、鹽、會、勝、甘、涼、瓜、沙、肅，而洪、定、威、龍皆即堡鎮號州，仍居興州，阻河依賀蘭山爲固。 始大建官，以嵬名守全、張陟、張絳、楊廓、徐敏宗、張文顯輩主謀議，以鐘鼎臣典文書，以成逋、克成賞、都臥、𡗀如定、多多馬竇、惟吉主兵馬，野利仁榮主蕃學。 置十二監軍司，委豪右分統其衆。 自河北至午臘蒻山七萬人，以備契丹； 河南洪州、白豹、安鹽州、羅落、天都、惟精山等五萬人，以備環、慶、鎮戎、原州； 左廂宥州路五萬人，以備鄜、延、麟、府； 右廂甘州路三萬人，以備西蕃、回紇； 賀蘭駐兵五萬、靈州五萬人、興州興慶府七萬人爲鎮守，總五十余萬。 而苦戰倚山訛，山訛者，橫山羌，平夏兵不及也。 選豪族善弓馬五千人迭直，號六班直，月給米二石。 鐵騎三千，分十部。 發兵以銀牌召部長面受約束。 設十六司于興州，以總庶務。 元昊自製蕃書，命野利仁榮演繹之，成十二卷，字形體方整類八分，而畫頗重復。 教國人紀事用蕃書，而譯《孝經》、《爾雅》、《四言雜字》爲蕃語。 復改元大慶。
Yuanhao now held Xia, Yin, Sui, You, Jing, Ling, Yan, Hui, Sheng, Gan, Liang, Gua, Sha, and Su. Hong, Ding, Wei, and Long were raised from fortified posts into prefectures. He kept his seat at Xing Prefecture, using the Yellow River and Helan Mountains as his ramparts. He then greatly expanded the bureaucracy. Weiming Shouquan, Zhang Zhi, Zhang Jiang, Yang Kuo, Xu Minzong, and Zhang Wenxian led strategy; Zhong Dingchen kept the archives; Cheng Bu, Kecheng Shang, Du Wo, Ruoding, Duoduoma Dou, and Weiji commanded the armies; Yeli Renrong ran the Tangut College. He set up twelve frontier supervisory commands and entrusted powerful clan leaders to command their followers in turn. Seventy thousand from north of the Yellow River to Mount Wula Ruoshan to guard against the Khitan; Fifty thousand at Hong Prefecture, Baibao, Anyan, Luoluo, Tiandu, Weijingshan, and related posts south of the river against Huan, Qing, Zhenrong, and Yuan; Fifty thousand on the left Youzhou route against Fu, Yan, Lin, and Fu; Thirty thousand on the right Gan Prefecture route against Tibetans and Uyghurs; Fifty thousand at Helan, fifty thousand at Ling Prefecture, and seventy thousand at Xing Prefecture and Xingqingfu as garrisons—more than half a million in all. His hardest fighters were the Shan'e—Hengshan Qiang whom even Pingxia soldiers could not best. Five thousand bowmen and riders from powerful clans were drafted in rotation as the Six-Ban Direct Guard, each man receiving two shi of rice monthly. Three thousand iron cavalry were organized in ten divisions. Troops were raised by summoning tribal chiefs with silver plaques to receive orders face to face. Sixteen administrative offices at Xing Prefecture oversaw all government business. Yuanhao invented a Tangut script and had Yeli Renrong develop it into twelve volumes. The characters were square and regular, like clerical script, though many strokes repeated. He taught his people to keep records in Tangut and had the Classic of Filial Piety, Erya, and Four-Character Miscellaneous Words rendered into the Tangut tongue. He changed the era name again to Daqing.
