Tangut character 𗀪

A Tangut dictionary glosses 𗀪 as “peacock.”

Li Fanwen’s 2008 Tangut dictionary index sends the English entry “peacock” to entry 0085; Unicode’s chart links this character to that entry. This is a translation gloss, not evidence that the written form pictures a bird.

Tangut script was created under Western Xia emperor Li Yuanhao around 1036 to write the kingdom’s language and Buddhist canon, a collection of scriptures. A Khara-khoto manuscript, probably from the 12th or early 13th century, preserves a translated Chinese work about rulers’ conduct. After the Western Xia fell, Tangut writing continued for a time before it became obsolete. Those dates concern the script, not the first known appearance of 𗀪.

What does it mean when someone sends 𗀪?

Read a lone glyph as a Tangut-script reference first.

Someone who knows the dictionary may mean “peacock,” but one isolated character does not tell you the sender’s intended reading. Ask for context before treating it as a full message.

A Buddhist sutra illustration, a scene from scripture, labels Mahāmāyūrī, a Buddhist figure known as the Great Peacock, with a longer Tangut phrase containing 𗀪. There, it is one part of a translated religious name, not a standalone reaction.

Why does 𗀪 look like a Chinese character?

It follows Chinese-inspired design rules, but it is a separate script.

Tangut characters borrow visual ideas and character-making principles from Chinese writing, yet Tangut is a different script and cannot be read as Chinese. The Western Xia court also followed an earlier Khitan example: making scripts for a local language. That history does not make 𗀪 a Chinese or Khitan character.