[Strat Map Wonders Discussion] Xi Xia

**Wundai** · August 27, 2009, 01:04 PM

Hey Folks,

Asking the help of researchers our team has, and the ones we are about to have.

The Xi Xia faction needs some Eye-Catcher buildings for the Strat Map.

The Xi Xia Necropolis has already been done.

Could the Research Department please provide us with pictures and names of Buildings that are:

-Eye Catchers(Special).
-From the Period of our mod. (around 1171 A.D.)
-Bigger format pictures than 640x480 please.
-There is no limit to the number of pictures, just when it becomes to much of a picture spam fest it might be better to give links to websites
-Spoiler Tags will come in handy
-Another thing which is very important is the location of the wonder. We don't want wonders to be packed in one area, while the rest remains empty, if you could find a map of the faction(country) and mark the wonder's location with a dot, that would be great.

Thanks are extended in advance, but may be repeated after your posts as well

**tokimitsu** · October 17, 2009, 10:31 PM

Architectures of Xi Xia in 12thC~13thC

Simple map of Kingdom Xi Xia

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

1. Xi Xia Royal Tomb

Built in the middle of 12thC

in Yin Chuan city

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**tokimitsu** · October 17, 2009, 10:57 PM

2. Yin Chuan Cheng Tian Tower(Pagoda)

Built in 1050 AD

11-story & 64m

in Yin Chuan city

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**tokimitsu** · October 17, 2009, 11:12 PM

3. Kara Khoto (黑水城 The Black City)

map (Red dot in left side is Black City)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**RollingWave** · October 24, 2009, 01:09 AM

The Jade gate is located in Xi Xia, it mark the "official start of Xi-Yu " in the Han and Tang dynasty.

This era's spot is a little different from the Tang / Han, I need to look up and point out where it is on the map.

**Wundai** · October 24, 2009, 12:22 PM

-Yin Chuang Cheng Tian
-Black City
-Jade Gate

Okay, nice, we already have the Xi Xia Necropolis (Royal Tomb)
In other words we are at the 4 wonders we need, thank you gentlemen

@Rollingwave, the spots on the map would be nice for our modleaders when they put the buildings ingame, so when you could add them, thanks.

**RollingWave** · October 30, 2009, 03:12 AM

Hold on, black city was a actual Xi-Xia settlement, it was their important outpost in the north west. I'm not sure if I like the idea of using it as a special site.

Instead, I would purpose this. this is EXTREMELY famous across the world and important to Chinese (Especially in the minds of modern researchers)

莫高窟 Mogao Caves, UNESCO World Heritage Site

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8E%...AB%98%E7%AA%9F

Just to demonstrate how incredibly important this site is, it was added to the UNESCO world Heritage site in 1987, as the very first wave of Chinese sites added, it is one of the first 5 sites, so it's importance in the eyes of UNESCO and the Chinese scholar world is on par with..

# The Great Wall (1987)
# Mount Taishan, Shandong province (1987)
# Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing (the Forbidden City) (1987) and Shenyang (Mukden Palace) (2004)
# Mogao Caves, Dunhuang, Gansu province (1987)
# Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor in Xi'an, Shaanxi province (1987)

I don't think I really need to seriously make an argument of the importance of the site that scholars deem on par of relevance as the Terra Cotta soldiers, the Great wall, and the Forbidden City.

The MoGao caves is the 3 major Cave buddha complex within China proper (the other two are also world heritage sites, Longman and YunGuang) most consider it the most important one, it is a huge complex of 492 temples and THOUSANDS of Buddhist carvings within walls.

I can not over stress how important this site is, it's artistic fashion simply mind blowning because it was completed over a long period (Xi-Xia made very extensive contribution to the site) and it merged a wide variety of Buddhism , from the early to the modern, from the Indian to the Chinese to the Tibetan, all merge into one .

**Yelü Dashi** · October 30, 2009, 04:34 AM

Yes, I completely agree and was going to make this point. Kara-Khoto is already a settlement for the Xia and those stupas Toki posted don't date from our period anyway - I believe they date from the Yuan dynasty. Exactly how we present Dunhuang will be difficult, I have visited and its immense, but the picture RW posted of the building facade built into the caves is definately a Qing dynasty construction. We need to research what the Caves or temple complexes in the area looked like during the 12th century.