48
明年，遣使上表曰：
The following year he sent envoys with a memorial that read:
49
臣祖宗本出帝胄，當東晉之末運，創後魏之初基。 遠祖思恭，當唐季率兵拯難，受封賜姓。 祖繼遷，心知兵要，手握乾符，大舉義旗，悉降諸部。 臨河五郡，不旋踵而歸； 沿邊七州，悉差肩而克。 父德明，嗣奉世基，勉從朝命。 真王之號，夙感于頒宣； 尺土之封，顯蒙于割裂。 臣偶以狂斐，制小蕃文字，改大漢衣冠。 衣冠既就，文字既行，禮樂既張，器用既備，吐蕃、塔塔、張掖、交河，莫不從伏。 稱王則不喜，朝帝則是從，輻輳屢期，山呼齊舉，伏願一垓之土地，建爲萬乘之邦家。 于時再讓靡遑，群集又迫，事不得已，顯而行之。 遂以十月十一日郊壇備禮，爲世祖始文本武興法建禮仁孝皇帝，國稱大夏，年號天授禮法延祚。 伏望皇帝陛下，睿哲成人，寬慈及物，許以西郊之地，冊爲南面之君。 敢竭愚庸，常敦歡好。 魚來雁往，任傳鄰國之音； 地久天長，永鎮邊方之患。 至誠瀝懇，仰俟帝俞。 謹遣弩涉俄疾、你斯悶、臥普令濟、嵬崖妳奉表以聞。
Your subject's forebears sprang from the imperial line. At the twilight of Eastern Jin they laid the early foundations of Northern Wei. The distant ancestor Sigong, in Tang's dying years, led troops to relieve the realm and received enfeoffment and a surname from the throne. His grandfather Jiqian mastered the arts of war, seized Heaven's mandate, raised the banner of righteous revolt, and brought every tribe to submission. Five commanderies along the river fell to him almost at once; and seven frontier prefectures were seized one after another. His father Deming inherited that foundation and, however reluctantly, obeyed the court's commands. The title True King, once proclaimed, had long filled us with gratitude; and even the smallest grant of territory was a clear mark of imperial favor. Your subject, in rash audacity, devised a Tangut script and cast off the dress of the Great Han. Once regalia, script, rites, music, and tools were all in place, Tibetans, Tatars, Zhangye, and Jiaohe alike bowed in submission. My people were displeased to call me only king yet willing to pay you homage as emperor—but they have gathered again and again, shouting as one, and humbly ask that this vast domain be raised to a sovereign state in its own right. Twice I tried to decline, but my people would not wait. The assembly pressed on, and necessity left no choice—I proclaimed it openly. On the eleventh day of the tenth month he performed the full suburban rites and took the title Emperor Shiwen, Establishing Law and Ritual, Benevolent and Filial, founding sage of the line. His state was named Great Xia, with the era Heavenly Gift of Ritual Law and Extended Succession. Humbly I pray that Your Majesty, wise and generous, will recognize our lands in the western marches and invest us as sovereign of the south. I pledge my poor service and will ever cultivate goodwill between us. Let envoys pass back and forth as fish and geese, carrying word between our realms; and may our peace endure as long as earth and heaven, forever stilling trouble on the frontier. In utmost sincerity I await Your Majesty's gracious assent. Respectfully submitted by envoys Nushe'eji, Nisimén, Wopu Lingji, and Weiyainü.
50
詔削奪官爵、互市，揭榜于邊，募人能擒元昊若斬首獻者，即爲定難軍節度使。 又遣賀永年齎嫚書，納旌節及所授敕告置神明匣，留歸孃族而去。
An edict stripped his titles and shut down border trade. Notices posted on the frontier promised the Dingnan military commission to anyone who captured Yuanhao or brought in his head. Yuanhao sent He Yongnian with an insulting letter, placed the baton, credentials, and appointment patents in the spirit casket, left them with the Guiyang clan, and departed.
51
康定元年，環慶路鈐轄高繼隆、知慶州張崇俊攻後橋，而柔遠砦主武英入自北門，拔之。 未幾，夏人攻金明砦，執都監李士彬父子。 破安遠、塞門、永平諸砦，圍延州，設伏三川口，執劉平、石元孫、傅偃、劉發、石遜等。 又攻鎮戎軍，敗劉繼宗、李緯兵五千。 環慶部署任福入白豹城，焚其積聚，破四十一族。
In Kangding 1, Huanqing intendant Gao Jilong and Qing Prefecture prefect Zhang Chongjun attacked Houqiao while Rouyuan Stockade commander Wu Ying took it through the north gate. Soon afterward Xia forces stormed Jinming Stockade and captured garrison commander Li Shibin and his son. They overran Anyuan, Saimen, Yongping, and other stockades, besieged Yan Prefecture, ambushed the Song at Sanchuankou, and captured Liu Ping, Shi Yuansun, Fu Yan, Liu Fa, Shi Xun, and others. They next struck Zhenrong Army and routed five thousand men under Liu Jizong and Li Wei. Huanqing deployment commander Ren Fu took Baibao City, burned its stores, and shattered forty-one clans.
