Tangut character 𗶱

Use Unicode code-point input. In an app that accepts hexadecimal Unicode entry, type 17DB1; the exact keystrokes depend on the system. Standard keyboard layouts do not assign it a dedicated key.

A font that includes Tangut characters is needed to display 𗶱. Without one, an app may show a box or blank even when the text still contains the encoded character.

What does 𗶱 mean?

The Unicode label is not a Tangut translation. It identifies the encoded character but gives neither its Tangut pronunciation nor an English gloss. Use the surrounding Tangut word and sentence, or a Tangut dictionary, to identify its meaning.

Tangut is a distinct script for the Tangut language. Some of its forms resemble Chinese Han characters, but shape alone does not give 𗶱 a Chinese reading or make a Chinese character an interchangeable substitute.

Where did the Tangut script come from?

It was created for the Western Xia state.

𗶱 belongs to Tangut, also called Xixia, a large script for the Tangut language. The script was created around 1036 under the first ruler of the Western Xia kingdom. The state-building effort included a distinct written identity alongside Song China and a Tangut Buddhist canon.

After the Western Xia fell, the script continued under Yuan and Ming rule and was obsolete by the end of the Ming dynasty. Surviving official, private, and religious texts include books, sutras, inscriptions, and manuscripts. Traditionally, Tangut was written top to bottom in columns ordered from right to left. In the Li Fanwen dictionary, LFW2008-1465 is this character's index entry; “2008” refers to that edition, not to the character's first appearance.