History, Characteristics, and Modern Vitality of Nüshu: A Cultural Anthropology Perspective

Abstract

Nüshu is a syllabic script derived from Chinese characters that was used exclusively among women in Jiangyong County in Hunan province of southern China. There is the unique Nüshu Culture that has been spontaneously developing along with it. Academic research, both in China and abroad has been conducted on Nüshu over the past thirty years, however the majority is carried out from a linguistic perspective. This paper intends to study the Nüshu from a cultural anthropology perspective and investigates on the one hand its origin and history, cultural features, as well as similarities and differences compared to Madarin Chinese. In the other hand it tries to bring to light the possible reasons that still keep this rare and old female culture alive in modern society.