QuoteProject
Nu shu means women's writing. And it was a secret writing system that was invented by women, used by women and kept a secret by women in one very remote county in China for a thousand years. It's the only language that was invented and used by women to have been found anywhere in the world.
Lisa See
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Nu shu is a unique writing system created by women in China to communicate secretly among themselves.

This quote highlights the significance of Nu shu, a writing system developed in China exclusively by women for their own use and kept secret from men for centuries. It emphasizes the creativity and resilience of women in finding ways to express themselves and communicate privately in a patriarchal society, making it a remarkable example of language and culture rooted in female experience.

Themes

Nu ShuWomenLanguageSecret WritingCommunication

In practice

Example use cases

In a women's history lecture, discussing the significance of Nu shu as a form of empowerment.

More from Lisa See

a laotong relationship is made by choice...when we first looked in each other's eyes in the palanquin I felt something special pass between us--like a spark to start a fire or a seed to grow rice. But a single spark is not enough to warm a room nor is a single seed enough to grow a fruitful crop. Deep love--true-heart love--must grow.
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I am still learning about love. I thought I understood it--not just mother love, but the love for one's parents, for one's husband, and for one's laotong. I've experienced the other types of love--pity love, respectful love and gratitude love. But looking at our secret fan with its messages written between Snow Flower and me over many years, I see that I didn't value the most important love--deep-heart love.
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When I knew I couldn't suffer another moment of pain, and tears fell on my bloody bindings, my mother spoke softly into my ear, encouraging me to go one more hour, one more day, one more week, reminding me of the rewards I would have if I carried on a little longer. In this way, she taught me how to endure — not just the physical trials of footbinding and childbearing but the more torturous pain of the heart, mind, and soul.
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