**RollingWave** · October 30, 2009, 06:30 AM

I guess we need more research on Xia architechture and the MoGao caves in general to figure that out. but yeah, the site is of incrediable importance as it is litterally where Chinese and Central asian culture meet in a peaceful blend of incrediable art. scholars both in and out of China rave endlessly about it's art and the scripture it holds.

**RollingWave** · November 01, 2009, 06:40 AM

Yelu, I found some pictures of 1950s pic of the exterior of the MoGao caves (when they were just starting to repair it) I guess that would be mildly helpful . I'll try to scan it up tomorrow

**Wundai** · November 01, 2009, 11:54 AM

Nice going guys thanks, I already have enough on my plate concerning Buildings, which means I'm going to leave these threads in other people's capable hands, researchers don't need me to post their findings anyway, so I'll concentrate my time on buildings.

**RollingWave** · November 03, 2009, 05:01 AM

For future reference, here are some pictures I found, it's taken in the early 50s, when the CCP government was just about to start cleaning up the MoGao cave area, so it's probably the most "authentic" look we're going to find.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Wundai** · May 26, 2010, 11:18 AM

We already have some nice stuff here Alex, but if you follow through with your reference proposal, please post here

**Yelü Dashi** · June 03, 2010, 05:06 PM

The Tangut territory was rich with history and monuments, thus it deserves a good number of wonders...

Right here's what I suggest:

1.Western Xia Tombs (I think you've already created this model ?)

This is a really complex set of buildings, it includes nine imperial mausoleums and 250 tombs of imperial relatives and officials ! This burial complex lies some 40 km westward of Xingqing.

There is also a tomb complex called "Hao" Imperial tomb (can someone get the actual name right

)
It differs from the weird mounts which are so familar and is more of a recognisable complex which can act as a strat model on it own:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

2.Chengtian Monastery Pagoda , pictured in this post 　

The Chengtian Monastery Pagoda, also known as "Western Pagoda", located at Xingqing District of Yinchuan City, was built around A.D. 1050 when the Western Xia was at the height of its ower and splendour. (in Xingqing, Tangut capital on our map)

3. Haibaoda Pagoda

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Also known as "Bei Pagoda, Heibao Pagoda", Located in the northern suburb of Yinchuan. (in Xingcheng, Tangut capital on our map)

4. "108 Pagodas"
108 Pagodas, one of the existing ancient grouped pagodas in china, is located in Qingtongxia Qingtongxia (Chinese: 青铜峡, literally, "Bronze Gorge") is a city in the province of Ningxia in the north of China. It is located on the left (northwestern) bank of the Yellow River, opposite and a bit upstream of Wuzhong main urban area. (near Jingsai on our map)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

5. Baisikou - The Twin Pagodas

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Located at the eastern foot of Mt. Helan, 50 kilometers northwest from Yinchuan of Ningxia.Baisikou once served as the summer resort of Emperor Li Yuanhao of the Western Xia, according to historical records. The only evidence is a pair of brick pagodas. The pagoda standing in the east is 13 storied, and the one in the west is 14 storied. They are of high value in the study of the history of the Western Xia State. A pair of ancient pagodas stands at Baisikou, east foot of Helan Mountain, about 50km to the northwest of Yinchuan City, like twin brothers guarding two sides of the mountain. Buildings around the twin pagodas were destroyed due to earthquakes in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Only the twin pagodas have survived.

6. The Mogao Caves, or Mogao Grottoes (also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas and Dunhuang Caves) form a system of 492 temples 25 km (15.5 miles) southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis strategically located at a religious and near Xuanhua.RW has posted some good images here, but I will try and get some more so leave this one for the end.

7. Yumen (Jade) Gate and ......the Great Wall ! Yes, we should probably try and represent the Han section of the Great Wall that ran through the region. Might be doable through textures and the heights map, but a model could also work. It would be a ruin, but probably still interesting and important enough to include.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: