Eyebrow Talk

Eyebrow Talk (Chinese: 眉語; pinyin: Méiyǔ) was a Chinese monthly literary magazine published from November 1914 to around April 1916. It was the first literary magazine in China to be marketed towards women and the first to be edited mainly by women. Its founder and editor-in-chief was Gao Jianhua, who worked closely with her husband and cousin Xu Xiaotian and a staff of mainly female assistant editors; at least ten different women are confirmed to have written for the magazine, alongside some number of men who wrote under female pen names. Reaching a claimed circulation of 10,000 by 1915, the magazine was published by the New Learning Society, which mainly published school textbooks.

The magazine featured provocative content in its advertising, covers, pictures, and writings. Although dubbed a "young ladies' fiction monthly", Gao noted that "cultured gentlemen" would enjoy Eyebrow Talk for its many pictures of women. Often nudes or semi-nudes, these pictures were often sourced from French postcards (Western erotic postcards). Less risque images showing romantic couples or scenes of everyday life were also printed. These images were often juxtaposed with poetry and prose fiction about them. Romantic depictions of editors Gao and Xu were also printed, such as love letters and a story by another author about their relationship.

Although avoiding explicit pornography, Eyebrow Talk's libertine content ran afoul with the Ministry of Education's Popular Education Research Association, which supervised and occasionally censored published material. A subcommittee initially led by Lu Xun investigated the journal and in August 1916 unanimously voted to ban it; after implementation by the Ministry of the Interior the following month, it became the first Chinese journal to be banned on obscenity charges. Eyebrow Talk had already stopped publication several months before its ban for unclear reasons; it had fallen greatly behind its schedule and its publisher may have preemptively halted it due to the Ministry of Education investigation.