​Nvshu
Nvshu and Feminist in China
It is extremely fascinating that nvshu could ever be created. Since the power of the patriarchal Confucian culture was so overwhelming for thousands of years, its beliefs became rooted in the consciousness of the people. Even some nvshu writers could not rid themselves of its influence. Various nvshu works do include patriarchal values, such as how a decent woman should behave and what she should not do in order to remain virtuous. It is inevitable that those values are found in nvshu because once you are bora, you are brainwashed by the whole environment and social norms surrounding you. It all becomes a part of you so that you will think and act according to certain patterns subconsciously.
Confucius, circa 1770.
But still, when facing the patriarchal culture and its orthodox language, women created something by and for themselves. They were expressing themselves by their own female script, not by the masculine Chinese characters that were made by and tailored perfectly to the needs of men. With nvshu, we touch the independent souls and the inner strength of women, women who were considered not able to think and feel as a human in old China.
We can feel their tears and joy, hope and despair. We can even find a lot of complaints against the unfair male-governed social system. There is an outcry of feminism in their nvshu works. In writing to other women, they could express their resentment and bitterness against oppression when they were so unable to fight for their own rights and respect. The content of nvshu even extended to the outside world of politics, as long as it affected their households.