Tangut Component 042

It is one written part of a Tangut character, not a word.

Tangut dictionaries group and describe complete characters by their recurring written parts. To read a word, you need the whole Tangut character; this structural piece alone does not give its translation.

What was Tangut writing used for?

It served Western Xia state-building and written culture.

Often called the Xixia script, Tangut writing served the state and its written culture, including Buddhist books and Chinese translations. Its forms show Chinese influence, but Tangut is a distinct script, not a direct copy of Chinese characters or Khitan, another script used in the region.

After Western Xia fell, the script remained in use under the Yuan and Ming dynasties before becoming obsolete. It returned to scholarly attention in the late nineteenth century.