Tangut character 1820A

Its dictionary entry means “to cheat.” That translation identifies a historical Tangut entry, not the sender’s tone: sent alone, 𘈊 cannot tell you whether they are accusing someone or discussing the script.

Why was the Tangut script created?

The Western Xia court created it for state and religious writing. Tangut emperor Li Yuanhao ordered the script in 1036, as Western Xia pursued independence. Its main purpose was a Tangut version of the Buddhist canon, a collection of sacred Buddhist texts; it also marked political distance from Song China. Tangut writing drew visually and structurally on Chinese but did not descend from it. The court followed neighboring Khitan people, who had created two scripts a century earlier; one was largely based on Chinese writing.

At Khara-Khoto, a ruined city where Tangut books were found, a surviving manuscript is undated but probably from the 12th or early 13th century. The script remained in use after Western Xia fell, then became obsolete by the end of the Ming period.