What 𗓵 means
A Tangut dictionary glosses it as “surname,” or family name.
Unicode’s Tangut source mapping links this character to entry 4927 in Li Fanwen’s Tangut dictionary. That entry supplies a dictionary sense; it does not show that people use 𗓵 as a family name today.
Tangut writing was established in 1036 for the Tangut language of Western Xia. It served the state and later Buddhist, legal, manuscript, printed, and monumental texts.
Why does 𗓵 look like Chinese writing?
Its Chinese-style construction reflects influence, not shared identity.
Tangut uses Chinese-style strokes and logographic principles—characters can stand for words or parts of them—but its forms and readings belong to a separate writing system. The resemblance does not provide a Chinese translation or pronunciation for 𗓵.
The 12th-century Sea of Characters, a Tangut dictionary, analyzed characters through their components. After Western Xia was annexed in 1227, Tangut texts continued in Buddhist and legal collections; the latest known text dates to a 1502 dhāraṇī pillar, a stone monument bearing a Buddhist formula.
A specialist historical-script choice; in casual chat, it reads as a reference to Tangut writing rather than an immediately readable family name.
Its Chinese-style appearance cannot supply a Chinese reading or translation.
Part of collections
Who writes 𗓵
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Questions people ask
1Why is 𗓵 showing as a box?
A Tangut-capable font is missing or not being used. The text can still contain the character; the font supplies its visible glyph.
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How to type or find 𗓵
- Search it as
- Tangut surname · Xixia script · Tangut RIME · Tangut IME · 174f5 · 𗓵
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
𗓵\174F5Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.