Tangutologist

Tangutology or Tangut studies is the study of the culture, history, art and language of the ancient Tangut people, especially as seen through the study of contemporaneous documents written by the Tangut people themselves. As the Tangut language was written in a unique and complex script and the spoken language became extinct, the cornerstone of Tangut studies has been the study of the Tangut language and the decipherment of the Tangut script. The Tangut people founded the Western Xia dynasty (1038–1227) in northwestern China, which was eventually conquered by the Mongol Empire. The Tangut script, which was devised in 1036, was widely used in printed books and on monumental inscriptions during the Western Xia dynasty, as well as during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), but the language became ...