Tangut Script

LogographicChina1036
OriginChina
Earliest1036
TypeLogographic

About Tangut Script

Invented by imperial command for the Tangut or Western Xia dynasty. Nearly 6,000 characters modeled on Chinese but completely different in form. Among the most complex scripts ever created, deciphered largely thanks to a Tangut-Chinese glossary. The entire Buddhist canon was translated into it. The script died with the state around 1500.

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