Tangut character 170E5

A Tangut dictionary glosses 𗃥 as “scabies.” Scabies is an itchy skin disease. 𗃥 writes a word in Tangut, the language of the Western Xia state; it is not a picture of the disease.

Tangut writings include a text on treating scabies; the Sea of Writing and Homophones dictionaries also preserve medical references. This places 𗃥 in a historical medical context, not as a general medical sign.

Why does this Tangut character look Chinese?

Tangut used Chinese-inspired visual principles, but it is a separate script. The first Western Xia emperor created the script about 1036 as a state-building project. It served, among other purposes, to translate Buddhist texts and mark a distinct Tangut political identity. Tangut also followed the example of the neighboring Khitan people’s writing system.

Manuscript fragments from Khara-Khoto dated to the 12th or early 13th century show Tangut in Buddhist, legal, literary, and Chinese-translation texts. Tangut remained in use in Yuan and Ming dynasty texts. The surrounding sentence or dictionary entry—not its resemblance to Chinese—supplies this character’s meaning.