Self Comb
自梳
2020-Now
Self-Comb is a research-driven art project initiated by artist Pu Xiaoyue in 2020, focused on the cultural history of Self-Comb Women (自梳女), an unmarried community in ancient Canton, China. The project employs a contemporary art and sociological approach to explore this unique female culture, with particular emphasis on Gu Po Wu (姑婆屋), the gendered architectural space that served as the communal residence for these marginalized women.《自梳》是由艺术家浦潇月于2020年发起的艺术调研类项目，聚焦广东“自梳女”文化，通过田野调研和多媒体呈现方式弥补珠三角地区女性历史和建筑空间上的文化空白。与已有学术文本不同，《自梳》项目更多强调视觉文化上的表达，以及着重关注对姑婆屋作为封建时期不婚女性抱团取暖、集体凑资而建的女性居住空间。
Screenprinting, Guanyin Hall (Gu Po Wu) ©Pu Xiaoyue
NOTE: (1) We sincerely thank the 32 volunteers who joined our field research as local dialect interpreters. Each contributor was assigned to different tasks and regions, yet all became essential partners in this project. The following list acknowledges their participation using preferred nicknames:
Aaron, A-Chi, A-Wen, Bingxiangtie, Chen Jiawen, Chen Yin, Debbie, Feifei, Hao, Janet, Jerry, Jiyi, Jessica, Qilin, Kaiyi, Li Yalan, Liang Weijun, Liang Zhuojun, Lin, Lü Huiying, Ouyang, Pan Yaohang, Xiao Pan, Xu Jingjie, Shen Shuai, Xia Senyi, Xiao Ling, Xiao Yang, Xiao You, Xian Yunjing, Zhiyuan, Zhen Jie. (2) The project encompasses a diverse range of media, including photography, documentary, oral histories, architectural drawings, 3D models, and non-fictional writing. Due to the extensive amount of archives and materials, this page provides only a brief overview of the entire project. If you are interested in learning more or collaborating, please feel free to email us.
CULTURE: Gu Po (姑婆) Zu Shu Nü (自梳女）
Literally means "aunt" or "paternal aunt" in Chinese
Self-comb women (自梳女), also known as Gu Po (姑婆), were unmarried women in Guangdong, particularly in the Canton region, who chose to remain single and never married. They adopted a distinctive hairstyle, resembling that of married women, as a symbol of their status. These women, who formed a distinct social group, lived in a way that allowed them to preserve their autonomy and independence, often living in communal spaces like Gu Po Wu (姑婆屋). The term "self-comb" refers to their practice of styling their hair themselves, as a symbol of their unmarried status and independence.
Materials including:
Copies of scholar essays
Collection of maps of Guangdong area in history
Archival photos
Map of Foshan, Guangdong, China. 1949. First Edition. http://www.txlzp.com/ditu/13184.html;
Guangdong, a coastal province in southeastern China, is situated adjacent to Hong Kong and Macau.
The most commonly referenced image depicting the hairstyle of self-comb women is shown above.
(Image sourced from the internet.)
https://travel.sina.com.cn/china/2013-08-13/1650208433.shtml?from=wap
Traditionally, Chinese women comb their hair into an updo before weddings as a ritual to signify their transition from girlhood to womanhood, as well as from being a daughter to becoming a wife. (Image sourced from the internet)
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_15484459Portrait of Guan Liuchu (self-comb woman) in Panyu, Guangdong, 2023. ©Pu Xiaoyue. At 87 years old, Liuchu is the eldest of her three sisters, all of whom are self-comb women. They live together in Nanting Village, maintaining a traditional lifestyle as depicted in the photograph, where Liuchu is cooking with wood and fire, using a clay pot on a brick-built stove. Nanting Village has since been redeveloped into a modern college town, yet around 12 self-comb women continue to live there alongside the students, with their lives largely unknown and untold to the younger generation.
DOCUMENT: Gu Po Wu (姑婆屋) is a communal living space for self-comb women, characterized by its large scale, multifunctionality, and a "bed-buying system" for those reserving a place in their later years.
Gu Po Wu is a distinctive communal living space designed specifically for self-comb women. Its large scale and multifunctional design set it apart from ordinary family residences. Most Gu Po Wu structures were collectively funded by self-comb women and operated under a "bed-buying system," somewhat akin to modern retirement homes. This system allowed self-comb women who did not contribute to the construction to reserve a bed for a fee, ensuring a place to live in their later years.
