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In this shorter than usual episode Laszlo introduces a little piece of culture taken from the southern portion of Hunan Province.  Generations of illiterate women from a single county on the Hunan-Guangxi border, denied education, created their own writing script.  Men never learned it and so it was used by these women to communicate with each other and to record their secret throughts and inspirations.  Almost lost to posterity, Nüshu has made somewhat of a revival and today others are learning it and keeping it alive. 

Terms from this Episode

Nüshu  女书 

Shang Dynasty  商朝  The Shang Dynasty

Xiangnan Tuhua  湘南土话  The local dialect of southern Hunan

Chengguan Tuhua  城关土话  The dialect in and around Shangjiangxu Town

Cun  村  Village

Jiangyong County   江永县 

Hunan  湖南  Province in China

Guangxi  广西 Province in China

Guilin  桂林  City in Guangxi

Shen Nong  神农  You all remember him from the Tea Series, right??

Yao People  瑶族  The Yao minority people, also called the Dao in Vietnam

Shangjiangxu Town  上江圩镇  Ground Zero for Nüshu culture, located in Jiangyong County

Nüshu wenhua  女书文化  Nüshu Culture

Jiebai Zimei  结拜姊妹  Sworn Sisters

Laotong  老同  “Old Same” A very close relationship arranged between two girls.  It lasted a lifetime

Jiangyong Xian 江永县 Jiangyong County

Sanzhao  三朝  A custom followed on the third day after marriage or after birth

Sanzhaoshu  三朝书  The Third Day Book

Xianfeng Emperor  咸丰帝

Guangxu Emperor  光绪帝

Yang Huanyi  阳焕宜  The last person who actually lived the Nüshu Culture.

Puyi   溥仪  The Last Emperor

Putonghua  普通话  Mandarin (language)

Zhou Shuoyi  周硕沂  Researcher who did much to revive Nüshu Culture

Yang Yueqing  杨月清 Canadian Film maker

Lisa See  http://www.lisasee.com/

Lisa See’s Novel about Nüshu, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Learn Mandarin at MSL MASTER:  http://mslmaster.com

Yang Yueqing’s documentary “Nü Shu: A Hidden Language of Women in China”

http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/makers/fm432.shtml