52
慶曆元年二月，攻渭州，逼懷遠城。 韓琦徼巡邊至高平，盡發鎮戎兵及募勇士得萬人，命行營總管任福等並擊之，都監桑懌爲前鋒，鈐轄朱觀、都監武英繼之。 福申令持重，其夕宿三川，夏人已過懷遠東南。 翌日，諸軍躡其後。 西路巡檢常鼎、劉肅與夏人對壘于張家堡，懌以騎兵趣之。 福分兵，夕與懌爲一軍，屯好水川。 川與能家川隔在隴山外，觀、英爲一軍，屯籠洛川，相離五里。 期以明日會兵，不使夏人一騎遁，然已陷其伏中矣。 元昊自將精兵十萬，營于川口，候者言夏人有砦，數不多，兵益進。 詰旦，福與懌循好水川西去，未至羊牧隆城五里，與夏軍遇。 懌爲先鋒，見道傍置數銀泥合，封襲謹密，中有動躍聲，疑莫敢發，福至發之，乃懸哨家鴿百餘，自合中起，盤飛軍上。 于是夏兵四合，懌先犯，中軍繼之，自辰至午酣戰。 陣中忽樹鮑老旗，長二丈餘，懌等莫測。 既而鮑老揮右則右伏出，揮左則左伏出，翼而襲之，宋師大敗。 懌、劉肅及福子懷亮皆戰沒。 小校劉進勸福自拔，福不聽，力戰死。 初，渭州都監趙津將瓦亭塞騎兵三千余爲諸將後繼。 是日，朱觀、武英兵會能家川與夏人遇，陣合，王珪自羊牧隆城以屯兵四千五百人助觀略陣，陣堅不可動，英重傷，不能出軍戰。 自午至申，夏軍益至，東陣步兵大潰，衆遂奔。 珪、英、津及參軍耿傅、隊將李簡、都監李禹享、劉均皆死于陣。 觀以千餘人保民垣，發矢四射，會暮，夏軍引去。 將校士卒死者萬三百人，關右震動。 軍須日廣，三司告不足，仁宗爲之旰食，宋庠請修潼關以備衝突。 秋，夏人轉攻河東，及麟、府，不能下，乃引兵攻豐州，城孤無援，遂據之； 又破寧遠砦，屯要害，絕麟、府餉道。 楊偕始請棄河外，保合河津，帝不許。 會張亢管勾麟府軍馬事，破之于柏子，又破之于兔毛川，亢築十餘柵，河外始固。 元昊雖數勝，然死亡創痍者相半，人困于點集，財力不給，國中爲「十不如」之謠以怨之。 元昊乃歸塞門砦主高延德，因乞和，知延州范仲淹爲書陳禍福以喻之。 元昊使其親信野利旺榮復書，語猶嫚。 知延州龐籍言，夏境鼠食稼，且旱，元昊思納款，遂令知保安軍劉拯諭旺榮言：「公方持靈、夏兵，倘內附，當以西平茅土分冊之。」 知青澗城種世衡又遣王嵩以棗及畫龜爲書置蠟丸中遺旺榮，諭以早歸之意，欲元昊得之，疑旺榮。 旺榮得之笑曰：「種使君亦長矣，何爲此兒戲耶！」 囚嵩窖中歲餘。 知渭州王沿、總管葛懷敏使僧法淳持書往，而旺榮乃出嵩與教練使李文貴至青澗城，自言用兵以來，資用困乏，人情便于和。 籍疑其款吾軍，留之數月。
In the second month of Qingli 1 he attacked Wei Prefecture and pressed Huaiyuan City. Han Qi, on a border inspection, reached Gaoping, mustered every man from Zhenrong and recruited volunteers until he had ten thousand, and ordered field commander Ren Fu and others to strike together. Garrison commander Sang Yi led the van, with intendant Zhu Guan and garrison commander Wu Ying behind him. Fu ordered his men to stay cautious. That night they camped at Sanchuan while the Xia army had already moved southeast of Huaiyuan. The next day the Song columns marched in pursuit. Western route inspectors Chang Ding and Liu Su were locked with the Xia at Zhangjiabao, and Yi raced to them with cavalry. Fu split his force. At dusk he and Yi made one column and camped on the Haoshui River. The Haoshui and Nengjia streams lay beyond Long Mountain. Guan and Ying formed a second column at Longluo Stream, five li away. They planned to unite the next day and let no Xia rider escape—but they were already walking into an ambush. Yuanhao himself commanded a hundred thousand elite troops at the river mouth. Scouts reported a small Xia camp, and the Song pressed on. At dawn Fu and Yi marched west along the Haoshui. Five li short of Yangmulong City they met the Xia army. Yi, in the van, found several silver paste boxes beside the road, tightly sealed, with something moving inside. He dared not open them until Fu arrived. When they were opened, more than a hundred carrier pigeons rose and circled overhead—signaling the trap. Xia troops closed in from every side. Yi struck first, the main body followed, and from mid-morning to noon the battle raged. Suddenly a Bao Lao banner more than two zhang high rose in the Xia line, and Yi and his men could not tell what it meant. When Bao Lao signaled right, ambushers sprang from the right; when he signaled left, from the left. They struck from both flanks and the Song army was shattered. Yi, Liu Su, and Fu's son Huailiang all fell in the fighting. A junior officer, Liu Jin, urged Fu to break out; Fu refused and fought until he was killed. Earlier, Wei Prefecture garrison commander Zhao Jin had marched more than three thousand cavalry from Wating Stockade as the army's reserve. That same day Guan and Ying joined at Nengjia Stream and clashed with the Xia. Wang Gui marched forty-five hundred garrison troops from Yangmulong to help Guan hold the line. The formation stood firm but could not advance; Wu Ying was gravely wounded and could not fight. From noon to mid-afternoon more Xia troops arrived. The eastern wing's infantry collapsed and the army fled. Wang Gui, Wu Ying, Zhao Jin, staff officer Geng Fu, squad leader Li Jian, garrison commander Li