Women in Chinese Buddhism

Rights, Spirituality and the Path to Freedom
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-041-06421-3
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 202 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Religion

Tilton examines how cultural, political and economic forces exert pressures on the levels of freedom and equality for female Buddhists within the Buddhist community as well as women’s rights within society.

The book charts women’s spiritual paths over four periods, beginning with the Buddha and his revolutionary stance on women, to the creation of a fully ordained female Sangha in China—which peaked during the Tang dynasty—and finally to its resurgence in the late Qing and early Republic period, ending with a sharp decline to near extinction during the Mao Zedong years (1949–1976). As the nun and lay communities arise directly from the broader female community, Tilton argues that there is a direct correlation between women’s rights issues and those of liberties for Buddhist women within the Sangha. Specifically, women’s equality within “this world” as well as their right to achieve liberation from “this world,” or samsara.

Charting the evolution of Buddhist women in China across multiple centuries, this book is a valuable resource for academics, researchers and students of Asian Studies, Buddhist Studies, as well as those interested in the intersection of gender and religion.

Zielgruppe

Academic and Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Tilton, Jessica Huset

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Religionssoziologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Historische & Regionale Volkskunde
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Buddhismus

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

Introduction

1. The Buddha and the Status of Women

2. The Origins of Chinese Mahayana Nuns and Laywomen

3. The Emptiness Nature of Gender

4. A “This World” Search for Nirvana

5. The Changing Nature of Buddhism: From a “This World” Nirvana to a Religion, Science and Philosophy

6. An Avici Hell in this World: The Struggle for Survival

7. The Cultural Revolution: Losing Religion, Losing Gender

Concluding Thoughts & Future Research

Über Autor(innen)

Jessica Huset Tilton is a part-time lecturer in the Humanities Department at the University of Tasmania, Australia.