Tangut Component 756

It is a structural piece, not a standalone Tangut word.

Some Tangut references use “radical” for an indexing component. The printed Tangut work Homonyms lists 𘫳 among top-position components and gives 𘝞 as its sample character. The table shows the component inside a larger character; the two glyphs are not alternate spellings.

By itself, a component is not a small word with a fixed reading: it cannot reliably supply a whole character’s meaning or pronunciation. The 12th-century Sea of Characters, a Tangut dictionary, explains some characters through other characters; those links clarify structure without proving how each part was first invented.

Where does this exact component appear in the historical record?

It appears in a Tangut reference work called Homonyms.

Homonyms is a woodblock-printed Tangut-language work. Its edition surfaced at auction in 2014, when its provenance was unknown. It cites Synonyms, a Tangut reference whose end note is dated 1188; that makes Homonyms no earlier than 1188. The date limits the written evidence, not the invention of this component.

The Tangut script was created under Western Xia, a Tangut state, around 1036 to write Tangut and translate Buddhist and Chinese works. Writing continued after Western Xia fell to Mongol forces and is attested through 1502.