Yuxiang, and Liu Jun all died on the field. Guan held a village wall with a thousand men, shooting in every direction until dusk, when the Xia withdrew. Ten thousand three hundred officers and soldiers had been killed, and the lands west of the Pass were shaken. Military requirements grew daily. The Three Departments reported shortages, and Emperor Renzong lost his appetite over it. Song Qi requested that Tong Pass be fortified against sudden raids. In autumn the Xia turned to attack Hedong and the prefectures of Lin and Fu. Failing to take them, they marched on Feng Prefecture, which stood isolated without relief, and seized it. They next captured Ningyuan Fort, stationed troops at a key choke point, and severed the supply lines to Lin and Fu. Yang Xie initially urged abandoning the territories beyond the river and holding only the Hehe crossing, but the Emperor refused. Meanwhile Zhang Kang, who oversaw military affairs at Lin and Fu, routed the Xia at Baizi and again at Rabbit-Fur Stream. He built more than ten fortified posts, and for the first time the lands beyond the river stood secure. Though Yuan Hao won battle after battle, casualties and wounded amounted to half his forces. The people were worn down by conscription, the treasury could not keep up, and within his realm a lampoon called the "Ten Not-As-Good-As" circulated to voice their resentment. Yuan Hao returned Gao Yande, the commander of Saimen Fort, and sued for peace. Fan Zhongyan, prefect of Yanzhou, wrote to him explaining the consequences of war and peace. Yuan Hao had his confidant Yeli Wangrong reply, but the tone remained insulting. Pang Ji, prefect of Yanzhou, reported that rats were devouring the crops in Xia territory and drought had set in. Yuan Hao was inclined to sue for peace, and had Liu Zheng of Bao'an Army tell Wangrong: "You command the armies of Ling and Xia. If you defect to us, we shall enfeoff you as Lord of Xiping with a domain of your own." Zhong Shihang of Qingjian City also sent Wang Song to Wangrong with a message sealed in a wax pellet—jujubes and a painted turtle—urging him to come over soon. The ploy was meant for Yuan Hao to intercept it and grow suspicious of Wangrong. When Wangrong received it he laughed and said, "Commissioner Zhong is no young man—why resort to such childish tricks?" He kept Wang Song imprisoned in a cellar for more than a year. Wang Yan, prefect of Weizhou, and the commander Ge Huaimin sent the monk Fachun with a letter. Wangrong then released Wang Song along with the training commissioner Li Wen'gui to Qingjian City, explaining that since the war began supplies had run short and the people favored peace. Pang Ji suspected they were negotiating in bad faith and kept them for several months.
53
二年，復大入，戰于定川，宋師大敗，葛懷敏死之。 直抵渭州，大焚掠而去。 詔籍招納，籍遣文貴還。 月余，元昊使文貴與王嵩以其臣旺榮、其弟旺令、嵬名環、臥譽諍三人書議和，然屈強不肯削僭號，且雲「如日方中，止可順天西行，安可逆天東下。」 籍以其言未服，乃令自請，而詔籍復書許之。
In the second year of the war the Xia invaded again in force. At Dingchuan the Song army suffered a crushing defeat, and Ge Huaimin was killed. They pushed all the way to Weizhou, burned and plundered on a vast scale, and withdrew. The court ordered Pang Ji to negotiate their submission, and he sent Li Wen'gui back. After another month Yuan Hao sent Li Wen'gui and Wang Song with letters from his ministers Wangrong, his brother Wangling, Weiming Huan, and Woyu Zheng to discuss peace. Yet he remained defiant, refusing to abandon his imperial title, declaring: "The sun stands at its zenith—it can only follow Heaven westward. How could it defy Heaven and travel east?" Pang Ji found their language insufficiently deferential and required them to submit a formal petition. The court then instructed him to reply granting their request.