This system significantly differs from the traditional patriarchal structure where social relationships are maintained through clan bloodlines, and is also distinct from the ascetic lifestyle of a nunnery. In Gu Po Wu, self-comb women were not necessarily biological sisters or even from the same hometown. Despite this, they lived collectively, earning a living independently, and came together to reside, socialize, worship, and spend their later years in this unique and diverse female space.
Materials including:
Copies of various versions of 10 found Gu Po Wo architectural floorplans
Photography
Documentary footages
Archives
Exhibition view of architectural dawings of Gu Po Wu at abC Art Fair Beijing 2024. Photo: Zhang Wei.
Hand drawing of the floorplan of Yishan Hall (Gu Po Wo at Guanshan in Foshan, Guangdong) with handwritten footnote on details; yellow highlighted areas show the building with upper floors. ©Pu XiaoyueVector-base elaborate draft of the floor plan of Yishan Hall (Gu Po Wo) ©Pu Xiaoyue
Generated systematic floorplan from 3D scanning with footnote.
©Pu Xiaoyue
INDIE GAME (IN PRODUCTION)Self-Comb Women: Home Left Behind
Pu Xiaoyue ✕ Old Media Art
Screenshots from the game: Interiors of Gu Po Wu.
To view the trailer on STEAM [CLICK HERE]
"Self-comb Women: Home Left Behind" is a Chinese indie game about the community of celibate women and their built heritages in feudal China. From 2022 to 2023, artist found several gu po wu during field research, most of which were at risk of collapsing or being demolished. In 2023, Pu collaborated with Fang Zheng and Xu Xiuxian of Old Media Art co.Ltd. to use 3D technology to preserve those architectures as historical female heritages that were scarcely documented. By connecting research facts to narratives of self-comb women, the game introduces this marginalized female culture to a broader audience. All spatial scenes in the game are from on-site scans of gu po houses in the Canton Delta area. Special thanks to Sun Jiawei for editing, Popol Wu for music, and IdEgo for icon and font design.
DOCUMENTARY (IN PRODUCTION)
Pu Xiaoyue ✕ Zhang Zhao (Sopr Doc Lab)Screenshot from the film: Pu (left) and translator Jiyi (right) interviewing a self-comb woman (Ouyang Xiao) in Shunde, Guangdong.
Photo: Zhang Zhao
A Roundtable Discussion: Cohabitation, Space, Intimacy, and Death
Pu Xiaoyue ✕ Zhang Zhao (Sopr Doc Lab)
4K color multi-screen video, 2 hours 50 minutes. 2024
Exhibition view at DAOWAI SPACE in Guangzhou
Photo: Wenxing
ARCHIVE: Fangming Book (芳名部) is the unconventional genealogy cataloge of the unmarried female community with no blood relation in-between
Each Gu Po Wu maintained a roster, also known as a Fangming Book (芳名部), which recorded the names of self-comb women who purchased beds, often numbering in the hundreds. The roster was typically managed by one of the self-comb women, and names were verified against it when residents moved in.
Scanned document of the roster (芳名部) of Hongfu Hall (宏福堂) . During the past two years of field research, this book was the only one found to belong to a Gu Po Wo. The cover is inscribed with the words “Hongfu Tang Genealogy” in brush calligraphy. Although the book itself has been severely corroded and damaged under heavy pressure, its contents remain legible, revealing the names and birthdates of 43 self-comb women.
Hongfu Hall is a Gu Po Wo in Panyu, Guangdong. Names of 44 self-comb women who used to live together in Hongfu Hall are well written in calligraphy in the roster with their birth and death date/hour. ©Pu Xiaoyue with special thanks to Scholar Xu Jingjie.
EXHIBITION
1. DAOWAI SPACE, Guangzhou, 2024
2. abC Art Fair, Beijing, 2024
EVENTS: Artist Talks & Workshops
1. Artist talk at Photografiska, Shanghai, 2023
2. abC Art Fair, Beijing, 2024
3. Lu Ke麓客, Chengdu,2023
4. TEDx Beixinqiao, Beijing, 2024
5. osf Art Space前台, Guangzhou, 2024