Tangut Character 186E6

Read the pair together; the gloss belongs to both characters.

𘛦𗂣 is glossed “following year” or “next year.” Those words translate the two-character expression, so assigning them to 𘛦 by itself goes beyond the evidence.

On its own, identify 𘛦 as Tangut writing and use the surrounding text to work out its role. Tangut was a script for the Tangut language; it drew on visual and character-building principles also found in Chinese writing, but it is a distinct script.

Why was Tangut writing created?

It gave the Western Xia state a native script.

In 1036, Tangut emperor Li Yuanhao ordered a writing system for his people. Scholars link the project to creating a Tangut Buddhist canon, a body of Buddhist texts, and to distinguishing the Western Xia state from Song China.

Tangut writing drew on Chinese writing’s visual and character-building principles, but was a separate script. It was used for Buddhist texts, Chinese classics, military works, and literature. The neighboring Khitan script offered a political precedent for a state creating its own writing system.

Where does this glyph fit in Tangut history?

It belongs to a script preserved in medieval manuscripts and inscriptions.

A Tangut manuscript from Khara-Khoto probably dates to the 12th or early 13th century; Buddhist inscriptions attest to Tangut writing in the mid-14th century.

In 2020, a Unicode working-group proposal listed 𘛦 among characters proposed for glyph modification. The proposal concerned its drawn form, not a change of character or meaning.