Tangut Component 739

It is an indexing component, not a dictionary entry. The Unicode component list uses 𘫢 as a structural piece for describing and organizing complete Tangut characters. “Component 739” is a catalog label; it identifies the piece but does not translate a Tangut word.

Why was the Tangut script created?

It served Western Xia’s state, Buddhist, and literary work. Accounts place its creation around 1036–1037 and distinguish the roles: Emperor Li Yuanhao ordered a state script, while another account credits Teacher Iri with designing it. Tangut writing drew on Chinese character forms and composition principles, and followed the earlier example of the Khitan, but it was made for the Tangut language. A major aim was a Tangut version of the Buddhist canon; the script also helped mark Western Xia’s identity apart from Song China.

Khara-khoto is a ruined city in Inner Mongolia where Tangut manuscripts were found. One manuscript, probably from the 12th or early 13th century, preserves a Chinese court text translated into Tangut, with anecdotes and moral instruction. Tangut books also included law, classics, and literature alongside Buddhist works.

Was this glyph revised?

A Unicode proposal records a change to its drawn form. A proposal from 2020 shows the earlier form with 11 strokes and proposes a 10-stroke glyph for Component-739; it lists 𘟖 as the only ideograph affected. That is a proposed glyph correction, not evidence of a new word meaning.

An ideographic description sequence is a compact notation showing how a character is built. In one, 𘫢 marks a component in the structure rather than a spoken word in a sentence.