社会性别视角下的北朝后妃出家现象探析

摘要

In the Buddhist history of China there is a special cultural phenomenon, which is that a lot of queens and imperial con-cubines had become Buddhist nuns during the Northern Dynasties. This is a reflection of the deprivation of the independent personality of females following traditional Confucian ideas. Studying this phenomenon further, while some did it with the intention of staying chaste, it was mainly found to be the result of "going disfavored" and "being punished". At the same time, some were forced to be-come nuns only to stay safe or seek after the general interest. These new functions of being Buddhist nuns in the Northern Dynasties had been born in close relationship with the connection between the Buddhism and Imperial power, the strengthened regulation of women′s identity in society and the marginalization of females in the religious belief. In the male-dominated history, the cognition of females′ac-tivities was obviously neglected and missed.%北朝时期数量众多的后妃出家为尼成为中国佛教发展史上一道特殊的景观。在传统的儒家思想中女性几乎没有独立的人格，北朝后妃出家为尼也从一个侧面反映了女性独立人格的缺失。细究北朝后妃出家为尼现象，虽有“守贞”之意，但多为“失势”“受罚”所致，当然也有“明哲保身”“委曲求全”之计掺杂其中。这种比丘尼身份全新功能的出现与北朝的政教关系、社会对女性性别角色规制的加强、女性在宗教信仰中的边缘化等有着密切的关系。在以男性述说为主的史载中，对女性活动的认知显然缺少了女性的主体声音。