Xixia script, also known as Hexi script, Fanwen and Tanggute script, is a script that records the language of the Dangxiang people in Xixia. It belongs to the ideographic system and the Qiang branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The language of the Xixia people has been lost and is most closely related to the modern Qiang and Muya languages. In the first year of Daqing before Emperor Jingzong of Western Xia, Li Yuanhao, ordered minister Yeli Renrong to create it. It took three years to complete, and contains more than 5,000 characters. The shape is square, the strokes are complex, and the structure imitates Chinese characters.
It was popular for about two centuries in the vast geographical area of ??present-day Ningxia, Gansu, northern Shaanxi, and southern Inner Mongolia under the jurisdiction of the Xixia Dynasty. During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, it was still circulated in some areas for about three centuries. Li Fanwen, an expert on Xixia writing, believes that the total number of Xixia characters is 5,917, but in fact there are only 5,857 meaningful characters.
Extended information:
When Li Yuanhao became emperor, in order to create a unique script for the Dangxiang people and compete with the Central Plains culture, he ordered the famous Xixia scholar Yeli Renrong to write A unique script was created specifically to record the party language.
The creation of written characters is a cultural event and the product of a nation’s historical and cultural development to a certain level. Xixia script was called "Tibet script" or "Guozi" at that time, and was the official script and language of Xixia. Today, Chinese academic circles call it "Xixia script", while some foreign scholars who study Xixia script call it "Xixia script". "Tangutwen".
After the Xixia regime was destroyed by the Mongols, the Xixia nation was torn apart, and the country was destroyed and the people were scattered. As time went by, with the integration of the nations, the penetration of culture, and the exchange of languages, the Dangxiang nation was divided between the Han, Hui, and Hui people. The Tibetan, Mongolian and other ethnic groups gradually assimilated and became ancient ethnic groups that disappeared in the dust of history.
Although as a nation, the Dangxiang tribe no longer exists, the Xixia script they created has been handed down along with inscriptions and cultural relics. Although the Xixia script has long been unrecognizable, it has become known as the "Book of Heaven". It is a "dead text", but this ancient text that embodies the wisdom of the Dangxiang nation has become an important tool for interpreting the history of Xixia.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Xixia