Reshaping Gendered Boundaries: Buddhist Women’s Monastic Experience in Korean Buddhism

During the Chosŏn period (1392–1910) and the colonial period (1910–1945), in Korean Buddhism, Buddhist monks’ and nuns’ monastic experiences were influenced not only by the existing social norms but also by the androcentric monastic regulations, such as the eight “heavy rules”. Despite the androcent...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Park, Jeongeun (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2025
In: Religions
Year: 2025, Volume: 16, Issue: 2
Further subjects:B Korean Buddhism
B Buddhist Nuns
B Gender
B abbess
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Summary:During the Chosŏn period (1392–1910) and the colonial period (1910–1945), in Korean Buddhism, Buddhist monks’ and nuns’ monastic experiences were influenced not only by the existing social norms but also by the androcentric monastic regulations, such as the eight “heavy rules”. Despite the androcentric monastic rules and misogynist aspects of practice, Buddhist nuns invariably strived to increase their visibility in monastic communities and secure their position by adopting the existing social norms or customary law; in this way, they challenged male-centered monasticism. To examine Korean Buddhist nuns in the Chosŏn and the colonial periods, this study used secondary scholarship as well as primary sources, such as the story of Queen Chŏngsun, a colonial government document, and a related civil case, to present the various ways in which Buddhist nuns consolidated their position, including coopting the practice of property succession from a master-nun to a disciple-nun and receiving official recognition of the abbess position from the colonial government.
ISSN:2077-1444
Contains:Enthalten in: Religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.3390/rel16020214