Western Xia Mausoleum 2 (Jialing)

38.4083°N, 105.9800°E.

The Jialing Mausoleum (Mausoleum 2) of the Western Xia, in the Helan Mountains imperial cemetery, Ningxia, China. Construction date approximately 1032 CE during the reign of Emperor Taizong (Li Deming, r. 1004–1032), father of the Western Xia founding emperor. Original base approximately 95 metres per side; original height around 21 metres. The mound is octagonal in plan, built of rammed earth on stone foundations to the developed Western Xia template — and is one of the smaller of the nine imperial mausolea at the site, reflecting Li Deming's status as a semi-independent vassal of the Song rather than a fully proclaimed emperor. His son Yuanhao was the first ruler to formally proclaim the dynasty in 1038. The site preserves the foundations of a sacrificial palace, an offering hall, and the spirit way leading to the mound — the latter lined with carved stone statues of officials and animals largely destroyed during the Mongol annihilation of the Western Xia in 1227.

A pyramid for the father of an emperor, in a dynasty whose script, language, religious tradition, and historiography were all systematically eradicated within a generation of its fall.