For two thousand years women in ancient China lived the rigid roles as defined by the doctrine of Confucius that said women were unworthy or incapable of a literary education. From birth to death, ancient Chinese women were in a position of servitude. Often considered as a man's private property, girls were taught to obey men. They obeyed their father and brothers and often grew up in anonymity. Despised by their fathers, they were often named daughter number 1, daughter number 2 and so on. Rudimentary education was out of question for girls.
Upon marriage, conditions remained much the same. They had to obey their husbands absolutely and without question. Often, their husbands had two or three wives. As if all this wasn't enough, she was also subject to a nasty relationship with her mother in law. Women were expected to spend their time cleaning the home and give birth to heirs.

When living meant suffering

Women suffered behind closed doors in every home. Married at a young age, lucky ones became principal wife and went on to give birth to a male heir. Most of them became concubines. The details of the story are different, but the underlying helplessness was common. In addition, women in aristocratic families also carried the burden of looking beautiful. This precise beauty was cultivated through a cruel, painful, practice called foot binding.

About one thousand years ago, men developed a standard for feminine beauty. A perfect beauty had a tiny feet, which looked like a ‘lily foot.’ Chinese tied the feet of young girls tightly until all the bones and toes were broken except for their thumb. The maximum length of a woman’s feet was 10 centimeters! In constant pain and severely restricted movements, some women spent their entire life confined to a single floor of their homes. Nicknamed ‘upper floor women,’ they watched life seasons change from their windows.

Under such conditions blossomed a beautiful secret that women jealously guarded in their bosom. Nushu.

The legend of Nushu

A local legend, nobody knows how much of it is true, tells how Nushu was invented. Yong Zhou, a young and pretty concubine of the emperor went to live in the city palace. The new life in court was filled with loneliness, fear, and sorrow. In seven years, the emperor saw her only thrice. Yong Zhou confided in her friends back home to keep sane. Living in the court had made Young Yong Zhou clever. She knew that if her letters had to pass the court censorship, she needed to have a secret way of writing her story. She poured her sorrows in stylized characters and sent the message home. Much to her delight, her friends managed to read the letters and Nushu was born. Nushu means women’s writing.

Soon women penned their hearts using Nushu. It became their secret system of writing and reading developed by women, for women, and transmitted through women. Lack of education did little to deter women from networking or communicating with each other. Typically, men paid little attention to what women did. And what men thought as embroidery, or painting, was actually writing! Though Nushu women found a way to communicate with each other. The local dialect written in Nushu script helped the tradition thrive locally in many places.

Age of Nushu

Scientists are cautious when it comes to fixing the age of Nushu. The oldest Nushu speaker died recently at the age of 97. She learned it from her grandmother when she was three years old. Nushu was the only form of formal education that women had access to.

Scientists are sure that the language is older than 200 years, but the precise time of origin eludes them. It perhaps language began at least 3,500 to 4,000 years ago, as coins with Nushu script have been found. Research is on going to find the exact origins.

Nushu language

Scholars have assembled 1,000 to 1,600 Nushu characters. Nobody knows for sure how many characters formed the traditional Nushu script. Early Chinese letters probably formed the basis of Nushu script. Experts see a remarkable similarity between the Nushu script and early Chinese writing. About 80% of Nushu characters resemble ancient Chinese writing and 20% of unique words come from natural setting (like birds, bamboo), and some resemble local costumes.

Experts however agree there are two major differences in the way Nushu and Chinese languages developed. First, Nushu was phonetic, based on sound, where as ideas, or concepts, formed the basis of Chinese language script. Second, in writing Nushu and Chinese languages different rules were applied.

In real life, Nushu was available in the market place in the form of weaving, painting, and decorations on belts, fabrics, fan, and baskets. The decorations on hand fan with Nushu poetry, stories, and anecdotes were particularly common. Almost every woman owned a fan and stories and sorrows could be exchanged simply by swapping fans.

Seven Sworn Sisters

Nushu script was one aspect of the entire system. At its peak, every woman in the Chinese society, no matter what her status, could use Nushu in one form or another. Nushu expressed itself gloriously in singing, writing, embroidery, and sworn sisterhood.

