Tangut Character 17FE7

It means “medicine” in Tangut.

The scholarly reconstruction is written *tsə̣: t+s followed by a short, neutral vowel. The asterisk marks a reading inferred from written evidence, not recorded from a living speaker.

How was 𗿧 built?

The Tangut dictionary builds it from “food” and “medicine.”

In the mid-12th century, the rhyming dictionary Wén Hǎi (“Sea of Characters”) explains 𗿧 as a combination of 𗣣, the Tangut character for “food,” and 𗼫, the Tangut character for “medicine.” A recorded compound, 𗿧𗀀, means “medicines and poisons.”

When was Tangut written?

Tangut script was created under Western Xia rule.

It was created under Western Xia’s first emperor about 1036 CE to write Tangut, spoken in what is now northwestern China. The script served official, private and religious writing—including books, sutras, inscriptions and manuscripts—and continued under Yuan and Ming rule.

It became obsolete by the end of the Ming dynasty, was rediscovered in the late 19th century and largely deciphered in the early 20th century. The documented gloss of 𗿧 remains “medicine”; its setting moved from the kingdom’s writing to dictionaries and scholarship.