Nüshu syllable tshiu21

𛉓 is read “tshiu21,” a Jiangyong syllable, not a translation.

This is a romanized reading. Nüshu writes local Chinese speech by syllable; context supplies the word meaning, not a one-to-one Chinese-character match.

Nüshu joined speech, song and embroidery

In traditional Jiangyong practice, women used Nüshu for songs, life stories, letters between “sworn sisters” (women who pledged friendship), and “third-day letters,” wedding gifts given to brides three days after the ceremony. Texts offered comfort and recorded hardship, though some instructed wives in household roles. Characters were embroidered on cloth and belts.

A reported Taiping Rebellion coin (1851–64) bears a Nüshu message of women’s sisterhood; the earliest written account identified in scholarship dates to 1931. Since 2003, Jiangyong workshops have helped preserve and teach the script.