Xixia, an ancient kingdom that existed 1,000 years ago in the northwestern part of China, disappeared mysteriously like the Mayan Culture, leaving a question mark in the history of world civilization.

Ironically, studies on the remote Xixia history, which is an important part of Chinese history, have been based outside China for a long time. The birthplace of such studies has long been recognized as Russia where a great amount of historical records and relics of the Xixia culture were kept.

"We must preserve the precious cultural legacy," said Professor Li, a researcher and honorary president of the Ningxia Academy of Social Sciences in Yinchuan of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

"Although China started the research comparatively late, Chinese scholars are confident of taking the lead in research because it is our own history," he said.

The Xixia Kingdom, established by a Dangxiang clan in the 11th century, was short-lived, with a history of only 190 years, before the fierce Mongolian army troops razed it to the ground.

"The Xixia culture was then severely damaged, with few books and records remaining," Li said.

What adds to the difficulty in understanding the Xixia history is the complexity of Xixia characters, which were named "words from heaven."

For nearly half a century, Li exerted his main effort to work on a series of academic books including the 500,000-word "The Northern Chinese Dialects of the Song Dynasty (960-1279)" and the 700,000-word "Studies on Identical Sounds of Ancient Chinese."

Li was also in charge of compiling "The General History of Xixia," which synthesizes a great amount of unearthed relics and archaeological records. According to Li, it will be a milestone in China's research on Xixia studies and will play an important role in international studies on Xixia.

"Understanding Xixia characters is only the first step to final success for me," Li said. "My ultimate goal is to complete a thorough study system on the General History of Xixia and to pass on my knowledge to younger generations."

In order to popularize knowledge of the Xixia civilization, he is now planning to publish a simplified Xixia-Han dictionary. Peking University, Nanjing University and Fudan University are inviting Li to tutor graduate students, and he will choose one of them, to "pass his knowledge on."

"The cultural legacy must be preserved, and I will devote my life to Xixia research," Li said.

(China Daily 08/06/2001)