One evening in 2021, Li Ruoxi, 22, whose English name is Rosie, was scrolling through short videos to seek inspiration for her art designs. Suddenly, a song in an unfamiliar language played through her headphones. She could not understand the lyrics but found herself moved to tears.

Back in 1993, Feng Jingsan, who collects cultural items, stumbled upon a bronze coin dating to the 19th century in an antique market. The coin was engraved with eight unusual, willow leaf-shaped characters, whose meaning he could not make out.

Their shared curiosity led both Li and Feng to get to know an extraordinary language — nyushu, the world's only gender-specific script of its kind, created by and for women. The unique writing system can be traced to Puwei island of Jiangyong county, Yongzhou city, Central China's Hunan province.

Li eventually learned that the song she heard was about a woman confiding in friends about the struggles of marriage and family life.

Feng, meanwhile, deciphered the coin's inscription as, "all women under the sun are sisters".