Four centuries ago, Chinese women invented Nüshu to communicate when access to formal education was forbidden. Now, the old technique has returned to life among young people, with the help of social networks.
In a workshop in Hunan Province, in downtown China, a teacher muds softly with a paint brush the crackers of a secret writing, invented for centuries, by other women.
O nüshuwhich in Chinese means literally “Women’s Writing”it was created about 400 years ago, at a time when women did not have access to education and, consequently, to writing.
Thanks to Nüshu, women could communicate with each other through letters, songs or even embroidery. Transmitted from generation to generation, from mothers to daughters, it is now recovering its popularity throughout China, where it is seen as a Symbol of female force.
Pan Shengwen, a 21 -year -old student, explains that Nüshu allows women to communicate with total safety. “It’s like a kind of sanctuary for us ”says. “We can express our thoughts, trust us among sisters, talk about everything.”
“A cry against injustice”
Compared to the synograms, the words in nüshu are phonetic and write in a less square, thinner and with a shape that resembles tree leaves. “When we write, our breath must be paused so that the brush is stable,” explains the student.
In the Chinese application XiaohongShu, similar to Instagram, the hashtag #nushu already exceeds 72 million views. Most are publications of young women who share tattoo photographs or other creations with this old writing.
Nüshu is much more than a simple writing. Reflects the lives of women from Jiangyong Rural County in Hunan province, explains Zhao Liming, professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Jiangyong was “a men -dominated society,” says the Académica, who studied Nüshu four decades ago. “The works of these women were a scream against injustice.”
Connection with the Arts
The words in nüshu are read in a local dialectwhich makes your learning difficult by inhabitants of other regions. But its elegance and uniqueness explain the renewed interest in this writing, considers teacher he Yuejuan.
“Art students appreciate it particularly,” he says, in his gallery where he sells jewelry and shawls adorned with registration in Nüshu.
A native of Jiangyong, the teacher says that writing did “part of her daily life” during childhood. It’s one of 12 “right” of nüshu officially recognized by the Chinese government, with the right to teach them.
“Fight to preserve”
About a hundred students participated in a weekly workshop organized by local authorities to promote Nüshu. Zou Kexin, one of the young women, said he heard about Nüshu on social networks and wanted to “try it personally.”
“It is a system of writing of women, which makes it really especial”Says the student at a university of Sichuan.
Tao Yuxi, a 23 -year -old animation student, is one of the few men to participate in the workshop. Explains that you want to learn Nüshu to find inspiration in your creations. Although it was created for women, Nüshu, in his view, is part of the national cultural heritage. “We should all fight to preserve him, women and men,” he argues.
