Who Names Women’s Chuzou (departure)? Nora, Digital Media, and the Revival of a Cultural Keyword in China

In recent years, the story of Su Min, a middle-aged Chinese woman who left an unhappy marriage and began documenting her solo road trips on social media, has circulated widely across Chinese digital platforms. Almost immediately, online commentators framed her action as an instance of “chuzou” (出走) which literally means “walking out,” but which also carries connotations of escape, breaking free, and refusal. This study argues that the rapid attachment of this label reveals the persistence of chuzou as a cultural keyword in contemporary Chinese discourse. Drawing on Raymond Williams’ concept of “keywords”, this study examines how it condenses layered literary memories, feminist aspirations, and ongoing social anxieties surrounding gender, family, and mobility.

Historically, chuzou is deeply embedded in modern Chinese cultural history, most famously associated with debates over “Nora’s departure” following the Chinese reception of A Doll's House in the early 20^th century. Since then, this figure has served as a powerful symbol in discussions of women’s emancipation. In contemporary digital culture, however, the term has been revived in new ways. Chuzou increasingly operates as a flexible interpretive label through which online users frame diverse acts of female mobility, from leaving marriages to rejecting filial expectations, including viral online discussions such as the so-called “unfilial daughter’s departure” during the 2026 Spring Festival.

Based on a qualitative discourse analysis of social media posts, comment threads, and related online discussions, this study traces how chuzou travels across literary, cultural, and digital contexts. It shows how online publics rely on historically sedimented cultural vocabulary to interpret contemporary social events: how a historically rooted feminist term has become a shared interpretive frame through which internet users debate women’s mobility, family obligations, and the legitimacy of leaving marriage in contemporary China.