Four Chinese Buddhist Nuns’ Gender Anxiety in Their Colophons to the Da banniepan jing 大般涅槃經

Abstract

Many scholars of Buddhism believe that Buddhists (particularly Mahāyāna Buddhists) regularly reproduce scriptures for merit in general, regardless of their content. However, by examining four Chinese Buddhist nuns’ colophons in manuscripts of the Da banniepan jing 大般涅槃經 (Scripture on the Great Extinction; Skt. Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra) (T no. 374) from around the sixth century with reference to its content, I argue that this scripture is significantly related to gender transformation and “female filth”. In this way, I suggest that these nuns could have deliberately commissioned this particular scripture due to their gender-based concerns. This study deepens our understanding of the reception of this scripture by Chinese Buddhist nuns by concentrating on the notion of gender, and it indicates that some nuns did not commission scriptures simply for merit without awareness of the scriptures’ content. This method of reading Buddhist texts as objects put into practice provides insight into the intellectual background of medieval Chinese Buddhist nuns, showing how they drew on their knowledge of Buddhist texts and financial resources to commission a specific scripture in order to negotiate more spiritual space.

1. Introduction

Alan Sponberg (1992) distinguishes four attitudes toward women found in Buddhist literature across different phases of Buddhism: soteriological inclusiveness, institutional androcentrism, ascetic misogyny, and soteriological androgyny. This article focuses on one prominent Mahāyāna Buddhist scripture, the Da banniepan jing 大般涅槃經 (Scripture on the Great Extinction; Skt. Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra) (T no. 374) (Takakusu et al. 1925, vol. 12, pp. 365–603), a text which exhibits at least three attitudes: soteriological inclusiveness, ascetic misogyny, and soteriological androgyny. Chinese Buddhist nuns, Dao Mingsheng 道明勝, Dao Rong 道容, and Sengyuan 僧願, express their concerns about their gender (which is termed “gender anxiety” in this article), and Jianhui 建暉 aspires to become a man and a buddha, in their colophons appended to copies of the Da banniepan jing in Dunhuang and Turfan manuscripts. Does this scripture that the nuns copied or commissioned to copy particularly address their gender questions? On the other hand, did these Buddhist women casually choose a scripture or commission a contemporaneously popular scripture to copy for the acquisition of generalized merit without awareness of its content (e.g., a default assumption related to the Mahāyāna “cult of the book” (Schopen [1975] 2005b, p. 51))?

Scholars of Buddhism have been debating whether practices around Buddhist scriptures are informed by the textual content. Gregory Schopen (2005a, p. 348), Reginald A. Ray (1985, p. 148), José Ignacio Cabezón (2004, p. 757), Daniel M. Veidlinger (2006, p. 5), and Fabio Rambelli (2007, pp. 89–91, 128) distinguish between the function of Buddhist scriptures as ritual objects and their function as sources of information. Many medieval Chinese manuscripts of Buddhist scriptures (mainly from the Dunhuang Cave Library and Turfan) include colophons appended to the scriptures. Often, these colophons provide information about the dates when the scriptures were copied, the patrons’ aspirations that guided the production of the manuscripts, as well as the names and identities of the patrons and the beneficiaries. They are valuable sources for studying Buddhist textual practices in medieval China, particularly since they shed light on the practices of ordinary people, which are rarely described in official histories. Liling Liang (1999, pp. 132–36) and Qingshan Zhao (2019, pp. 308–60) suggest that the aspirations expressed in the Dunhuang colophons do not correspond to the content of the scriptures. In contrast, Takayoshi Shiga (1972, p. 83) and Stephen F. Teiser (1994, p. 102) note the influence of Buddhist scriptures’ content on the practices around these scriptures as shown in their Dunhuang colophons. By analyzing Japanese Queen Consort Kōmyōshi’s 光明子 (701–760 CE) commissioning of three Buddhist scriptures, Bryan D. Lowe (2017, pp. 171–210) argues that these scriptures were commissioned because of their content, which highlights “the connection between the content of the texts and the practices directed toward them”. Expanding on the discoveries of Shiga, Teiser, and Lowe, I further demonstrate the close connections between the content of three Chinese indigenous scriptures and their patrons’ aspirations for commissioning, as well as the ways that these scriptures were used, as found in their Dunhuang colophons. Therefore, I suggest that the patrons chose these scriptures based on their understanding of the text (Chen 2020b).

