Remembering Nüshu, the 19th-Century Chinese Script Only Women Could Write

Nüshu was a women’s script used in Jiangyong County, Hunan, for writing autobiographies, poetry, stories, letters, prayers, and “third day missives.” The article follows scholars such as Cathy Silber as they study surviving texts and argues that the script offered women a way to record their lives and communicate with one another in a patriarchal society.

Reading notes

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• Nüshu was written and read only by women in a small region of Jiangyong County, China.
• It was used for autobiographies, poems, stories, letters, prayers, and messages to sworn sisters.
• Men generally knew women were using it, but did not learn to write it.
• The script was tied to a society shaped by patriarchy, foot binding, and limited female literacy.
• Scholars do not have concrete evidence for its origin, though several hypotheses and a local legend exist.
• The script is syllabic and linked to the local dialect, with more than 1,000 signs counted.
• Nüshu was written on paper, cloth, and fans, and later sometimes on newspaper edges with a ballpoint pen.
• “Third day missives” were cloth-bound books given to brides after weddings.
• The tradition declined after the 1949 reforms and was further damaged during the Cultural Revolution.
• Preservation efforts included local classes, a museum in Jiangyong County, and university teaching.