Tangut character 17BF5

The recorded English gloss belongs to a two-character word. A Tangut lexicon entry places 𗯵 before 𗹪 and translates the pair as “to destroy.” That does not establish that 𗯵 alone means “destroy”; the translation covers both characters.

Tangut is a separate script used for the Tangut language. Here, a component means a piece of a character’s written form; it does not provide a separate translation.

Why was Tangut writing created?

It gave Western Xia its own official writing system. Around 1036, the first Western Xia emperor ordered Tangut writing created. It supported government and Buddhist translation, giving the state a distinct written language alongside neighboring Song China. Tangut appeared in official, private, and religious texts.

Tangut continued in books produced under the Yuan and Ming after Western Xia fell in 1227; it was obsolete by the end of the Ming dynasty. Khitan and Jurchen writing systems offer a regional comparison: neighboring states also sponsored distinct scripts, but those traditions are not alternate forms of this character.