Nüshu is a syllabic script created and used exclusively by women in Jiangyong Prefecture, Hunan Province, China. The women were forbidden formal education for many centuries and developed the Nüshu script in order to communicate with one another. They embroidered the script into cloth and wrote it in books and on paper fans.
Nüshu was mainly used in the creation of San Chao Shu (三朝書) or "Third Day Missives", cloth-bound booklets created by mothers to give to their daughters upon their marriage, or by woman to give to their close female friends. The San Chao Shu contained songs written in the Nüshu script expressing hopes and sorrow, and was delivered on the third day after a woman's marriage.
The last proficient user of Nüshu was Yang Huanyi [阳焕宜] (c. 1909-2004), who died in September 2004 at the age of 96-98 More details
Recently there has been a revival of interest in Nüshu and a number of women are studying it and using it again.
Notable featuresXiangnan Tuhua (湘南土話) or 'Southern Hunanese Tuhua', a variety of Chinese spoken in the Xiao and Yongming River region of northern Jiangyong County in Hunan. Speakers of this language call it Dong language [tifɯə], and it is unintelligible with the Xiang dialect of southern Hunan.
Here are some Nüshu characters with their pronunciations, and the Chinese characters they are equivalent to, with their Mandarin pronunciations and meanings. Other Nüshu characters are available.
Download the Nüshu script chart (Excel)
Beside a well,
one does not thirst.
Beside a sister,
one does not despair.
Nüshu text by Professor Zhao Liming, via Tim Brookes at The Endangered Alphabets Project
Information about Nüshu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nüshu_script
https://courier.unesco.org/en/articles/nushu-tears-sunshine
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20200930-nshu-chinas-secret-female-only-language
Online Nushu Dictionary
https://nushuscript.org/en-US/
Nüshu fonts
https://fonts.google.com/noto/specimen/Noto+Traditional+Nushu
https://fonts.google.com/noto/specimen/Noto+Sans+Nushu
Afaka, Bamum, Caroline Island Script, Celtiberian, Cherokee, Cypriot, Dunging (Iban), Eskayan, Hiragana, Iberian, Katakana, Kpelle, Loma, Mende (Kikakui), Mwangwego, Nüshu, Nwagụ Aneke, Vai, Yi, Yugtun
Page last modified: 27.08.24
[top]
You can support this site by Buying Me A Coffee, and if you like what you see on this page, you can use the buttons below to share it with people you know.
If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.
Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission if you click on any of them and buy something. So by clicking on these links you can help to support this site.
[top]