介绍:
Nüshu is one of the most interesting writing systems. The word Nüshu literally means “Women’s Writing” in Chinese. As the name suggests, Nüshu was created and used only by women. Most of these slim characters were developed from standard written Chinese.
In ancient times girls were forbidden from any kind of formal education, so Nüshu was developed in secret in Jiangyong County of Hunan Province.
Hundreds of years ago, Nüshu was taught at home by elderly women to girls. And women would use Nüshu to write poems or song lyrics to express the emotions they were hiding from men.
Many old poems written in Nüshu were created by women talking about their difficulties in life and how they made it through hardships. The words were full of encouragement and positive energy, and showed an uncommon open-mindedness among women at that time.
Ji Xianlin, the late historian and linguist, once said, “Nüshu is a feminist symbol since it was created by talented women who were deprived of the right to education. The unique writing system has significance in various fields like linguistics, sociology and literature, and represents Chinese people’s strong spirit.”
Nüshu is a legacy recording our history. However, it is not widely used in daily life today. There are only a handful of women who can still read and write in Nüshu. In fact, it is a dying language. Now linguists are taking actions to prevent this incredible cultural heritage from disappearing.
