What 𗣼 means
It is the Tangut word for “virtue.” A Tangut homonyms study glosses 𗣼 as “virtue” and reconstructs its reading as chha₃; a coin reference writes tśhja. These are scholarly transcriptions, not a guide to saying it aloud.
The character also appears in a Tangut synonyms text as a lexical entry, so “virtue” is the safe standalone gloss. Because the sources romanize it differently, the meaning — not the pronunciation — is what a newcomer should take away.
Why does it appear in old texts and inscriptions?
Because Tangut was a working script, not just decoration. It was created for the Western Xia empire and promulgated in 1036 to write the Tangut language, then used for official documents, Buddhist translations, legal texts, and printed books. The Sea of Characters, a 12th-century Tangut rhyming dictionary, analyzed how characters are built from components.
𗣼 is more than a dictionary entry: it is documented in historical coin and seal inscriptions, where “virtue” can sit inside a reign-era or political phrase. Those readings are not always settled, so read the whole inscription before fixing a translation.
Historical and specialist: it reads as Tangut text or a deliberate nod to Tangut history.
Sent alone it will not explain itself — add “virtue” or context.
Part of collections
Who writes 𗣼
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What it means when someone sends it to you
3 readingsUsually a “what is this?” test or a pointer to its gloss, “virtue.”
Related characters
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Questions people ask
3Is 𗣼 the Chinese character 德?
No. 德 is a Chinese character used as 𗣼’s documented semantic counterpart; 𗣼 itself is Tangut. They can share the gloss “virtue” without being interchangeable.
Can two fonts draw 𗣼 differently?
Yes. Its outline comes from the installed font, so stroke details vary between Tangut-capable fonts without changing which character it is.
Is Tangut still used today?
Not as a living script. Its last dated inscriptions are from the early 1500s; today it survives in dictionaries, scholarship, and fonts — not messages.
More like this
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How to type or find 𗣼
- Search it as
- virtue · tangut virtue · tangut character · xixia · western xia · tśhja · chha · de
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
𗣼\178FCCodes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.