Tangut character meaning “to enclose”

It means “to enclose” in Tangut. Its two recorded parts are 𘀀 (“land”) and 𘘨 (“circle”).

Why was Tangut writing created?

It helped build Western Xia’s state and identity.

Ordered around 1036 CE by Western Xia’s first emperor, Tangut writing served state-building. A key aim was a Tangut collection of Buddhist scriptures; another was to distinguish Western Xia from the Song dynasty in China. The neighboring Khitan people had created state scripts a century earlier, a precedent Western Xia followed. Tangut’s forms and character-building principles drew on Chinese writing, but Tangut was not derived from it. An undated manuscript from the Khara-Khoto ruins in Inner Mongolia likely dates to the 12th or early 13th century. After Western Xia fell to the Mongols, Tangut remained in use under Yuan and Ming rule, becoming obsolete by the end of the Ming dynasty.