Nüshu character pwe33

This Nüshu character has the Jiangyong reading pwe33, a spoken syllable rather than a word by itself. Context supplies its word; Nüshu carried women’s songs, letters, and wedding messages.

Text symbol

What 𛇪 means

It writes a syllable, not a fixed word. The recorded Jiangyong reading is pwe33; its digits mark a pitch contour. Nüshu characters often stand for homophonous words, so the surrounding sentence supplies the word.

Why did women write in Nüshu?

It let women write their local dialect. Nüshu arose among Jiangyong women, many of whom could not write Chinese characters. Its syllabic signs drew on Chinese character forms. Women shared songs, letters between sworn sisters, biographies, and wedding booklets for brides; some embroidered it on cloth. The earliest known artifact is a Taiping Heavenly Kingdom coin (1851–1864); a 1933 Hunan survey is the first documentary record.

Part of the collection

𛅰

Nüshu Script (Women's Writing)

Who writes 𛇪

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Questions people ask

Why does 𛇪 show as a box on some devices?

Not every system ships a font for the Nushu block. Where none is installed, the character shows as an empty box; adding a font such as Noto fixes it. The character itself is still correct and copies correctly.