Tangut Character 181EA

𘇪 has two source-dependent Tangut dictionary meanings. A 2011 Unicode encoding proposal links it to entry 1332 in Li Fanwen’s modern Tangut dictionary, glossed as “to pass on.” A 2019 Unicode study comparing Tangut reference traditions instead records it as a surname and gives mbô as a reconstructed reading: an inferred pronunciation, not a translation.

Use 𘇪 when transcribing or discussing Tangut, and name the reference tradition if its meaning matters. In a message without context, describe it as a Tangut character whose recorded meaning varies by source.

Why was Tangut writing made?

Tangut writing served the Western Xia state and its culture. Tangut was the language of that state; its writing system was commissioned for official and cultural work. The system drew on the structure of Chinese characters but was used to write Tangut. State records and diplomatic texts used it, and translators rendered Buddhist scriptures from Chinese and Tibetan into Tangut. Its Western Xia setting is placed around 1036, but that date does not establish a first appearance for 𘇪 itself.

The script remained in use after Western Xia fell in 1227; the latest known example is dated 1502. These dates describe the history of Tangut writing, not the first use of this individual character.

Why do references disagree about 𘇪?

The records follow different cataloguing choices. One approach matches a character to a numbered dictionary entry; another compares forms across Tangut reference traditions and groups them into character families. That difference is evidence of scholarly classification, not proof that Tangut speakers changed the character’s meaning over time.

A font supplies the visible outline, but it cannot show which historical lexicon or manuscript tradition supplies a reading. Name the reference edition when an exact reading matters.