Chen Yulu, a 23-year-old from Hunan province, has become an unexpected ambassador for nüshu, a script once known only to a small group of women in southern China. Nüshu, initially practiced in secrecy by women who were excluded from formal education in Chinese, is now being spread by young individuals like Chen beyond the women’s quarters of houses in Hunan’s rural Jiangyong.
Nüshu, characterized by its gently curving characters written with a diagonal slant, was developed by women in Jiangyong several centuries ago to communicate with each other when reading and writing were considered activities exclusive to men. It was used by women to document their sorrows and experiences in a restrictive society where they were under the control of their parents or husbands.
Today, the script can be seen in various forms such as independent bookstores, subway ads, tattoos, and art, resonating with young women challenging patriarchal constraints. Chen, inspired by nüshu, decided to make a documentary about feminism after discovering the script’s origin near her hometown.
Although some like He Yanxin, a formal inheritor of nüshu, question the utility of the script due to personal hardships, individuals like Chen and Lu Sirui are passionate about promoting nüshu as a form of resistance against traditional patriarchal power and a symbol of female strength and sisterhood. Lu hosts nüshu workshops to introduce more people to this unique aspect of women’s history and empowerment.
