Nüshu
Sign in to saveAlso known as Nshu, Nǚshū, Nü Shu
Nüshu (; ; ; ) is a syllabic script derived from Chinese characters that was used by ethnic Yao women for several centuries in Jiangyong, a county within the southern Chinese province of Hunan. From the early 21st century there have been official efforts to revitalise the script, as well as indications of renewed interest among the wider public.
Key facts
- Writing system.name
- Nüshu
- Writing system.sample
- Nu shu (2).svg
- Writing system.caption
- "Nüshu" written in Nüshu
- Writing system.imagesize
- 50px
- Writing system.type
- Syllabary
- Writing system.languages
- Xiangnan Tuhua
- Writing system.region
- Jiangyong County
- Writing system.status
- obsolescent in 2004
- Writing system.family
- Chinese family of scripts
- Writing system.fam1
- Oracle bone script
- Writing system.fam2
- Bronze script
- Writing system.fam3
- Seal script
- Writing system.fam4
- Clerical script
- Writing system.fam5
- Regular script
- Writing system.qid
- Q56436
- Writing system.iso15924
- Nshu
- Writing system.ipa note
- none
- Chinese.t
- 女書
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Nu shu (2).svg
Show 5 more facts
- name
- Nüshu
- native label
- 女书
- Commons category
- Nüshu script
- Unicode range
- U+1B170-1B2FF
- inception
- 0800-00-00
via Wikidata · CC0
~15 min read
Article
19 sectionsContents
- Features and adoption
- History
- Origins of Nüshu
- A palace maiden's creation
- Pan Qiao's creation
- The Nine-Jin Maiden's creation
- Evaluating the legends
- Evolution and cultural context of Nüshu
- ''Jiebai''
- ''Su kelian''
- 20th century
- 21st century
- Works
- Cultural influence
- In Unicode
- See also
- References
- Works cited
- External links
Nüshu (; ; ; ) is a syllabic script derived from Chinese characters that was used by ethnic Yao women for several centuries in Jiangyong, a county within the southern Chinese province of Hunan. From the early 21st century there have been official efforts to revitalise the script, as well as indications of renewed interest among the wider public.
Nüshu is phonetic, with each of its approximately 600–700 characters representing a syllable. Nüshu works were a way for women to express their thoughts and feelings and establish 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. At the time, women were typically not taught to read and write the mainstream Chinese script.