Often amazing men with our capacity
for
talking, we women also have the ability to
confound men with our silent ways of
communicating. When needed we often
have a secret code that needs no words.
Secret codes go back a long way in history,
such as in the following example:
 The
female language of Nu-Shu was exclusively used by women in certain
areas of
China. Nu-Shu actually means "writing of
women". This language had certain characteristics
which made it very different from
the Chinese language. Chinese works by
using syllables, intonation and accent. Nu-
Shu used only syllables, making it much
simpler than Chinese. Nu-Shu comprised of
700 different characters, whereas Chinese
needed 300,000 (the most complex language
in the world). Similar languages, only
used and understood by women, were in
use in Japan and in Korea. The language in
Japan had similar characteristics to the
Chinese one, but the Korean language was
purely phonetic, as the signs signified
sounds only.
Nu-Shu
was a language that even the emperor could not read. The origin
of this female
language is not exactly known. Some say
that it was started by a lady at the Imperial
Court who wanted her writing to be secret.
Nu-Shu was used by women to exchange
and pass on messages and their thoughts
about their daily life and the conditions in
which they lived, without it being understood
by men. Books in Nu-Shu were often
preserved and passed on, with women inheriting
them from one generation to the next.
Nu-Shu
books were also given as special gifts, for instance when a girl
got married.
Wedding ceremonies would often last
three days, beginning with a family ceremony
and ending with a ceremony to which
all the people from the village were invited.
On the third day, the "sister" of the girl
would give her a book she'd copied out
herself, but written in Nu-Shu, and the
content would be faithfully replicated.
The term "sister" referred to two girls who
were born on the same day and not blood
relatives. The relationship lasted all of their
lives and the bond was very strong.
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