Tangut Character 187BB

It is one sign in Tangut writing. Its reconstructed reading, ²dy₄, gives a pronunciation, not an English gloss.

Created in 1036 by order of Western Xia emperor Li Yuanhao, one likely aim was to produce a Tangut edition of the Buddhist canon (a collection of sacred texts); the script also marked a distinct state identity. Its design drew on Chinese models. A neighboring people, the Khitan, had made two scripts a century earlier; one also drew on Chinese. After Western Xia fell to the Mongols, Tangut stayed in use under Yuan and Ming rule, becoming obsolete by the end of the Ming dynasty. Scholars rediscovered it in the late 19th century and largely deciphered it in the early 20th century.