This paper deals with Kenneth Burke's concept of 'pure persuasion', suggesting that the unusual 'Nüshu' body of discourse, may contain many features of this 'pure persuasion'. Nüshu is an allegedly thousand-year-old phonetic transcription of the Jiangyong dialect, expressed in a series of texts sung and chanted by rural Chinese women over their needlework on red cloth, handkerchiefs, and fans.