China Preserves World’s Only Women’s Language

Nu Shu, or Nüshu, meaning ‘female writing’, is believed to be the only language in the world used exclusively by women and is at risk of extinction. In an attempt to preserve the culture in the country, China set up the Nüshu Culture Research Center in the province of Hunan. This center primarily serves as both a museum and a special protection zone.

Linguists believe that it is one of the oldest languages in the world, and that it was passed down from mothers to daughters in remote rural areas. Traditional Chinese culture was male-centered and forbade girls from any kind of formal education, so Nushu, a writing system, was created in secrecy over hundreds of years in the Jiangyong county of Hunan province.

Huanyi Yang, China's last woman proficient in the mysterious language, died in her 90's in 2004. In Chinese linguistics, her death marks the end of a 400-year-old tradition of women sharing their innermost feelings with one another through sets of codes that are incomprehensible to men and allow them to communicate their innermost thoughts.

Nu Shu is a hidden language of women in China that has been featured in a documentary called 'Nu Shu: A Hidden Language of Women in China'.

Read more about the threat to the world’s only women-only language>>