54
明年，遣六宅使伊州剌史賀從勖與文貴俱來，猶稱男邦泥定國兀卒上書父大宋皇帝，更名曩霄而不稱臣。 兀卒，即吾祖也，如可汗號。 議者以爲改吾祖爲兀卒，特以侮玩朝廷，不可許。 詔遣邵良佐、張士元、張子奭、王正倫更往議，且許封冊爲夏國主，而元昊亦遣如定、聿舍、張延壽、楊守素繼來。
The following year Yuan Hao sent the Commissioner of the Six Residences and Prefect of Yizhou, He Congxu, together with Li Wen'gui. They still addressed the letter as "the Lord Wu Zu of the State of Niding to his father, the Emperor of Great Song," adopting the name Nang Xiao instead of acknowledging vassal status. "Wu Zu" meant "Our Ancestor," equivalent to a khan's title. Court commentators argued that substituting "Our Ancestor" with "Wu Zu" was a deliberate insult to the throne and could not be accepted. The court sent Shao Liangzuo, Zhang Shiyuan, Zhang Zishuang, and Wang Zhenglun back to negotiate and agreed to invest Yuan Hao as Lord of the State of Xia. Yuan Hao in turn dispatched Ruding, Yushe, Zhang Yanshou, and Yang Shousu.
55
四年，始上誓表言：「兩失和好，遂曆七年，立誓自今，願藏盟府。 其前日所掠將校民戶，各不復還。 自此有邊人逃亡，亦毋得襲逐。 臣近以本國城砦進納朝廷，其栲栳、鎌刀、南安、承平故地及他邊境蕃漢所居，乞畫中爲界，于內聽築城堡。 凡歲賜銀、綺、絹、茶二十五萬五千，乞如常數，臣不復以他相干。 乞頒誓詔，蓋欲世世遵守，永以爲好。 倘君親之義不存，或臣子之心渝變，使宗祀不永，子孫罹殃。」 詔答曰：「朕臨制四海，廓地萬里，西夏之土，世以爲胙。 今乃納忠悔咎，表于信誓，質之日月，要之鬼神，及諸子孫，無有渝變。 申復懇至，朕甚嘉之。 俯閱來誓，一皆如約。」 十二月，遣尚書祠部員外郎張子奭充冊禮使，東頭供奉官、閣門祗候張士元副之。 仍賜對衣、黃金帶、銀鞍勒馬、銀二萬兩、絹二萬匹、茶三萬斤。 冊以漆書竹簡，籍以天下樂錦。 金塗銀印，方二寸一分，文曰「夏國主印」，錦綬，塗金銀牌。 緣冊法物，皆銀裝金塗，覆以紫繡。 約稱臣，奉正朔，改所賜敕書爲詔而不名，許自置官屬。 使至京，就驛貿賣，宴坐朵殿。 使至其國，相見用賓客禮。 置榷場于保安軍及高平砦，第不通青鹽。 然宋每遣使往，館于宥州，終不復至興、靈，而元昊帝其國中自若也。
In the fourth year Yuan Hao at last submitted a sworn memorial: "Peace was broken on both sides and seven years have passed. We swear an oath from this day forward and ask that it be preserved in the covenant archive. Officers, soldiers, and civilians seized in earlier raids shall not be returned. Hereafter neither side may pursue or seize border people who flee across the frontier. I have recently surrendered the fortresses of my realm to the court. I ask that the former territories of Kaolao, Liandao, Nan'an, and Chengping, along with other borderlands where Tangut and Han peoples live, be divided down the middle as a boundary, with permission to build fortifications on my side. As for the annual gifts of silver, brocade, silk, and tea totaling two hundred fifty-five thousand units, I ask that they continue at the customary rate, and I shall raise no other demands. I ask that the sworn edict be promulgated so that it may be honored generation after generation and peace endure forever. Should the bond between sovereign and subject be broken, or loyalty give way to treachery, may our ancestral rites be cut short and our descendants suffer for it." The reply edict read: "We govern the four seas across a realm of ten thousand li. The lands of Western Xia have long served as Our fief. Now you have submitted in loyalty and repented your errors, sealing your pledge before sun and moon, spirits, and posterity, without deviation. Your sincerity, stated again and again, greatly pleases Us. Having reviewed your sworn submission, We accept every provision." In the twelfth month the court dispatched Zhang Zishuang, Associate in the Ministry of Rites, as investiture envoy, with Zhang Shiyuan, Attendant-in-Waiting and Gate Keeper, as his deputy. Yuan Hao was also granted a set of matching robes, a gold belt, a horse with silver saddle and bridle, twenty thousand taels of silver, twenty thousand bolts of silk, and thirty thousand jin of tea. The patent of investiture was written in lacquer on bamboo slips, bound in brocade patterned with "All Under Heaven Rejoices." He received a silver seal plated with gold, two cun and one fen square, inscribed "Seal of the Lord of the State of Xia," with brocade cords and a gold-plated silver plaque. The ritual implements accompanying the patent were all silver-mounted and gilt, wrapped in purple embroidery. By agreement Yuan Hao acknowledged vassal status, adopted the Song calendar, and received edicts that addressed him without using his personal name. He was permitted to appoint his own officials. When Xia envoys reached the capital they were permitted to trade at their lodgings, and received banquets in the Duo Hall. When Song envoys arrived in Xia territory they were received with guest ceremonies. Trade markets were established at Bao'an Army and Gaoping Fort, though trade in green salt was prohibited. Yet whenever the Song sent envoys they were housed at Youzhou and never permitted to reach Xingzhou or Lingzhou, while Yuan Hao continued to reign as emperor within his own realm undisturbed.
