China’s Women Only Script
August 15, 2018
Top Stories
Nüshu means women’s writing. During the 19th and 20th centuries it was used by peasant women as a secret script in a small region of Hunan province.
The script was exclusive to women and was never taught to men. The general public barely knew of it’s existence until the 1980s.
Knowledge of the script was passed down from mother to daughter, and although some men knew that it existed, they were unable to read it. The script was used from female relatives and friends to communicate in an intimate way during the time of a highly patriarchal society.
Sworn sister relationships would be established between pairs of girls who grew up together in the same village. This was known as the laotong relationship and was expected to last for a lifetime.
These married peasant women lived highly controlled lives, as they were mostly kept indoors doing household chores. The script helped them keep their laotong relationships alive, which was deeply cherished by all.
It only became known to the public when an old woman fainted in a train station. The script was brought to the attention of the police once they went through her belongings. The woman was in fact arrested for being a spy at first, since they were unable to recognize what was written.
The first man to master the script was Zhou Shuoyi, who published the first dictionary of the characters in 2003. The strokes of the script are comprised of arcs, vertical lines and arcs, and was written from top to bottom, just like traditional Chinese texts.
By the time scholars began to study the script in the 1980s, it was already on the verge of going extinct, with only about a dozen women left who could understand and write it. The last person to be proficient in the script passed away in 2004 at the age of 98.
You may also like
The Cannes Film Festival Is Back, Baby!
After an incredibly tough and uneventful year, the Cannes Film Festival is reopening. The festival, which is set to open today with the premiere of Anette. signals a positive trend in the entertainment industry: the gradual return of the entertainment world to its previous, lucrative, and physical form before the pandemic. This is a huge and very welcome step forward not only in the eyes of industry sharks but also of the general film-loving public. After a tiresome year of quarantine, social di
Read More
England’s Outstanding Performance in the UEFA European Championship
Yesterday was a monumental day for the England national team. If anybody still believed England was a mediocre team, their staggering victory over Ukraine, which had managed to seize an upset victory against the Netherlands, decisively set such pessimistic undervaluations to rest. It is clearer than it ever was: England may just go all the way this time. The circumstances are perfect for such an accomplishment: all their upcoming games are scheduled to occur on home-turf, on Wembley stadium gras
Read More
Impeccable 4th of July Side Dishes
Independence Day is right around the corner, and we all know that there truly is no better way to celebrate our hard-earned freedom than scorching fatty slabs of meat on a Walmart barbeque. Or is it actually best to make a 15-cheeses mac & cheese? Oh, we don't know. There are so many classic 4th of July recipes to choose from. That's why we compiled a brief list of our favorite Independence Day eats.
Read More
New Balance Has Launched its Most Ambitious Retro Project Yet
It was June 17th when New Balance announced the release of their new MADE 990 Version Series. The series signals an unprecedented retrograde turn; New Balance is going back to some tried and true favorites, the retired 990s. The 990s have cemented their place in sneaker history, growing very much attached to New Balance's brand and general trainer sheik. The renewal will be an elevated tribute to the MADE 990s, which are celebrating their 40th anniversary. The plan is to showcase the heritage of
Read More
The Infamous Bite Fight
Heading into Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson's second battle (which was billed as "the Sound and the Fury"), tensions were pretty high. Holyfield and Iron Mike had fought seven months prior in Las Vegas. Tyson had just won the WBA Heavyweight Championship, snatching it away from Bruce Seldon in an impeccable first-round knockout. Going into the fight, Holyfield was perceived to be the underdog, this even though he himself had won the championship. Yet his performance in all the fights leading u
Read More