Religious ideals, beliefs and practices in the lives of women during the reign of T'ang Ming Huang (China).

摘要

This dissertation will examine the socio-legal parameters and the various religious attitudes that influenced the lives of women during the times of Li Lung-chi. Contemporary religious teachings and practices, as well as the lives of women at court will be emphasized. Also of particular interest here is the divergence between the religious ideals and historical reality.; This is, therefore, a very broad study of what the three main teachings, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism conceived of as the nature of woman, what constituted a good or a bad woman, and what place and role a woman has in life and ritual. There will also be an analysis of the effects of certain women's failure to live up to an assigned set of ideals. For example, there will be some consideration of the aftermath of Wu Hou's use of Buddhism, followed by T'ai-p'ing Kung-chu and Yang Kuei-fei's use of Taoism.; The approach in this dissertation is an eclectic one; it uses historical, philosophical and sociological perspectives. The intent is not to offer a comprehensive account; rather, the hope is to achieve two main objectives. First, to render a sketch of the dissonance between the ideals and the practices of the three teachings as represented in their doctrines and philosophies on the one hand, and the behaviour of professed believers like the imperial women and the popular expressions in contemporary religious beliefs and devotional practices on the other.; Second, to examine how this dissonance, as reflected in the actions of particular women at court, might have affected the later interpretations and development of the teachings. Entire areas have, therefore, been omitted: for example, the ritual sections concerning women in the dynastic histories, Chen-yen (True Word or Esoteric) practices and their views on women, and the habits and accomplishments of courtesans.; The two main approaches are historical and philosophical; sociological observations are built on them. Sources include dynastic and general histories, canonical and apocryphal Buddhist scriptures, moral and philosophical treatises, as well as popular literature.; The limits imposed by the source materials will be obvious. Most of the data that is straightforward descriptions of women is limited to the imperial household, the court and the upper classes. Much of the information about the lives of ordinary women can only be inferred, and often unsatisfactorily, from popular literature and prescriptive treatises. In this way, this dissertation can only be an incomplete account of women and religion during the time of T'ang Ming Huang (Brilliant Emperor).