Tangut ideograph 1743F

The label names the character, not its old word.

Unicode builds its name from the code point, so the label identifies 𗐿 but does not translate it. A Tangut dictionary and sentence context are needed to work out its word value.

Is 𗐿 Chinese writing? No: it belongs to the Tangut script. Tangut is a separate historic writing system with a character structure influenced by Chinese writing; it writes Tangut, not Chinese.

Why was Tangut script created?

It supported Western Xia rule and Buddhist translation.

Under Western Xia's first emperor, Tangut writing was created around 1036. One goal was to produce a Buddhist canon in Tangut; using a native script also marked political and cultural identity distinct from Song China. Surviving texts include official, private, and religious writing, along with translations of Chinese classics, military works, and literature.

A manuscript can be much later than the script's creation: one from Khara-khoto, a ruined Tangut site, is probably from the 12th or early 13th century. After Western Xia fell, Tangut remained in use under the Yuan and Ming dynasties and became obsolete by the end of the Ming dynasty. The earlier Khitan script also influenced Tangut script-making.