The first book recording the general history of the Western Xia Kingdom (1038-1227) will come off press within a year, said Li Fanwen, chief editor of the book, at a seminar held in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The book records how the Tanguts, or the Dangxiang people, came into being, built the kingdom, were defeated and what happened to them when the kingdom disappeared, Li said.

It took 13 Western Xia experts eight years to complete the 800,000-character book. The compilation was based on excavations of cultural relics and research results on Western Xia studies in recent years, Li said.

The General History of the Western Xia Kingdom records the whole process of the tribe's development in 340 years. It uncovered the mystic history of this ethnic group and filled a gap in recorded history in China, Li said.

Historians say the Tanguts are a branch of nomadic Qiang people, related to the Tibetans. Tangut tribes built up a powerful state in today's Gansu Province and part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the 10th and 11th century and adopted the Chinese dynastic title of Xia, or known in Chinese as the Xixia (Western Xia), in 1038. They developed a fairly high level of culture with many similarities to that of the Northern Song

Dynasty (960-1127) elsewhere in China. The Tangut language was recorded in intricate Chinese-style characters which are still largely undeciphered. The group's capital was in present-day Yinchuan.

The kingdom was destroyed by the Mongols in 1227. The Western Xia written language, created in the 11th century and based on traditional Chinese characters, fell into disuse with the downfall of the kingdom. The Western Xia culture was then severely damaged, with few books and historical records handed down to present day.

The Western Xia become a mysterious ancient tribe that disappeared on the ancient Silk Road.