What 𗂱 means
In Tangut, 𗂱 means “west.”
Tangut dictionary references link it to Li Fanwen’s entry 2945, glossed “west.” It names a direction in Tangut writing; it is not a modern compass icon.
Why did Western Xia create Tangut writing?
It gave the Western Xia state a script for Tangut.
The state’s first emperor, Li Yuanhao, sponsored the script’s creation around 1036–1037, with officials including Yeli Renrong associated with its design and promulgation. It served state records and translations of Chinese works into Tangut, while marking a distinct Tangut court identity. One early surviving example is an official document dated 1072; a Buddhist inscription dated 1502 shows the writing continued after Western Xia fell in 1227.
Tangut and Chinese writing share character-building principles, but they record different languages. The Khitan script may have influenced Tangut’s creation, though that link is debated; it does not establish an ancestor for 𗂱.
Historical and specialist; outside Tangut writing, the glyph alone gives little clue to its meaning.
If you use it for west, explain that reading to people who do not know Tangut.
Who writes 𗂱
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Related characters
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Questions people ask
1Why does 𗂱 show as a box on some devices?
Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.
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How to type or find 𗂱
- Search it as
- Tangut west · 𗂱 meaning · Xixia script · Tangut 170B1
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
𗂱\170B1Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.