56
是歲，遼夾山部落呆兒族八百戶歸元昊，興宗責還，元昊不遣。 遂親將騎兵十萬出金肅城，弟天齊王馬步軍大元帥將騎七千出南路，韓國王將兵六萬出北路，三路濟河長驅。 興宗入夏境四百里，不見敵，據得勝寺南壁以待。 八月五日，韓國王自賀蘭北與元昊接戰，數勝之。 遼兵至者日益，夏乃請和，退十里，韓國王不從。 如是退者三，凡百餘里矣，每退必赭其地，遼馬無所食，因許和。 夏乃遷延，以老其師，而遼之馬益病，因急攻之，遂敗，復攻南壁，興宗大敗。 入南樞王蕭孝友砦，擒其鶻突姑駙馬，興宗從數騎走，元昊縱其去。
That year eight hundred households of the Dair clan from Lia's Jia Mountain tribes defected to Yuan Hao. Emperor Xingzong of Liao demanded their return, but Yuan Hao refused to surrender them. Xingzong thereupon personally led one hundred thousand cavalry from Jinsu City. His brother the Prince of Tianqi, Grand Marshal of Horse and Foot, took seven thousand horsemen on the southern route, while the King of Han marched sixty thousand troops on the northern route. All three armies crossed the river and drove deep into Xia territory. Xingzong penetrated four hundred li into Xia territory without encountering the enemy and encamped on the southern face of Desheng Temple to await battle. On the fifth day of the eighth month the King of Han, advancing from north of Helan, clashed with Yuan Hao and won successive victories. As Liao reinforcements arrived daily, the Xia sued for peace and withdrew ten li, but the King of Han refused to accept. They withdrew three times in this manner, covering more than one hundred li in all. Each retreat was accompanied by scorched-earth tactics, leaving the Liao horses without forage, and at last peace was granted. The Xia then dragged out negotiations to exhaust the invaders while the Liao horses sickened. Yuan Hao launched a sudden attack and routed them, then struck the southern encampment and dealt Xingzong a crushing defeat. Yuan Hao stormed the camp of the Southern Pivot King Xiao Xiaoyou and captured his son-in-law Gudugu. Xingzong fled with a handful of riders, and Yuan Hao let him escape.
57
元昊五月五日生，國人以其日相慶賀，又以四孟朔爲節。 凡五娶，一曰大遼興平公主，二曰宣穆惠文皇后沒藏氏，生諒祚，三曰憲成皇后野力氏，四曰妃沒𠼪氏，五曰索氏。 元昊以慶曆八年正月殂，年四十六。 在位十七年，改元開運一年，廣運二年，大慶二年，天授禮法延祚十一年。 諡曰武烈皇帝，廟號景宗，墓號泰陵。 宋遣開封府判官、尚書祠部員外郎曹穎叔爲祭奠使，六宅使、達州刺史鄧保信爲吊慰使，賜絹一千匹、布五百端、羊百口、面米各百石、酒百瓶。 及葬，仍賜絹一千五百匹，余如初賻。 子諒祚立。
Yuan Hao was born on the fifth day of the fifth month, which the people celebrated as a national holiday. The first days of the four seasons were also observed as festivals. He took five wives in all: first, the Liao Princess Xingping; second, Empress Xuanmu Huiven of the Mo clan, who bore Liangzuo; third, Empress Xiancheng of the Yeli clan; fourth, a consort of the Moyi clan; fifth, Lady Suo. Yuan Hao died in the first month of Qingli 8 (1048), at the age of forty-six. He reigned for seventeen years, using the era names Kaiyun (one year), Guangyun (two years), Daqing (two years), and Tianshou Lifafa Yanzuo (eleven years). He was posthumously titled Emperor Wulie, with the temple name Emperor Jing and the tomb name Tailing. The Song dispatched Cao Yingshu, judge of Kaifeng Prefecture and Associate in the Ministry of Rites, as sacrificial envoy, and Deng Baoxin, Commissioner of the Six Residences and Prefect of Dazhou, as condolence envoy, with gifts of one thousand bolts of silk, five hundred bolts of cloth, one hundred sheep, one hundred shi each of flour and rice, and one hundred jars of wine. At the burial the Song granted an additional fifteen hundred bolts of silk, with the other gifts unchanged from the initial offering. His son Liangzuo succeeded to the throne.
