The Tangut tribe, who speak a now-extinct Qiangic language (Tibeto-Burman), which is distantly related to Chinese, had moved from place to place and eventually settled in northwestern China (Ningxia, Gansu, and Shaanxi).

From the moment they entered this region they had undergone a process of sinicization.

Eventually, the Tangut state had been founded in the year 1031 by Li Deming.

Known in the Chinese language as "Xi-Xia", the Tangut people call their state "phiow-bjij-lhjij-lhjij", which translates to "The Great State of Whiteness and Loftiness."

Yeli Renrong, is a scholar close to the Tangut Emperor Li Yuanhao, who, according to the official History of Song, commanded him to design the complex Tangut script in 1036 or 1038, based on Chinese writing, for use in writing the Tangut language.