Tangut character 𗋂

Use a specialist Tangut input method.

Tangut IME Online accepts a code or component prefix—a search based on part of the character—and offers candidates. Its 2026 instructions say to choose one with a confirmation key or a click.

What does 𗋂 mean?

Its Unicode label names the character, not its reading or meaning.

The database-style name tangut ideograph-172c2 identifies this encoded entry; it does not give a Tangut word or pronunciation. A character’s reading or meaning cannot be worked out from that label alone.

Emperor Li Yuanhao commissioned the Tangut script in 1036 for Western Xia state-building and a Buddhist canon, a collection of Buddhist scriptures. Tangut texts later included translations from Chinese and Tibetan, Confucian works, military treatises, encyclopedias, and literature. A surviving manuscript probably dates to the 12th or early 13th century. The script moved from state and religious uses into broader writing, then archival study after daily use faded.

Why does 𗋂 look Chinese?

Tangut writing borrowed Chinese-like design principles for the Tangut language.

Tangut writing used visual and compositional principles similar to Chinese writing to represent a different language. The Tangut state also followed an earlier example from the Khitan, a neighboring people who had created a distinct state script. The established connection is between writing traditions, not evidence that a particular Chinese or Khitan sign is 𗋂’s ancestor.