Tangut ideograph 17EF4

In Tangut, 𗻴 is glossed “also.”

Li Fanwen’s 2008 Tangut–Chinese dictionary indexes this glyph with the English gloss “also.” The Unicode label “Tangut ideograph-17EF4” is generated from its code point, so it identifies the character but gives no clue to the word’s meaning.

Western Xia (also called Xixia) created Tangut writing around 1036 under its first emperor. The script served state-building and practical writing: official documents, literature, and a Buddhist canon were written in Tangut.

Why does 𗻴 look Chinese?

It is a Tangut character, not a Chinese one.

Tangut writing drew on Chinese script’s square shapes and use of parts built into characters, but it writes the Tangut language with its own character system. The Khitan script is an earlier regional example of a state creating a distinct script; Jurchen writing belongs to a later neighboring tradition. Those are script-history connections, not alternate versions of 𗻴.

What happened after Western Xia fell?

Tangut writing continued after the state fell.

The Mongols conquered Western Xia in 1227, but Tangut writing continued in later religious and community settings. Buddhist dhāraṇī pillars—inscribed monuments bearing Buddhist formulas—are the latest dated Tangut materials known, from 1502.