Self-Comb
自梳
2020-Now
Self-Comb is a non-profit, research-based art project initiated in 2020 by artist Pu Xiaoyue. Focusing on the culture of zishunü 自梳女 (self-comb women) in Guangdong, the project seeks to address the historical and architectural absence (gu po wu 姑婆屋) of women’s narratives in the Pearl River Delta through field research and multimedia presentation.
Unlike existing academic texts, Self-Comb places greater emphasis on individual stories within this historical community, as well as on Gu Po Wu as a distinct architectural typology—spaces entirely initiated and inhabited by women that integrated functions of ritual, daily life, social interaction, and death. Through this lens, the project reconsiders the significance of these spaces in relation to women’s history and cultural memory.
This project involves multi-media creation and cross-disciplinary collaborations with various partners. Please see the page below for details.《自梳》是由艺术工作者浦潇月于2020年发起的非盈利艺术调研类项目，聚焦广东“自梳女”文化，通过田野调研和多媒体呈现弥补珠三角地区女性历史和集体建筑空间上的文化空白。
与先前已有的学术文本不同，《自梳》更多地关注这一历史群体中的个人叙事，以及姑婆屋作为建筑类型——完全由女性发起和使用，集祭祀、生活、社交、死亡等功能于一体——对于这段历史和女性文化的意义。
本项目包含多媒介创作及不同合作方的跨界合作，具体信息请见下方页面。
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 drawings of Gu Po Wu at abC Art Fair Beijing 2024. Photo: Zhang Jia-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)
Co-directors: Pu Xiaoyue ✕ Zhang Zhao (Sopro 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
Organizer: Pu Xiaoyue
Director: Zhang Zhao (Sopro Doc Lab)
4K color multi-screen video, 2 hours 50 minutes. 2024
Exhibition view at DAOWAI SPACE in Guangzhou
Photo: Wen-xing
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.
THE ORCHID ARCHIVES (兰花部): a sub-project compiles transcripts and records of Pu’s conversations with volunteers, collaborators and other interviewees.
The Orchid Archive is a text-based on-going archival collection initiated by Pu in the summer of 2024. The title pays tribute to the historical self-comb women’s community, known as the Golden Orchid Society (金兰会). Emphasizing collective authorship, the collection serves as a discursive space—echoing the gupo houses these women once built for one another—where diverse voices come together to examine women’s histories and cultural legacies, and to reflect on their relevance within contemporary social and political contexts.
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