Tangut Ideograph-17B16

It is indexed with the Chinese gloss 陽 (“sun/yang”).

A Tangut–Chinese dictionary index gives its reconstructed reading as we², roughly “weh”; the superscript marks a reconstructed pitch category. The gloss is a clue to the character’s meaning, not a full translation guaranteed in every sentence.

Why was the Tangut script created?

It served Western Xia state-building and a Tangut Buddhist canon.

Tangut emperor Li Yuanhao ordered the script in 1036 as part of building the state. A main purpose was to compile a Tangut Buddhist canon—a collection of Buddhist scriptures—and to establish a distinct identity beside the neighboring Chinese Song dynasty.

Khitan neighbors, a different people in the region, had created two state scripts about a century earlier. Tangut writing was visually and structurally inspired by Chinese writing but did not derive from it. A manuscript leaf found among the ruins of Khara-Khoto in Inner Mongolia is undated and probably dates to the 12th or early 13th century. Surviving texts include Buddhist works, translations from Chinese or Tibetan, and secular writing.

Why does 𗬖 show as a square?

The selected font lacks Tangut coverage.

The text can still contain 𗬖 correctly while its outline is missing. Font support varies by device; a font with Tangut glyphs is needed to display it.