58
嘉祐元年，母沒藏氏薨，遣祖儒嵬多、聿則慶唐及徐舜卿來告哀，詔以集賢校理馮浩假尚書刑部郎中、直史館爲吊慰使，文思副使張惟清假文思使副之，乃獻遺留馬駝以謝。
In Jiayou 1 (1056) Liangzuo's mother, of the Mo clan, died. He sent Zuru Weiduo, Yuzhe Qingtang, and Xu Shunqing to announce her death. The court appointed Feng Hao, Academician Editor and acting Associate Minister of Justice, as condolence envoy, with Zhang Weiqing, Assistant Wensi Commissioner, as deputy. The Xia envoys presented horses and camels in gratitude for the gifts left at court.
59
諒祚幼養于母族訛龐，訛龐因專國政。 初，麟州西城枕睥睨曰紅樓，下瞰屈野河，其外距夏境尚七十里，而田腴利厚，多入訛龐，歲東侵不已。 至耕獲時，輒屯兵河西，經略使龐籍每戒邊將使毋得過屈野河，然所距屈野河猶二十里。 管勾軍馬司賈逵徼循，見所侵田，稍過督邊吏，麟州守王亮懼，始以事聞。 詔以殿直張安世、賈恩爲同巡檢經制之。 訛龐晏然弗革，迫之則格鬥，緩之則歸耕，經略司遣使還所侵田，訛龐專爲濫言，無歸意。
Liangzuo had been raised from childhood by his mother's clan, the Ebo, who consequently seized control of the government. West of Lin Prefecture stood a watchtower called Red Tower overlooking the Quye River. Though still seventy li from Xia territory, the land there was fertile and profitable, and much of it had fallen under Ebo's control. Each year he raided eastward without letup. At planting and harvest time Ebo stationed troops west of the river. Frontier commissioner Pang Ji repeatedly ordered border commanders not to cross the Quye River, though they were still permitted to operate as far as twenty li from its banks. Jia Kui of the Military Horse Office, on patrol, discovered the encroached fields and pressed border officials slightly beyond their mandate. Lin Prefecture's commander Wang Liang, alarmed, reported the matter to the court for the first time. The court appointed Palace Attendants Zhang Anshi and Jia En as joint patrol commissioners to handle the dispute. Ebo remained unmoved. Press him and he fought; relax pressure and he went back to farming. The frontier commission sent envoys to demand return of the seized land, but Ebo responded with evasive pretexts and showed no intention of yielding.
60
嘉祐二年，遂團兵宿境上。 逮三月，增至數萬人，守將斂兵弗與戰。 知麟州武戡築堡于河西，以爲保障。 役既興，戡率將吏往按視，遇夏人于沙鼠浪，戡與管勾郭恩等欲止，而走馬承受黃道元以言脅之，遂夜進至臥牛峰，見烽舉，且鼓聲，道元猶不信，比明，至忽里堆，與夏人相去才數十步，遂合戰。 自旦至食時，夏人四面合擊，衆大潰，戡走，恩與道元及兵馬監押劉慶等被執。 安撫司遣李思道、孫兆往議疆事，而訛龐驁不聽。 久之，太原府、代州兵馬鈐轄蘇安靜得夏國呂寧、拽浪撩黎來合議，乃築堠九，更新邊禁，要以違約則罷和市，自此始定。 諒祚忌訛龐專，或告訛龐將叛，諒祚討殺之，夷其族。 已而請去蕃禮，從漢儀。
In Jiayou 2 (1057) he massed troops and encamped on the frontier. Within three months his force swelled to tens of thousands. The Song defenders held their troops in check and declined battle. Wu Kan, prefect of Linzhou, began building a fort west of the river as a defensive strongpoint. Once construction began, Wu Kan led his officers to inspect the site. At Shashulang they encountered Xia troops. Wu Kan and Guo En wanted to halt, but the mounted courier Huang Daoyuan threatened them into pressing on. They marched through the night to Woniu Peak, where beacons flared and drums sounded, yet Daoyuan still refused to believe an enemy was near. At dawn they reached Hulidui, barely thirty paces from the Xia force, and battle was joined. From dawn until midmorning the Xia attacked from all sides. The Song force collapsed in rout. Wu Kan escaped, but Guo En, Huang Daoyuan, and the military supervisor Liu Qing were taken prisoner. The Pacification Commission sent Li Sidao and Sun Zhao to negotiate the border dispute, but Ebo arrogantly refused to hear them. Eventually Su Anjing, military commander of Taiyuan and Daizhou, brought the Xia negotiators Lu Ning and Zhailang Liaoli to the table. Nine signal towers were erected, border regulations updated, and trade was made contingent on observance of the agreement. The dispute was settled at last. Liangzuo resented Ebo's grip on power. When word reached him that Ebo planned rebellion, he struck first, killing Ebo and exterminating his clan. He soon afterward asked to abandon Tangut customs and adopt Chinese court ceremony.
