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HandWiki. Women in Taoism. Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/36267 (accessed on 03 October 2026).
HandWiki. Women in Taoism. Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/36267. Accessed October 03, 2026.
HandWiki. "Women in Taoism" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/36267 (accessed October 03, 2026).
HandWiki. (2022, November 24). Women in Taoism. In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/36267
HandWiki. "Women in Taoism." Encyclopedia. Web. 24 November, 2022.
Women in Taoism
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The content is sourced from: https://handwiki.org/wiki/Religion:Women_in_Taoism

The roles of women in Taoism (/ˈdaʊɪzəm/, /ˈtaʊ-/) (also spelled "Daoism" /ˈdaʊ-/) have differed from the traditional patriarchy over women in ancient and imperial China. Chinese women had special importance in some Taoist schools that recognized their transcendental abilities to communicate with deities, who frequently granted women with revealed texts and scriptures. Women first came to prominence in the Highest Clarity School, which was founded in the 4th century by a woman, Wei Huacun. The Tang dynasty (618-907) was a highpoint for the importance of Daoist women, when one-third of the Shangqing clergy were women, including many aristocratic Daoist nuns. The number of Daoist women decreased until the 12th century when the Complete Perfection School, which ordained Sun Bu'er as the only woman among its original disciples, put women in positions of power. In the 18th and 19th centuries, women Daoists practiced and discussed nüdan (女丹, "women's neidan inner alchemy"), involving gender-specific practices of breath meditation and visualization. Furthermore, Daoist divinities and cults have long traditions in China, for example, the Queen Mother of the West, the patron of xian immortality, He Xiangu, one of the Eight Immortals, and Mazu, the protectress of sailors and fishermen.

alchemy visualization roles of women

References

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  2. Despeux, Catherine (2008). "The Encyclopedia of Taoism". in Pregadio, Fabrizio. The Encyclopedia of Taoism. Routledge. pp. 171–173. 
  3. Despeux (2000), p. 386.
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  6. Cahill, Suzanne E. (1993). Transcendence and Divine Passion: The Queen Mother of the West in Medieval China. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0804721127. 
  7. Despeux (2000), p. 387.
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  25. Cleary, Thomas, ed (1989). Immortal Sisters: Secrets of Taoist Women. Shambhala. ISBN 978-0877734819. 
  26. Despeux (2000), p. 392.
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  55. Cahill, Suzanne E. (1992). "Marriages Made in Heaven". T'ang Studies (T’ang Studies Society) 11 (10–11): 111–122. doi:10.1179/073750392787773096.  https://dx.doi.org/10.1179%2F073750392787773096
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  57. Strickmann, Michel (1978). "A Taoist Confirmation of Liang Wu-ti's Suppression of Taoism". Journal of the American Oriental Society 98 (4): 471. doi:10.2307/599761.  https://dx.doi.org/10.2307%2F599761
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  60. Despeux (2000), p. 401.
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