Tangut character

Its reading depends on Tangut context.

Unicode forms Tangut character names from their code points; the label identifies the encoded character but does not translate its historical word. A Tangut dictionary and the surrounding sentence can help interpret the glyph. In a message, ask what text it belongs to before deciding why the sender chose it.

Western Xia made Tangut a state script

In 1036, Western Xia's emperor Li Yuanhao ordered Tangut writing as part of building a distinct state identity and preparing a Tangut edition of the Buddhist Canon, the collection of Buddhist scriptures. The script was visually and structurally inspired by Chinese writing, but did not derive from Chinese characters. About a century earlier, neighboring Khitan rulers had also created state scripts, one based largely on Chinese writing.

Surviving Tangut books include Buddhist scripture and works translated from Chinese. A manuscript found among Khara-khoto's ruins probably dates to the 12th or early 13th century; it presents brief Chinese moral anecdotes as a dialogue between the Chinese emperor Taizong and his ministers. Tangut writing continued after Western Xia fell to the Mongols, but had become obsolete by the end of the Ming dynasty.