61
嘉祐六年，上書自言慕中國衣冠，明年當以此迎使者。 詔許之。 明年，又改西壽監軍司爲保泰軍，石州監軍司爲靜塞軍，韋州監軍司爲祥祐軍，左廂監軍司爲神勇軍。 遣人獻方物，稱宣徽南院使，詔諭非陪臣所宜稱，戒其僭擬，使遵誓詔。 表求太宗御制詩章隸書石本，且進馬五十匹，求《九經》、《唐史》、《冊府元龜》及宋正至朝賀儀，詔賜《九經》，還所獻馬。
In Jiayou 6 (1061) he wrote to the court expressing admiration for Chinese dress and ceremony, pledging to receive Song envoys in Chinese style the following year. The court granted permission. The following year he renamed the Western Shou Military Commission as Baotai Army, the Shizhou commission as Jingsai Army, the Weizhou commission as Xiangyou Army, and the Left Wing commission as Shenyong Army. He sent tribute while styling himself Commissioner of the Southern Bureau of the Palace Secretariat. The court rebuked him, noting that such a title was improper for a vassal, warned him against presumption, and reminded him to honor the sworn treaty. In a memorial he requested stone rubbings of Emperor Taizong's poems in clerical script, presented fifty horses, and asked for the Nine Classics, the Tang History, the Cefu Yuangui, and Song calendar and court ritual manuals. The court granted only the Nine Classics and returned his horses.
62
三年，遂大舉攻大順城，分兵圍柔遠砦，燒屈乞村，柵段木嶺，州兵、熟戶、蕃官趙明合擊退之。 遣西京左藏庫副使何次公詰之。 三月，乃獻方物謝罪，賜絹五百匹、銀五百兩。
In the third year he launched a major assault on Dashun City, detached troops to besiege Rouyuan Fort, burned Quqi Village, and fortified Duanmu Ridge. Prefectural troops, allied tribes, and the Tangut official Zhao Ming combined forces and drove him back. The court sent He Cigong, Deputy Commissioner of the Western Capital Left Treasury, to demand an explanation. In the third month Liangzuo sent tribute to apologize. The court responded with five hundred bolts of silk and five hundred taels of silver.
63
神宗即位，乃遣內殿崇班魏璪賜以治平三年冬服、銀絹。 供備庫副使高遵裕告哀，並以英宗遣留物賜之。 秋，夏國遣使奉慰及進助山陵。 冬，種諤取綏州，因發兵夜掩嵬名山帳，脅降之。 諒祚乃詐爲會議，誘知保安軍楊定、都巡檢侍其臻等殺之，邊吏以聞，命韓琦知永興軍，經略西方。 諒祚錮送殺定者六宅使李崇貴、右侍禁韓道善及虜去定子仲通。
Upon Emperor Shenzong's accession the court sent Wei Sao, Inner Hall Attendant, with winter garments of Zhiping 3 (1066) and gifts of silver and silk. Gao Zunyu, Deputy Commissioner of the Provision Supply Office, announced condolences on Yingzong's death and granted items the late emperor had bequeathed. That autumn Western Xia sent envoys to offer condolences and contribute to the imperial burial. That winter Zhong E seized Suizhou and launched a night raid on the camp of Weiming Shan, forcing his surrender. Liangzuo then lured Yang Ding, commander of Bao'an Army, and Chief Inspector Shiqizhen under the pretense of a conference and had them killed. When border officials reported the incident, Han Qi was appointed to Yongxing Army to oversee western defense. Liangzuo imprisoned and surrendered the assassins—Li Chonggui, Commissioner of the Six Residences, and Han Daoshan, Right Palace Guard—and carried off Yang Ding's son Zhongtong.
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十二月，諒祚殂，年二十一。 在位二十年，改元延嗣甯國一年，天祐垂聖三年，福聖承道四年，奲都六年，拱化五年。 謚曰昭英皇帝，廟號毅宗，墓號安陵。 子秉常立。
In the twelfth month Liangzuo died at the age of twenty-one. He reigned twenty years under the era names Yansiningguo (one year), Tianyou Chuishing (three years), Fusheng Chengdiao (four years), A'du (six years), and Gonghua (five years). He was posthumously titled Emperor Zhaoying, with the temple name Emperor Yizong and the tomb name Anling. His son Bingchang succeeded to the throne.