Tangut character 186F6

𘛶 is a Tangut character glossed “stars.”

A Tangut Buddhist-text index gives ²chyr'₃ as a scholarly reconstruction of how the character was read and glosses it “stars.” A 2023 study also lists it among terms related to stars. In English, the gloss may be “star” or “stars,” depending on the surrounding text.

Is 𘛶 Chinese or Tangut?

It belongs to Tangut writing, also called the Xixia script.

The Tangut script was created in 1036 under Emperor Li Yuanhao as part of building the Western Xia state. It gave the kingdom its own written identity beside Song China. A planned project was a Tangut edition of the Buddhist Canon, a collection of Buddhist scriptures.

A manuscript from Khara-Khoto probably dates to the 12th or early 13th century, showing the script in use. Tangut character design drew on principles used in Chinese writing, but the script was made for the Tangut language rather than derived from Chinese. Neighboring Khitan states had also created scripts for their own languages.

Why does 𘛶 appear as a box?

The font may not include a Tangut glyph.

The text can still contain 𘛶 when the display shows a box or blank. A Tangut-capable font is needed to draw it. Unicode 16.0 describes Tangut glyph variation; different fonts can give this character small shape differences even though the encoded character stays the same.