Introduction Women in religion are so often swept away by the more prominent achievements of the male members of their order. This does not mean that these women did not play a formative role in their religion, but their stories are often unrecorded or ignored and their contributions are devalued. It is easy to believe that this is isolated to one religion that we might feel particularly uncharitable towards, however my research has shown that this happens in almost all religions around the world.
Buddhism is complicated with regard to women, as some countries’ version of it holds women in higher esteem than others. The whole religion has been debating on whether or not women can legitimately participate in enlightenment since…show more content… In the aftermath of the authoritarian regime, these groups were instrumental in rebuilding the country. Most other sources explored religious lives of nuns, their history, and religious struggles they face or prejudices against them, but DeVido explores their actual contributions to society. She mentions their history and a few important nuns, but mostly covers how they are important in the lives of Taiwanese people. Usually, this sort of writing would be about monks, which is why this book has been instrumental in my research.
Grant, Beata. Daughters of Emptiness: Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2003. Print. The Buddhist nuns of China were some of the first women to be ordained into the faith. Some of their writings were very well preserved, as well as records of their lives. The preface and introduction to this collection flesh out the background of the nuns and give a history of sorts of nuns in China. This book is one of only a few collections of Buddhist nun’s poetry, and it is more common to find the poems scattered in different works. Beata Grant gives as clear of a picture as possible of the monastic tradition in China. There is also a short summary of each woman’s life before each poem. Beata Grant has provided a short history of women in Chinese Buddhism in the introduction, focusing on the women’s places in society and how they may have influenced the world
