Tangut character 170BA

𗂺 belongs to Tangut, a script made to write the Tangut language. As of 2026, Unicode’s code-style label identifies this character but provides no English gloss for its individual meaning.

Tangut was created around 1036 under Western Xia’s first emperor to support the state’s identity and administration; a Tangut version of the Buddhist Canon was a major intended project. The script carried official, private, religious, and translated texts. After the Western Xia fell to the Mongols, Tangut writing continued under the Yuan and Ming, becoming obsolete by the end of the Ming.

Why does 𗂺 look Chinese?

Tangut uses Chinese-inspired design, but it is its own script. Western Xia’s court followed an earlier example: the Khitan people had also created a state script. Tangut designers drew on Chinese visual and compositional principles, but Tangut was not derived from Chinese ideographs. A Han character that looks similar is not automatically a translation.

For 𗂺 specifically, Unicode’s source mapping connects the glyph to Li Fanwen’s Tangut dictionary tradition; that dictionary index cross-references its entry with one represented by 𗂹. This is a link between dictionary entries, not proof that the two glyphs can replace each other in every text.

How can you enter 𗂺?

BabelPad’s sample files document stroke-code and phonetic Tangut input. Stroke codes reflect a character’s strokes; phonetic entry uses reconstructed Tangut readings, or scholarly estimates of how Tangut was read.

In an app without a Unicode Tangut font, this character may appear as a blank or fallback box. A font such as Tangut Yinchuan supplies Tangut glyphs; what appears depends on the fonts supported by the app.