What 𘰳 means
They are separate writing systems, not size variants.
Tradition dates Small Script to around 925 and credits Yelü Diela, brother of Liao founder Abaoji. A 2026 study argues it was standardized later under Emperor Shengzong; the earliest securely dated inscription is a tomb text from 1051. Its shapes drew on Chinese characters and its sound-writing principles on Uyghur script.
Both systems appeared alongside Chinese under the Liao dynasty. Jin rulers kept them in use until an order banned Khitan writing in 1191; Jurchens, founders of Jin, later modeled their script on both.
Part of the collection
Who writes 𘰳
Loading…
Questions people ask
1Can I read this sign on its own?
Not from its digital name alone. Some Khitan signs stand for whole words; many sound-signs group to spell a word. The inscription shows which role applies.
More like this
8
How to type or find 𘰳
- Search it as
- khitan · kitan · qidan · 契丹小字
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
𘰳\18C33Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.