Tangut character 17879

It is a Tangut word for “leg.”

Li Fanwen’s Tangut dictionary indexes this exact character as entry L1392: its Chinese gloss 腿 means “leg,” and scholars reconstruct its reading as kowr. That spelling is a scholarly estimate of how a word in the extinct Tangut language sounded.

The useful historical meaning is simply “leg.”

Why was Tangut writing created?

The Western Xia court created it for government and Buddhist translation.

The script was created in 1036 under Emperor Li Yuanhao to support a Tangut Buddhist canon and a political identity distinct from the neighboring Song dynasty in China.

Its use broadened: a Khara-Khoto manuscript, probably from the 12th or early 13th century, translates Chinese historical and moral anecdotes. Other surviving Tangut books cover Confucian thought, encyclopedias, military matters, and literature. Tangut writing drew on Chinese character structure and the example of Khitan script.