Tangut character 𗷧

Its attested dictionary gloss is “to crawl.”

Tangut was the language of the Western Xia state, which used its own script. The script borrowed visual models from Chinese writing, but Tangut characters do not read as Chinese.

Dated evidence for the script includes an official document from 1072 and a stone inscription at Liangzhou from 1094. These mark the early written record, not this character’s first use.

Why did Western Xia create the Tangut script?

Western Xia commissioned it as an official script for Tangut.

In the 11th century, the court commissioned the script for records and teaching. Creating a state script also marked a distinct political and cultural identity alongside the Chinese world; its forms drew on Chinese models without becoming readable as Chinese.

Tangut writing was used for Buddhist scripture and translations of Chinese works, where a character’s role could depend on the passage around it.

Why is 𗷧 in a Buddhist formula?

Here it belongs to a Buddhist transcription, not a standalone sentence.

In a Tangut Lotus Sutra transcription, 𗷧 appears in 𗠝𗷧𗸰𗓽𘋅𗴥𘋅𘏞𘛛. This sequence corresponds to 阿耨多羅三藐三菩提, a Chinese rendering of the Buddhist phrase “unsurpassed, complete awakening.” Here the Tangut characters transcribe the phrase; the isolated gloss “to crawl” does not translate it.