Nü Shu – Historical Women Chinese Script

Nüshu is the only script in history created and used exclusively by women - developed in 19th-century Jiangyong County, Hunan, by women shut out of formal education. Passed between sworn sisters through embroidery, fan-writing, and secret correspondence, it gave women a private language for grief, friendship, and survival in a world that gave them no other voice.

Presented by Eugenia Chin, this roundtable uses Nüshu as a starting point for a wider conversation on feminism then and now - where women's autonomy has genuinely progressed, where it has quietly regressed, and which vulnerabilities Nüshu was invented to answer still show up today, just in different forms. We'll look at the zine project built around this script, why a secret women's language still resonates in an era of open publishing, and what it means to design with a nearly-extinct writing system rather than simply about it.

On top of an intimate Q&A, this session closes with a hands-on activity. attendees will sketch their own Nüshu-inspired characters using pencil and paper, which they can take home.

Open to anyone interested in feminist history, typography, script preservation, or zine-making — no prior knowledge of Nüshu required. We'll provide pencil and paper for a short sketching exercise at the end, so no need to bring materials; just come ready to draw a little.

Meeting Point: Roundtable Space (Indoor Forest behind the Main Stage)
Duration: 45 minutes
Language: English

Host: Fable