Nüshu character 1B2B4

As of 2026, type 1B2B4 and press Alt+X in Microsoft Word. This converts the hexadecimal Unicode value into the character.

The sign records the Jiangyong speech reading labeled koe35, not a whole word. Nüshu writes local speech syllable by syllable, so surrounding text identifies the spoken word.

As of 2026, Google’s Noto Sans Nushu font includes Nüshu characters; choose a font with Nüshu coverage if this sign appears as an empty box.

Why did women write Nüshu?

They wrote local speech, songs, and life stories with it.

Nüshu grew in Jiangyong, in China’s Hunan Province, where women had limited access to formal schooling. Its shapes adapt Chinese-character forms, but its signs represent syllables in local speech rather than standard Chinese words.

Traditional Nüshu practice included letters between sworn sisters—friends who pledged a lasting bond—and cloth-bound sanzhaoshu, or third-day wedding books, given to a bride three days after marriage. Women also read or sang these texts while doing needlework.

Some copied manuscripts have been traced to China’s late Ming or early Qing dynasties, and a Nüshu inscription is reported on a coin from the 1850s; the first definite written account dates to 1931. These uneven records point to gradual development, not a documented one-person invention. China added Nüshu to its national intangible cultural heritage list in 2006, bringing formal preservation alongside its older life in correspondence and song.