Tangut character 𗜧

It means hole or tube. A Tangut dictionary reconstructs its reading as ¹me₁. In 1036, Tangut ruler Li Yuanhao ordered the script for Western Xia state-building; its likely main goal was a Tangut edition of the Buddhist canon (a collection of scriptures), alongside an identity distinct from Song China. Chinese writing inspired Tangut forms and principles but was not its source. Neighboring Khitan had created two state scripts a century earlier; one was heavily based on Chinese. The scripts remained mutually unreadable. A Chinese work translated into Tangut survives in a Khara-Khoto fragment, probably from the 12th or early 13th century.