The Script That Refused to Die: How a Conquered People Kept Their Language Alive for 400 Years After Their Empire Was Erased
The Western Xia Tangut script outlived its empire by 400 years, surviving through Buddhist monasteries in Ming China. Despite forced assimilation policies, Tangut communities kept their language alive until the late 1500s, carving it into stone monuments and printing sutras. The story reveals how religion can preserve identity long after political structures collapse — and how ethnicity is often a cultural choice, not a bloodline.