Buddhist Nuns in the Discourse on the Future of Buddhism in Contemporary China

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This study employs qualitative field research to investigate whether and how Buddhist nuns in Mainland China participate in the current discourse on the future development of Buddhism. This discourse concerns the direction Buddhism should take. Must it be modernized in order to engage more in present-day society? Or should it preserve its traditions? This means to stay secluded from the world and strictly observe monastic rules, which nuns are generally expected to do. Since they are fully ordained, Buddhist nuns in China have a higher status than nuns in South and Southeast Asia. However, the hegemonic gender discourse of Chinese Buddhism seems to confine them to a traditional image of women. Therefore, this project focuses on the following research questions: How do the nuns react to the way they are interpellated as concrete subjects by the hegemonic gender discourse which tries to keep them from influencing society? Which identities do they construct? Which strategies do they pursue to wield influence within the discourse on the development of Buddhism? Methodically, the project combines field ethnography in a large nunnery in Central China with the analysis of Buddhist discourses. Well-established contacts made it possible to conduct qualitative interviews with Chinese nuns, which could be done without translation aid.