Tangut ideograph 17B72

The Tangut word and sentence around it supply the meaning.

Specialists transcribe its reconstructed reading as thu²: this scholarly notation records a pronunciation, not a translation. The Unicode name identifies the sign; it does not gloss it.

Tangut character dictionaries use component breakdowns to sort and identify signs. Components describe written structure; they do not add up to a translation.

Why does 𗭲 look like a Chinese character?

Tangut borrowed some Chinese writing conventions, but remained a distinct script.

Western Xia’s court commissioned the Tangut script around 1036 for state-building, Buddhist texts, and cultural independence from the neighboring Song state. The earliest known dated Tangut writing is from 1070/1071.

The creators also followed the Khitan states’ example of making separate state scripts; the Khitan were another regional power. Tangut texts include Buddhist scriptures, government and legal records, literature, and translations from Chinese and Tibetan.

Tangut left daily use after the Mongol conquest in the 13th century. Surviving manuscripts and dictionaries preserve it for study.