Here’s a very interesting interview of Lisa See, a journalist and culturalist, who went to a remote part of China to investigate a secret, ancient language used only by women known as Nü Shu 女书. It is the story of well-to-do women who spent their whole lives in isolation in upper-story bedrooms. They developed this language to secretly explore their inner lives and to communicate to other women in similar isolation.
It is a fascinating look at an obscure part of Chinese history and culture.
One reply on “A Secret Chinese Language”
Some say nushu is not a language because it was not used by all, only women used it. If that is so, then written Chinese was not a language, because it was not used by all at that time, either since only men used it.