Flower Mountain Aunt: The Goddess in Nüshu ——Three Gifts for Today’s Girls花山姑婆：女书里的女神，给当代女孩的三份礼物导语：在女书故乡湖南江永，有一位只护佑女子的神明——花山姑婆。

她未婚、独立、有力量。

今天，我们重新认识她，也是在重新理解女性可以怎样活着。

I. Who Is Flower Mountain Aunt?

Flower Mountain Aunt, also known as Flower Mountain Goddess, is a folk deity worshipped in the Shangjiangxu area of Jiangyong County, Hunan Province. According to legend, she was a woman named Zhou from the Tang Dynasty. To resist an arranged marriage, she fled into the Flower Mountains, lived as a hermit, never married, and eventually attained immortality. After her death, she manifested miracles and became the exclusive protector of women.Her core responsibilities (quite different from mainstream deities) are:1.Blessing young girls with good marriages.2.Protecting married women in safe childbirth.3.Listening to the grievances and tears of wronged women.She does not live in a majestic temple, but in a cave in the Flower Mountains. She does not demand expensive offerings; she accepts only rice cakes, embroidered handkerchiefs, and paper fans inscribed with Nüshu (the women's script). She eats no meat, only wild fruits and mountain spring water.She is recorded in Nüshu and sung by women. The annual "Guomiao Festival" (Temple Crossing Festival) on the 12th day of the fifth lunar month is the only public festival in Jiangyong that belongs entirely to women. On this day, women gather in groups, go up the mountain, burn incense, sing the "Aunt's Song," burn Nüshu fans, and pour out their hearts to Flower Mountain Aunt.一、花山姑婆是谁？

花山姑婆，又称花山娘娘，是流传于江永上江圩一带的民间女神。

相传她为唐代周姓女子，因反抗包办婚姻逃入花山修行，终身未嫁，得道成仙。

死后显灵，成为女性专属的保护神。

她的核心职责（与主流神佛截然不同）：1. 护佑女孩婚姻如意2. 保佑妇女平安生子3. 倾听受委屈女性的哭诉她不住在威严庙堂，而住在花山的岩洞里。

她不收昂贵供品，只收糍粑、手帕和写满女书的纸扇。

她不吃肉食，只食野果山泉。

她被女书记载，也被女性传唱。

每年农历五月十二的“过庙节”，是整个江永女性唯一完全属于自己的公共节日——女人们结伴上山，烧香、唱姑婆歌、烧女书扇，向花山姑婆倾诉心事。

II. The Myth of Flower Mountain AuntThe most complete oral version of the story was recorded in Nüshu by female Nüshu inheritors:Long ago, at the foot of Flower Mountain, there lived a young woman named Zhou Nüying. Her greedy parents wanted to marry her off to a violent, wealthy man for a high bride price. Nüying fled overnight and hid in a cave in the Flower Mountains.In the cave, she ate wild fruits when hungry and drank mountain spring water when thirsty. She prayed day and night. Three years later, on a stormy night, a bolt of lightning split the cave wall, and Nüying turned into a stone statue holding a wildflower in her hand.From then on, whenever a girl in the village encountered difficulties, she would go to the cave, burn a stick of incense, tear off a page of Nüshu writing, and that night she would receive guidance from Nüying in her dreams.Later, people called her "Flower Mountain Aunt," and the cave became "Aunt's Rock Cave." The 12th day of the fifth lunar month, the day she became immortal, was designated as the "Guomiao Festival," a festival exclusively for women's worship.This story is briefly recorded in the Jiangyong County Annals, but the finer details—such as how she taught women to write Nüshu as talismans and sing wedding lament songs—are still preserved in the oral accounts of elderly Nüshu bearers.二、花山姑婆的神话故事民间口传中最完整的一则版本，被女书传人用女书记录下来：很久以前，花山脚下有个周姓姑娘叫周女英。

父母贪图彩礼，要把她嫁给一个脾气暴躁的富家子。

女英连夜逃走，躲进花山的岩洞里。

她在洞中饿了吃野果，渴了饮山泉，日夜向天祈祷。

三年后一个风雨夜，一道闪电劈开岩壁，女英化作一尊石像，手中握着一枝山花。

从此，村里女孩遇到难事，只要去岩洞前烧一炷香、撕一页写满女书的纸，晚上做梦就能得到女英指点。

后来大家称她“花山姑婆”，那座岩洞叫“姑婆岩”，每年农历五月十二（她成仙的日子）定为“过庙节”，专供女性祭祀。

这个故事在《江永县志》中有零星记载，而更细腻的细节——比如她教妇女用女书写符、唱哭嫁歌——仍保存在老辈女书传承人的口述里。

III. The Contemporary Value and Significance of Flower Mountain AuntMyths are not just things of the past. The story of Flower Mountain Aunt still holds value today.An Example of "Not Being Defined" for WomenFlower Mountain Aunt never married, yet she was never seen as a "failure."Instead, she was enshrined as a goddess. In traditional society, she took a third path: she did not depend on men, nor did she submit to her parents. She chose to leave in order to become whole.Relevance for today: A woman's worth does not have to be tied to marriage or childbirth. Choosing to be single, choosing freedom, choosing to protect one's own mental boundaries—these choices are equally worthy of respect.Flower Mountain Aunt has no gilded statue and needs no tall candles or expensive incense. She asks only for a Nüshu fan, a simple folk song, and a sincere heart.She tells us this: women's stories deserve to be written, women's pain deserves to be heard, and women's choices deserve to be respected.三、花山姑婆对当代的价值意义神话不是过去的事。

花山姑婆的故事，在今天依然有价值。

为女性提供“不被定义”的榜样花山姑婆终身未婚，却未被视作“失败者”，反而被供奉为女神。

在传统社会里，她走了第三条路：不依附男性，不屈服父母，用出走换来自我完整。

对当代的启示：女性的价值不必然绑定婚姻或生育。

选择独身、选择自由、选择保护自己的精神边界，同样值得尊重。

花山姑婆没有金身塑像，不需要高香大烛。

她只要一张女书扇、一首土话歌、一颗真心。

她告诉我们：女性的故事值得被书写，女性的苦难值得被听见，女性的选择值得被尊重。

That is the gift this thousand-year-old goddess gives us today.这就是一位千年神女给今天的意义。

图文来源 | 丁津绮排版 | 余兴群