Nüshu character tsa33

This Nüshu character is read “tsa33,” a syllable in the local Chinese speech of Jiangyong County, Hunan. A coin minted in 1851–1864 is the earliest known artifact bearing the script; the first written report dates to 1933. By 2025, Nüshu was also being studied and taught as cultural heritage.

Text symbol

What 𛋎 means

Context chooses among words with the same sound. Nüshu is a syllabary: most signs record syllables, though some stand for words. Its characters adapt Chinese forms to write Jiangyong speech by sound; a similar Chinese character is no translation key. Many Jiangyong women could not write Chinese characters; they used Nüshu for poems, histories and letters between sworn sisters. Traditionally in Jiangyong, a bride received a sanzhaoshu (“third-day book”), a poem and good wishes from friends three days after the wedding. Women sang Nüshu while sewing and embroidered some writing on cloth, as documented in 2018.

Part of the collection

𛅰

Nüshu Script (Women's Writing)

Who writes 𛋎

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Questions people ask

Why does 𛋎 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.