Tangut character 17B2C

𗬬 is a Tangut auxiliary translated as “ever.”

A 2026 study of the Tangut language gives its scholarly reading as djij² and glosses it as “ever.” An auxiliary is a grammatical word that works with the rest of a sentence; this form belongs in Tangut writing, not as a message by itself.

Unicode’s label follows a fixed naming rule: it identifies the script and character number, not the Tangut reading. The square design may recall Chinese characters, but Tangut is a separate script that Chinese readers could not read just by knowing Chinese.

Why was Tangut writing made?

Tangut writing was created by imperial decree in 1036 as part of the Western Xia (Xixia) state-building project. It supported a Buddhist canon in the court’s language and marked a political identity distinct from Song China.

By the 12th or early 13th century, manuscripts from Khara-Khoto, a ruined settlement, show Tangut writing in Buddhist works and translations of Chinese histories, moral tales, Confucian classics, encyclopedias, military texts, and literature.

Tangut drew on Chinese character-building ideas and neighboring Khitan scripts, but it was not derived from Chinese; knowing Chinese did not make Tangut readable. Tangut writing is documented through 1502, including Buddhist material.