Korean Buddhist Nuns and Laywomen: Hidden Histories, Enduring Vitality

摘要

This collection of eight papers, edited by Eun-Su Cho, Professor of Philosophy at Seoul National University, focuses on an area of history and culture that has been largely neglected by scholars of religion, namely, the tradition of female Buddhist practice in Korea from the formal introduction of Mahayana Buddhism from Central Asia via China in the fourth century until the present. While it is commonly assumed that the history of monasticism in Korea is only the history of monks, through the examination of historical records and biographical excerpts, these papers show that nuns too have maintained a tradition of religious practice and commitment to Buddhist teaching. In contrast with the Theravada order of fully ordained nuns, which died out in South Asia in the eleventh century, the order of Mahayana nuns in East Asia survived into modern times.