Women And Buddhism In The Northern Dynasties

There was an era of great social unrest and national integration during the Northern Dynasties.Under the policy of annexation of rulers,the multi-cultural coexistence of Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism emerged.Under the advocacy of the rulers,Buddhist doctrine prevailed in the period of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty.Confucianism and Buddhist precepts were intermingled.Because of the policy of utilizing Buddhism and Buddhism's dependence on the regime,the Buddhist classics translated were mostly for the purpose of serving the reality during the NorthernDynasties.Therefore,under the background of female-dominated politics,Mahayana classics with positive attitudes towards female Buddhism were widely popular,which encouraged women to believe in Buddhism.This paper attempts to analyze the typical phenomena of Buddhist beliefs of different female groups,such as queens and concubines,literate women and civilian women,from the perspective of the internal stratum differences of the female groups,and to give an interpretation in accordance with the historical background,so as to explore the depth and breadth of Buddhism's influence on the female life and society in the NorthernDynasties.The phenomenon of empresses and concubines serving as nuns is quite noticeable during the NorthernDynasties.According to statistics,there were 17 empresses serving as nuns.If other concubines were included,the number was bigger.These involved the meaning of "keeping chastity","losing power","being punished".Some cases mixed with "wise self-preservation" and "devoting oneself to perfection" are helpless choices.Few of them were for the sake of exploring Buddhist doctrine.Birchuni's abstinence of crude food,diet,fasting and delicious food,plain and unadorned image,strict prevention of erotic men and women's limitations,reducing sleep and other abstinent painstaking practices have created a new image of women with no desire,chastity and nobility,thus becoming the choice of the chaste queens.Being a nun is a process from the secular society to the sacred religious world.To practist the Buddhist moral restraints and rules of discipline requires great mental and physical suffering,which made it a means of punishment for the empresses and concubines.The emergence of this new function of the identity of the Nun is closely related to the political and religious relations,the strengthening of the social regulation of women's gender roles,and the marginalization of women in religious beliefs during the NorthernDynasties.Although the imperial concubines of the NorthernDynasties had intercourses with people and court obscenity often,the Confucian concept of women's virtue and privet had permeated the idea of Xianbei rulers.When the emperor collapsed,the emperor abolished and the nation ruined.It gradually became the practice and system to resettle the imperial concubines to leave home for the Nepalese,and Buddhism became a new tool to control women in patriarchal society.Because of their special social status,the Female intellectuals generally accepted Buddhism in a relatively rational manner.Although the expectation of the ideal female image was still the beauty of the four elements of Confucianism,Buddhism had begun to become a new element to highlight the good conduct of women during the NorthernDynasties.Reading Buddhist sutras,considered as a profound and complex philosophical theory,became a symbol of women's talent.Because of their unique outlook on life and the world,women who understood the cause and effect had the wisdom to understand the true meaning of life.The act of charity and kindness and the gentle,diligent,tolerant and diligent spirit conformed to the Confucian standards of women's morality.In addition,the worship of Buddha by the widowed women became a symbol of conscientious observance of festivals,which increased the sacred color of religion in the Northern Dynasties.The three-year Mourning system advocated by the rulers,the increasingly strengthened Confucian ethical and moral norms of women,the religious nature of widows cultivated by the life of abstinence and hard work,and the loftiness shown by admonition were factors jointly promoting them to Buddhism.With the addition of Buddhist elements,the ideal image standard of female intellectuals was improved in the Northern Dynasties.During the Northern Dynasties,social unrest,natural disasters and man-made disasters occurred frequently,resulting in people's not having enough time to live and living creatures' suffering.In this case,Buddhism,advocating eternal cycle of birth and death,was widely disseminated among the people.Civilian women were an important force in Buddhist beliefs.To meet the need of a secular life,they actively participated in various forms of Buddhist activities,they participated the activity of creation of Buddhist images alonly or with their husbands or with someone else.Otherwise,Buddhist activities such as copying the scriptures,chantinga sutra,keeping the rules and other easy-to-practice Buddhist activities are also the ways and means to pray for the family and relatives of women in the NorthernDynasties.Although civilian women were keen on various forms of Buddhist activities,they were not mainly for their own sake.Family life under Confucian ethics was still their focus.However,objectively,Mahayana Buddhist men and women are also liberated from the equal thought of Buddha,which made women pay attention to their family as well as their own afterlife well-being.Buddhism made civilian women germinate their self-consciousness,enhance their self-confidence,and expand the content and scope of social activities.Although there were differences in belief purposes and ways among the empresses,gentry women and civilian women in the NorthernDynasties,they tended to be marginalized in Buddhist beliefs in the patriarchal society.They could not escape from the needs of social culture and family to pursue personal spiritual liberation.The Buddhist beliefs of women embodied strong ethical and moral colors,were interwoven with women's emotional factors,and profoundly demonstrated the expectation of women's social roles centered on family and life under the Confucian ethical culture.The phenomenon that empresses and imperial concubines became nuns while literate women worshipped Buddhism in order to promote women's morality continued for generations.Especially with the constant strengthening of Confucian women's ethics,keeping one's will became an important manifestation of widow's virtue during the NorthernDynasties,This phenomenon lasted for thousands of years and remained stable as the same restriction and restraint on human beings.The combination of Confucian etiquette and Buddhist moral restraints and rules of discipline profoundly affected women's lives at all levels.Women's participation in Buddhist activities also affected the development trend of Buddhist women's culture.