Tangut character 𗿽

A Tangut word for a kind of bird.

Li Fanwen’s 2008 dictionary gives mui as the Latin-letter notation for its reconstructed reading—an inference from written evidence, not a modern recording.

Its broad gloss does not name a bird species.

Why was Tangut writing created?

For Western Xia state-building, Buddhist translation, and Tangut identity.

Created around 1036–1037, it drew on Chinese and Khitan models. A Khara-Khoto manuscript probably dates to the 12th or early 13th century; Tangut texts also covered law, military affairs, and literature.