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A Research On Buddhism-worshipping Females And The Buddhist Beliefs In The Sui Dynasty

Posted on:2021-03-20Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:S H LiFull Text:PDF
GTID:2415330623971375Subject:Chinese history
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this article seeks to research on Buddhism worshipping among women in Sui dynasty from a woman's perspective through stone inscriptions such as epitaphs and records of stone figures to analyze the status of Buddhism-worshipping females,their Buddhist activities,reasoning,and the impact on them.It provides profound meanings to sketch the identity of Buddhist beliefs of Sui women to comprehensively understand the development of Buddhism as well as public religion in general at the time.Under high esteem and active promotion from both Sui emperors,Buddhism blossomed rapidly through the entire Chinese society;it was no exception among females.The massive female Buddhists could be categorized into three main classes according to social status: the royals,the nobles,and the civilians,all of whom had different reasons and expressions of converting to this religion largely due to the distinctions of their cultural backgrounds while all had their religious needs satisfied.Their worshipping activities include fasting,donating,reading,transcribing,and enshrining sutras,creating stone figures,building temples,and making private houses temples.The Sui females with different experience and backgrounds had various reasons for converting to Buddhism: the influence of Buddhist atmosphere in the family,personal Buddhist faith and devotion,the seek of comfort and escape after suffering in reality,utilitarian purposes,and religious sheltering from political persecution.Regardless of their intentions,Buddhism has had wide influence on women's lives by shaping their lifestyle to an extent,improve women's social status,and enlarging the space of their social activities.In addition,the Sui Buddhism-worshipping females tend to show mercy and tolerance,hold peaceful characteristics,and generous view of life.The Buddhist worships reveal rare subjectivity of females during the Sui dynasty;women made their own decision to convert to Buddhism as they started to care moreabout their wellbeing.The Sui female Buddhists shared some similarities with those from the previous Northern Dynasties while holding distinguishing characteristics such as practical and utilitarian natures,which further influenced female Buddhists in the later Tang dynasty.
Keywords/Search Tags:Sui dynasty, Buddhism-worshipping females, Buddhist activities, Buddhist statues
PDF Full Text Request
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