RELS5144
Women in Chinese Religions
3 Units
Women have played an active role in most Chinese religious traditions for many hundreds of years, but there are relatively few records of their activities and beliefs. Yet without knowledge of those activities the history of Chinese religions cannot be properly understood. This course is a comprehensive introduction to the role of women in popular or common religion, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and Christianity. All of these will be discussed in relation to the place of women in traditional Chinese society. The emphasis will be on the activities of living women, not on goddesses or philosophical theory. As far as time and sources allow, these topics will be discussed both for the traditional and modern periods.
Old Course Code (2009-10 and before) : RST5144