The Ixians were a society that specialized in the production of complex machinery that often flouted the proscriptions of the Butlerian Jihad which led to a taboo on the constructions of machines that bore the exact human mind's image. Its name was derived from the fact that their home planet that was the ninth planet of the Alkalurops system. During the Rule of Alia, some Ixian had shown their acceptance for the Muad'dib's religion, calling it Shien-san-Shao. This term show a relation of the Ixians origin with some oriental culture, probably Chinese.