On 'Yongcheng Ji Xian Lu': A collection of Taoist female immortals' biographies (Chinese text).

摘要

This thesis analyzes the Yongcheng Ji Xian Lu, the first Chinese collection of Taoist female immortals' biographies. Compiled by Du Guangting (850–933), it contained materials written between the second and tenth centuries.; Based on a textual research and structural analysis of its three extant incomplete editions, the present author found that Du's collection consists of five parts, each representing different traditions of female immortals in Taoist history. Among there, two main streams are examined in detail.; The first stream emerged from the Shang Qing school in the Six Dynasties (317–618), in which a hierarchical structure of female immortals inspired Du Guangting in compiling Yongcheng Ji Xian Lu. Taking “ Yong Cheng” Palace as a symbol of the female immortal world, Du puts the Queen Mother of the West (Xi Wang Mu) in the position of supreme leader in this female kingdom. Simultaneously, Du also recognizes Xi Wang Mu as the cosmological progenitor of all female immortals. The main contribution of the Yongcheng Ji Xian Lu is thus to provide a separate systematization for female immortals.; The second stream concerned women who were immortalized in the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Unlike the Shang Qing immortals, who existed only in the other world, these Tang women were all historical figures. By analyzing how these Taoist women maintained different roles and identities in their ordinary and religious lives, this study offers an insight into the cultural meaning of women's pursuit of a transcendental status in traditional Chinese society. Furthermore, it gives us a deeper understanding of women's identities in both this and the other world, their roles within and beyond the Taoist community, and the different gender-related value judgments of Taoism and Confucianism.; Based on the Chinese cosmology emphasizing the principle of yin and yang, Taoism provides a more positive view of women than other world religions. As Taoist women and Goddesses are a topic rarely studied, this research hopes to reveal some of the gender issues in world religions.