Friendship of seven sworn sisters, an eclectic mixture of friends and relatives was central to the lives of women. The seven sisters cast themselves after the legendary seven fairies who provided health, wealth, happiness, children, wisdom, luck, and longevity. Together they sang of not only many sorrows of life, but also their determination to hold on to their self- respect. The overwhelming theme of their songs or compositions was the sadness of their lives. The seven sisters shared the pain of death, poverty, low social status, and difficulties to make ends meet, challenges of running a household. Women emerged victorious through challenges, thanks to the support of their own pack of seven sworn sisters.

Traditional Nushu narrative had stories of many strong women who overshadowed men. Many tales were romantic. Through these tales women expressed their feelings, longings, dreams, and imagination. Nushu transformed the tears of women into works of art or potent poetry.

Transmission of Nushu

Nushu was the best-kept secret for centuries. Literature works of the time don’t speak of Nushu, although it existed at that time. Aunts taught their nieces, mothers transmitted to their daughters, and grandmothers passed it to their granddaughters. They practiced writing on dirt, with water on rocks, charcoal, or whatever medium was available. The Nushu script was easily concealed in embroidery or painting. Nushu was freedom. Men never detected it to censure its use.

The Nushu compositions can be placed at three levels. At first level, individual voices of women recorded their hardships for survival. Nushu writing or poems overwhelmingly communicate this theme. The second level deals with life’s routines and rituals. The works record their joys, wishes, and hopes as linked to routines, festivals, and rituals. Some women excelled in this style of writing, decorating, or art work. The third levels of compositions are about the elite Chinese culture, translated from Chinese language. It came from a world that had closed its doors on women, a world that women hoped to enter, but failed. Did some women manage to learn to read Chinese after all?

Crying Wedding

The genius of women in using the existing customs to stage their poetry is breathtaking. In a wedding ceremony, when the bride took leave of her parents, Nushu poetry blossomed at its peak. A young bride cried her heart out while taking leave of her parents and her seven soul sisters. What sounded like a wail to others was in fact a song!

The men folk dubbed it as, ‘crying wedding.’ The compositions of the bride explained her hopes, fears, and uncertainties upon entering the new home. After the bride bid her parents farewell and entered into the unknown life, she was eagerly awaited a visit from her women relatives and friends.

On the third day, the women folk visited the new bride with traditional gifts. The most precious gift was the cloth bound ‘third day book’ or 'San Chao Shu.' Each recipient treasured the booklet, which became her life long companion. Her friends had compiled their life experiences, sentiments, best wishes and friendship notes in it.

Other ‘women’ languages

As Chinese culture spread into Korea and Japan, the feudal society copied the same rules for the women. Intelligent and creative these women were determined to find their role in the world. Using the Chinese characters, Japanese women developed a special writing system for recording their essays, poems, and dairies. The language eventually evolved into modern Japanese language or Kana.

The Korean women found a way out when the Korean emperor introduced a new, unified script. They mastered and adopted the new script even as Chinese nobles scorned it. Women used Korean script to convey their joys and sorrows to the world. In a way, the modern Korean script is the gift of women to their nation.

Nushu today

Nushu is a dying language with only four living practitioners who write and read Nushu. Many children and teenagers think it is a waste of time to learn a dying language. Experts think that Nushu can be learned in a year. Men are also learning the language today. Ironically, it was the interest of a man during the 1950’s that led to the ‘discovery’ of Nushu.
A Nushu village and cultural center established in Pu Wei Village, is at the heart of Nushu revival. Experts teach Nushu script in this village. The village also attracts a large number of tourists and scholars from around the world. May be a global effort will help the endangered language, the true language of women, to survive.

Select References:

1. Cody E. The Secret Language of Chinese women. Washington Post.  
    Feb 29, 2004.

2. See L. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Microsoft Reader download.

3. China's women-only language under threat. BBC News April 16, 2002. 
     http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-    pacific/1937023.stm
4. Nu Shu Website: http://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/~orie/home.htm

5. Secret female language is preserved by a man. China Daily. August 11, 2004.

6. A room of one’s own: Woman’s Script. CCTV.com. April 5, 2005.

7. Secret Chinese Women's Business. Australia Broadcasting Corporation.