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Fragments of the DAOXUE ZHUAN by Stephen Peter Bambacher,
Biographies of students of the Dao was written last in the last quarter of 6th CE. It focuses on mortals not immortals, this makes it quite different to other Taoist hagiographies, in particular Gong He's record of divine transcendants, where the focus was on the immortal nature and supernatural works of the people he was writing about. This then would give a greater vision of ordinary life, and ordinary mortals living, and serving the Dao, for the same time period.
Unfortunately the Daoxue Zhuan survives only in fragments, and in the case of the women, the accounts of their lives are quite short, especially compared with other biographies and hagiographies. Only 9 biographies have survived. Claims have been made that the Daoxue Zhuan was the first Taoist text to devote an entire chapter to women. However, the entire chapter does not survive, but the women's biographies that do survive all come from the same chapter, chapter 20. Taoists were a little behind Confucianism and Buddhism in this respect as both had entire books dedicated to the lives of exemplary women when the Daoxue Zhuan was written.
Bambacker's book gives an introductions to the Daoxue Zhuan, and then a critical translation of the text with footnotes. He then has several chapters discussing the text. Several conclusions about the religious lives of women can be drawn from the texts, they all felt the call to religion early, they left home to follow the Dao, unlike the Buddhist women the Daoists went to the mountains to study rather than to convenants. It is also interesting to note that the Taoists, unlike the Buddhist women, did not lecture or copy texts. However there was a definite influence of the Buddhist text, one example lists a woman having a tiger for a pet, this is also the case of one of the nuns in the Buddhist text. Several of the patterns used follow the same convention as male biographies, therefore when it says, so and so studied the classics, it is important to remember that this was the literary convention of the time, and must be questioned before being taken directly as an example of women's literacy during the time. There is a particularly interesting example of one woman who became a merchant first in order to raise money to build her own convent. This is particularly interesting as it is a woman engaging in business at a time when merchants were considered to be part of the lowest strata of Chinese society.
Bambacher's reasons for a woman entering religion seemed to be a bit simplistic. He took it as purely to escape marriage. However, many Taoists at this time remained married. It is true that religion offered women an alternative to marriage but this was not all that was offered by religion. The biographies also stated that women felt the calling of religion at an early age, surely there was some spiritual appeal for these women who wished to become Taoist priestesses, rather than looking at what they were escaping from, perhaps it would have been better to look at what was drawing them to Taoism. What was it specifically about Taoism that these women found attractive? If it was purely to escape marriage then there would be no difference for whether they became Taoists priestesses or Buddhist nuns. To be fair Bambacher does go on to talk about the greater position of priestesses within society, but not exclusively Taoist priestesses, he looks at their equal social status with officials, their ability to have disciples and to receive taxes, however the example he draws on is from a popular religion priestess, someone who would have been condemned by the Taoists, and not at a Taoist priestess.
Nonetheless a very interesting book that will end up as one of the core sources for my dissertation, part of which will compare Tang Taoist Hagiographies with this text and Ge Hong's record of the divine transcendants. While more scholarly, a lovely read, and a great chance to find a work in translation with the original Chinese text included.
Biographies of students of the Dao was written last in the last quarter of 6th CE. It focuses on mortals not immortals, this makes it quite different to other Taoist hagiographies, in particular Gong He's record of divine transcendants, where the focus was on the immortal nature and supernatural works of the people he was writing about. This then would give a greater vision of ordinary life, and ordinary mortals living, and serving the Dao, for the same time period.
Unfortunately the Daoxue Zhuan survives only in fragments, and in the case of the women, the accounts of their lives are quite short, especially compared with other biographies and hagiographies. Only 9 biographies have survived. Claims have been made that the Daoxue Zhuan was the first Taoist text to devote an entire chapter to women. However, the entire chapter does not survive, but the women's biographies that do survive all come from the same chapter, chapter 20. Taoists were a little behind Confucianism and Buddhism in this respect as both had entire books dedicated to the lives of exemplary women when the Daoxue Zhuan was written.
Bambacker's book gives an introductions to the Daoxue Zhuan, and then a critical translation of the text with footnotes. He then has several chapters discussing the text. Several conclusions about the religious lives of women can be drawn from the texts, they all felt the call to religion early, they left home to follow the Dao, unlike the Buddhist women the Daoists went to the mountains to study rather than to convenants. It is also interesting to note that the Taoists, unlike the Buddhist women, did not lecture or copy texts. However there was a definite influence of the Buddhist text, one example lists a woman having a tiger for a pet, this is also the case of one of the nuns in the Buddhist text. Several of the patterns used follow the same convention as male biographies, therefore when it says, so and so studied the classics, it is important to remember that this was the literary convention of the time, and must be questioned before being taken directly as an example of women's literacy during the time. There is a particularly interesting example of one woman who became a merchant first in order to raise money to build her own convent. This is particularly interesting as it is a woman engaging in business at a time when merchants were considered to be part of the lowest strata of Chinese society.
Bambacher's reasons for a woman entering religion seemed to be a bit simplistic. He took it as purely to escape marriage. However, many Taoists at this time remained married. It is true that religion offered women an alternative to marriage but this was not all that was offered by religion. The biographies also stated that women felt the calling of religion at an early age, surely there was some spiritual appeal for these women who wished to become Taoist priestesses, rather than looking at what they were escaping from, perhaps it would have been better to look at what was drawing them to Taoism. What was it specifically about Taoism that these women found attractive? If it was purely to escape marriage then there would be no difference for whether they became Taoists priestesses or Buddhist nuns. To be fair Bambacher does go on to talk about the greater position of priestesses within society, but not exclusively Taoist priestesses, he looks at their equal social status with officials, their ability to have disciples and to receive taxes, however the example he draws on is from a popular religion priestess, someone who would have been condemned by the Taoists, and not at a Taoist priestess.
Nonetheless a very interesting book that will end up as one of the core sources for my dissertation, part of which will compare Tang Taoist Hagiographies with this text and Ge Hong's record of the divine transcendants. While more scholarly, a lovely read, and a great chance to find a work in translation with the original Chinese text included.