Nüshu (simplified Chinese: 女书; traditional Chinese: 女書; pinyin: Nǚshū [ny˨˩˨ʂu˦]; lit. 'women's script') is a syllabic script derived from Chinese characters that was used exclusively among ethnic Yao women in Jiangyong County in Hunan province of southern China before going extinct in the early 21st century.
Nüshu is phonetic, with each of its approximately 600–700 characters representing a syllable. Nüshu works were a way for women to lament by communicating sorrows, commiserating over Chinese patriarchy, and establishing connections with an empathetic community. Typically a group of three or four young, non-related women would pledge friendship by writing letters and singing songs in Nüshu to each other.
It is not known when Nüshu came into being, but it seems to have reached its peak during the latter part of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). To preserve the script as an intangible cultural heritage, Chinese authorities established a Nüshu museum in 2002 and designated "Nüshu transmitters" starting in 2003. Fears that the features of the script are being distorted by the effort of marketing it for the tourist industry were highlighted by the 2022 documentary Hidden Letters.
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