Films about women are having a moment in China

Recently, it achieved something equally significant: getting onto big screens in China.

The story follows two-present-day practitioners of Nushu, a written language created during China’s imperial era, when women weren’t allowed in schools, and passed down through generations to provide women with a secret way to connect.

The version of the film shown in China cut scenes referring to women’s modern-day struggles with gender expectations at a time when the government strives to reinforce traditional family values. Yet, the movie’s release in China also illustrates the growing appetite in the country for cultural content about women’s issues as women increasingly chafe under official and societal mores.

Directed by Violet Du Feng and Zhao Qing, the documentary features Hu Xin, a divorced Nushu expert working in a museum, and Wu Simu, a music teacher and self-taught Nushu artist who was hoping to get married.

Feng, who is from Shanghai but based in New York City, said the intention was to use Nushu as a lens to contrast men’s view on women’s role in society with women’s evolving perceptions of themselves.

In the modified version, a scene has been cut where Hu compares patriarchal practices described in Nushu with abuse in her own marriage and discusses how her husband pressured her to have an abortion after finding out she was pregnant with a girl. Instead, in a new voice-over not in the original version, Hu says she has formed her own opinions of marriage that diverge from her husband’s views on traditional gender roles, and cites his desire for a son as the reason for their divorce.

The modified version also has added content promoting “positive energy"—messages endorsed by Beijing.

Several rounds of editing based on feedback from different government agencies is the norm for directors who want to release their movies in China, so the two-year delay the directors for “Hidden Letters" faced isn’t surprising, said Karen Ma, author of “China’s Millennial Digital Generation," which profiles seven young Chinese directors.

“They are lucky to get it off the ground," Ma said. “I know many directors whose work didn’t."

Any movie shown in Chinese theaters needs a release permit known as the “dragon logo," named for the image of a golden dragon shown at the beginning of every movie. Getting one can take months or years. And even a release permit doesn’t guarantee a movie will ultimately be shown.

The China Film Administration, which grants movie-release permits, didn’t reply to a request for comment.

In culture and entertainment, themes on gender tension have put Chinese authorities in a bind at a time when Chinese women are resisting official pressure to have more children after China ended its one-child policy. Officials fearing to stray away from the Communist Party line treat such topics with extreme caution.

But their caution is running up against a surge in “everyday feminism," exemplified by social-media discussions, podcasts, blogs and comedy shows scrutinizing the place of women in society without straying into overt feminist activism, making it more difficult for authorities to suppress.

On tech behemoth Tencent and streaming giant iQiyi, a steady lineup of female comedians are cracking jokes on topics ranging from the preference for sons in traditional Chinese culture to “leftover women," a derogatory term for single women heading into their 30s.

In one performance streamed to millions of Tencent viewers, a rookie comedian who goes by the stage name Caicai keeps the audience laughing throughout an eight-minute set about menstrual stigma, including the description of an embarrassed delivery man attempting to hide an order of sanitary pads in a dark grocery bag. Another performance includes a punchline about how men who have watched too many ads about feminine-care products think menstrual blood is blue.

After Caicai’s show went viral, many women flocked to her social-media account and shared their own encounters with the stereotype. And she shared with them why she chose the topic.

“Shame is always a feature in a woman’s life growing up," said Caicai. “This show, I hope, would break the taboo."

One after another, films and shows centered on women’s issues have been among the top performers at the box office, partly because more women go to see movies than men.

The share of women in Chinese audiences grew to 61% from 54%, between the summer seasons of 2021 and 2023, according to data from the Lighthouse Research Institute, an arm under Alibaba Group Holding.

Early this year, “YOLO" (short for You Only Live Once), a movie about a woman going through physical and mental transformations to become a boxer, directed by Jia Ling who also stars, brought in nearly $500 million and was one of the top-grossing movies of the year. Another of Jia’s movies, “Hi, Mom," released in 2021, topped $700 million.

Part of the commercial success by Jia, a well-known comedian, is that her story lines are closer to the mainstream, said Ma.

A movie premiering in mid-September, “Like a Rolling Stone," based on the story of Su Min, a retiree who video-blogged about her solo road trip around China to escape a toxic marriage, is expected to be another box-office triumph.

With about three million followers across social-media platforms, Su has become an icon for many women.

The movie used to carry a different title, “Dear Mama," which was dropped after objections from many of Su’s followers, who argued that it had deviated too far from how Su depicts herself—as someone who has left the demands of family life.

“I hope it will show those who feel trapped by life that there are other possibilities and choices," said Su in her blog earlier this month, commenting on the movie.

Two years ago, Su announced on her blog that she would seek a divorce, a decision not mentioned in the film, based on a prescreening. In July, her husband agreed to divorce.

“Hidden Letters," which opened in Chinese theaters on Aug. 31, was met with mixed reviews among Chinese audiences, with many women going on social media to share their personal experience, such as workplace discrimination. Some said the female protagonists’ thoughts, such as their pursuit of marriage and love, were outdated.

In the film’s original version, one scene shows a “princess camp" where Nushu script is featured on the walls and where little girls are taught how to stand and walk properly and to meet expectations from men. Feng, the co-director, says the scene is an example of how Nushu script has been co-opted in the name of traditional values. In the version shown in China, the princess-camp scene has been cut in its entirety.

Some scenes were partially kept. The original version showed how the then-fiancé of Wu, the music teacher, when visiting his family, pushes her to drink a bowl of traditional Chinese medicine to make her fit to bear children. It is a tension-filled scene, later followed by the end of the relationship.

The new version kept the scene but cut why her fiancé wanted her to drink the bitter medicine.

Asked whether she thinks the message of the film has been weakened, Feng responded, “It’s not as powerful as the original version. Some audiences may not get the idea. Still, it means a lot to me for the documentary to be shown in China."

The theme around the core value of Nushu, sisterhood, has been left largely intact, Feng said.

Zhao Yueling contributed to this article.

Write to Liyan Qi at Liyan.qi@wsj.com and Wenxin Fan at wenxin.fan@wsj.com