Tangut ritual numeral four

It remained in use after the state that created it fell.

The ritual number series appears in Buddhist, astrological and month names. The script was created around 1036 CE under Western Xia’s first emperor to write Tangut, and served official, private and religious texts.

It continued under Yuan and Ming rule, became obsolete by the end of the Ming dynasty, and was rediscovered in the late 19th century; scholars largely deciphered it in the early 20th century. Its square forms resemble Chinese writing, but Tangut is a distinct script.