Tangut script


Tangut
The Art of War written in Tangut
Script type
Logographic
CreatorYeli Renrong
Time period
1036–1502
DirectionVertical right-to-left, left-to-right Edit this on Wikidata
LanguagesTangut language
Related scripts
Parent systems
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Tang (520), ​Tangut
Unicode
Unicode alias
Tangut

The Tangut script (Tangut: 𗼇𘝞; Chinese: 西夏文; pinyin: Xī Xià Wén; lit. 'Western Xia script') is a logographic writing system, formerly used for writing the extinct Tangut language of the Western Xia dynasty. According to the latest count, 5863 Tangut characters are known, excluding variants.[1] The Tangut characters are similar in appearance to Chinese characters,[2] with the same type of strokes, but the methods of forming characters in the Tangut writing system are significantly different from those of forming Chinese characters. As in Chinese calligraphy, regular, running, cursive and seal scripts were used in Tangut writing.

  1. ^ 《西夏文字共有5863个正字》 (in Simplified Chinese). Ningxia News. Archived from the original on 2007-03-02. Retrieved 2006-11-21.
  2. ^ Frederick W. Mote (2003). Imperial China 900–1800. Harvard University Press. pp. 395–. ISBN 978-0-674-01212-7.