What 𘭮 means
It is a Khitan small-script sign; its reading comes from context.
Sound signs often cluster to spell words. Unicode 17 names this glyph by script and number, not its Khitan reading.
When was Khitan small script made?
Traditional accounts credit Yelü Diela and date it to about 925.
Khitan words use attached endings, and the earlier large script handled them awkwardly; the small one added sound spelling. It served records and tomb inscriptions under the Liao and Jin dynasties; Jurchen scripts also drew on Khitan models.
The oldest securely dated inscription is from 1051; a 2026 study argues standardization came later. The system was officially banned in 1191.
Why can Khitan text look misaligned?
Clustered signs need script-aware layout.
Original texts run down vertical columns from right to left. Sound clusters order signs across, then down. Unicode 17 also permits horizontal display, but it needs rules to keep clusters together.
Questions people ask
1Why does 𘭮 show as a box on some devices?
Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.
How to type 𘭮
𘭮\18B6ECodes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.