Last speaker of Nushu dies

Nushu text which reads “Beside a well one does not thirst, beside a sister one does not despair.”
From Intersol

Nushu, a secret language of Chinese women, has lost its most accomplished and perhaps last surviving writer and speaker. Yang Huanyi was a well known speaker and writer of the language which evolved 400 years ago as a secret script used exclusively by women to communicate with each other usually about initmate and domestic issues. Many Nushu songs and poems were composed and the written legacy of the language survives in letters and embroidered handkerchiefs.

Some Nushu resources:

• Yang Huanyi’s obituary from Xinhuanet
• Report of a Symposium on Nushu, including an interview with Yang Huanyi.
• Some articles on Nushu
• The world of Nushu