Secret script an act of female independence

The nvshu museum welcomes more than 200,000 visitors a year. In 2013, a nvshu school was founded inside the museum. It has classes every summer vacation and cultural inheritors give lessons at schools and colleges, Hu said.

He Xiuhui, a 52-year-old Chinese-language teacher at a middle school in Jiangyong, attended a training program in 2019 and now teaches the script to her students.

"Many students like it, both female and male. Although it used to be a secret language for women, boys think it is part of our culture and they are interested," He said.

Peng said he visited Jiangyong in recent years, and noticed all signboards along the street were in the script, which created a special atmosphere. He added nvshu's complex, delicate font can be a good design element for cultural and creative products, such as clothes and bags.

The local government plans to train more inheritors and develop rural tourism and cultural works such as paintings, music, dance, television and films to spread awareness about the script and realize its social and economic value.

Zhu Youfang in Changsha contributed to this story.