Tangut Script

Logographic script of the Tangut people of the Western Xia kingdom (1038–1227). Though resembling Chinese, it is entirely independent with ~6,000 signs. It continued in Buddhist temples for centuries after Genghis Khan destroyed Western Xia. In the 20th century, Russian explorer Kozlov excavated a large cache of Tangut documents from the Gobi Desert, providing the key to decipherment.