Growing up in a distinctly patriarchal and homophobic culture (at least in modern times— read more in my article discussing Lan Caihe - a gender fluid deity), I was delighted to learn that it can also evolve, even if it’s just one Chinese character out of the whopping106,000 listed in the massive Zhonghua Zihai dictionary. For some perspective, an educated native speaker recognizes about 6,000 to 8,000 characters, but actually knowing 2,500 to 3,000 characters allows you to understand about 95% to 99% of written modern texts like newspapers and magazines. Being American-born but having gone to Chinese-language school and being exposed to Chinese almost daily, I would guess that I recognize around 2,000 characters, and in practice can read roughly 90% of Chinese media.
So what’s so special about this one Chinese character I’m referring to? In September 2025, Unicode, the global standard system used by web developers and digital platforms to encode language and symbols, introduced a new gender-inclusive Chinese pronoun character. Historically, written Chinese didn’t distinguish gender in pronouns. The character 他 (tā), containing the human radical 亻(rén), was once used broadly to refer to people regardless of gender identity. It wasn’t until the early 20th century, when Chinese was influenced by Western linguistic structures and cultural reform movements, that 她 (tā) emerged, incorporating the woman radical 女 (nǚ) to specifically denote women. While this development perhaps reflected important social progress (or maybe just more clarity), it also introduced a more fixed gender distinction into written language. So now 他 (tā), with the human radical 亻(rén) usually refers to males and 她 (tā) with the woman radical 女 (nǚ) to females.
This newly approved character replaces the human radical 亻(rén) in 他 (tā) with an “X.” The new contemporary form “X也” (tā) (Unicode 323BF) represents a modern, non-binary adaptation, with the “X” symbolizing openness beyond traditional categorization and an acknowledgment of identities that exist outside conventional binaries, reflecting the ongoing evolution of language in response to the needs of society. The designers of this new character were likely inspired by the efforts of other cultures and languages that believe that language that acknowledges a broader spectrum of identity can help foster deeper understanding, compassion, and connection within the community.
We can also consider this through the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine, where balance, adaptability, and harmony are foundational principles. In TCM, life is rarely understood through rigid categories. The principle of Yin and Yang reminds us that all things are dynamic, interconnected, and continually transforming. Yin and Yang are not absolute opposites, but complementary forces existing in relationship, each containing the potential for the other. Good health doesn’t arise from uniformity, but from balance within diversity.
From this perspective, the emergence of a more gender-inclusive pronoun in the Chinese language may be understood as part of language’s natural process of adaptation and rebalancing. I’m hopeful that it also represents an opening and evolution of societal views. Just as the body seeks harmony among its systems, language also evolves to better reflect the experiences of the people who use it.
The integration of new terms, such as the inclusion of “X也” into Unicode, will likely take time to enter everyday use. This gradual evolution mirrors the way meaningful change unfolds in nature and in healing: step by step, guided by awareness, balance, and care. As practitioners and students of Traditional Chinese Medicine, we are continually reminded that sustainable transformation is rooted not in resistance, but in understanding and harmony. At its heart, evolution of language reflects a principle long familiar to Chinese medicine: true balance arises from honoring diversity within an interconnected whole.
So far “X也” doesn’t seem to have been incorporated into the Chinese language package in Microsoft (or at least not in the fonts I have--I had to make this character by typing an “x” with the character “也“ next to it), but I’m looking forward to using it!