In terms of the attitudes toward women in Buddhist literature, Sponberg (1992, p. 4) suggests that they were shaped by the social context of the time. Among them, “soteriological inclusiveness” means that the earliest Buddhists did not perceive gender as a fatal barrier to women pursuing the Buddhist way in order to be liberated from suffering, although women enjoyed less social freedom than men (Sponberg 1992, pp. 8–13). According to the “ascetic misogyny” attitude Sponberg (1992, pp. 18–24) describes, women were seen as impure, which reflects male Buddhists’ fear of women’s threat to their celibacy. This attitude appears more frequently in Mahāyāna literature than in early Buddhist sūtras, culminating in the question of whether a woman is capable of becoming a buddha. Yūichi Kajiyama (1982, p. 63) suggests that the belief that a woman could not become a buddha developed around the first century BCE. According to Shaoxia Liu (2005, p. 174), in China, the term nühui 女穢 (female filth) originally referred to women’s afterbirth but later became a general term used to describe the impurity of women in Buddhism; it was even used by women themselves. Lastly, the attitude of “soteriological androgyny”, as defined by Sponberg (1992, pp. 24–27), contends that gender is not real and sexual differences are provisional, emphasizing human beings’ common potential for becoming buddhas. Kajiyama (1982, p. 63) suggests that early Mahāyāna sūtras developed the notion that women can be awakened by becoming men through the doctrine of emptiness around the beginning of the Common Era. Before Kajiyama, Reichi Kasuga (1966) enumerates eight methods for women to become men and nineteen examples of women becoming buddhas in various Buddhist scriptures. As Nancy Schuster (1981) explains, because Mahāyāna Buddhist writers recognized that both maleness and femaleness are empty, while a strong tradition in Buddhism had imposed spiritual limits on women, writers attempted to resolve this conflict by developing the theme of “transforming the female body”. Furthermore, Hsin-Yi Lin (2008, pp. 200–8) argues that in Mahāyāna Buddhism, the female body was used as an expedient means to preach emptiness and the bodhisattva’s benevolence.1 These studies have significantly contributed to our understanding of Buddhist womanhood but have not fully explored how Buddhist women received these attitudes and, after the reception, in which ways these women strove to become men and then buddhas.

With respect to Chinese Buddhist nuns’ colophons to the Da banniepan jing, Guangchang Fang (1998, pp. 694–95) comments that these colophons often include laments about shouhui nüshen 受穢女身 (suffering from the filth of a female body). Both Liu (2005, p. 174) and Chunxia Bai (2019, p. 141) refer to the colophons of the bhikṣuṇīs Dao Mingsheng,2 Sengyuan, and Dao Rong as examples where patrons apply the concept of “female filth” to their own bodies. Nevertheless, none of them analyze the colophons by referring to the content of this scripture to explain why it was used to address “female filth”. Lin (2008, p. 242) and Jing Wang (2019, pp. 46, 64, 68) use Jianhui’s colophons in BD15076 and Nakamura51 as examples of Buddhist women detesting their filthy bodies and aspiring to become men, but they do not realize that the colophon in BD15076 is forged.3 Wang (2019, pp. 68–69) also argues that the reason why the Da banniepan jing was popular among the nuns is that this scripture preaches the equality of the buddha-nature, which means women have the equal opportunity to become buddhas as men do, and, therefore, represents gender equality. It is helpful that Wang notes that the reason the nuns commissioned this scripture may be the presence in the text of this message. Nevertheless, I will demonstrate in this article that, instead of simply advocating gender equality, the Da banniepan jing expresses multiple attitudes toward women. This text reveals a negative attitude toward the female body (“ascetic misogyny”), even while it acknowledges women’s potential to attain buddhahood (“soteriological inclusiveness”). Furthermore, this scripture claims to possess the mark of manliness (zhangfuxiang 丈夫相) itself, which is referred to as the buddha-nature (foxing 佛性), and whether a person can be considered a man depends on one’s capability to realize this nature (“soteriological androgyny”). Therefore, the nuns’ commissioning of this scripture to cope with their gender anxiety should be viewed as a comprehensive response to these systematic attitudes presented in this scripture.

In light of the previous scholarship, this article explores how these four nuns from around the sixth century may have been influenced by the attitudes toward women represented in the Da banniepan jing. As a result, these marginalized women used their intellectual and financial resources to commission this scripture as a means of unbosoming themselves of gender anxiety and aspiring to gender transformation and buddhahood.

2. Four Nuns’ Colophons to the Da banniepan jing

In order to understand how these Buddhist nuns are concerned with their gender identity, which is likely derived from Buddhist literature’s “ascetic misogyny”, we will first examine their colophons, where they articulate coherent rationales for their gender-based textual practices. The colophons of the bhikṣuṇīs Jianhui, Dao Mingsheng, Dao Rong, and Sengyuan are all found appended to the Da banniepan jing. Among them, Dao Mingsheng, Dao Rong, and Sengyuan each commissioned this scripture alone, while Jianhui commissioned seven scriptures in a set where the Da banniepan jing comes first on the list of scriptures enumerated in her colophon.

Nakamura51 is a Dunhuang manuscript of the Da banniepan jing that Jianhui commissioned (See Akira Isobe 2005, pp. 1:278a–281b). Her colophon is copied right after the end title Da banniepan jing juan dishiliu 大般涅槃經卷第十六 (the Sixteenth Fascicle of the Scripture on the Great Extinction). I transcribe and translate this colophon as follows:4

Generally speaking, ultimate subtlety and unassuming mystery cannot be expressed in words. Profound wisdom and firm truth are changeless and permanently tranquil. To be calm and to be peaceful, to change and transform according to the conditions—how can mundane people’s conceptualizing consciousness thoroughly understand this? When examining and searching the sacred texts, [I found that] the priority is to esteem goodness. Therefore, [I,] bhikṣuṇī Jianhui, for seven generations of masters, elders, and parents, respectfully make one copy of the [Scripture on the Great] Extinction, two copies of the [Scripture of] Law Blossom (i.e., the Lotus Sūtra), one copy of [the Scripture of Queen of] the Wondrous Garland (i.e., the Śrīmālā-sūtra), one copy of the [Scripture of the Buddha of] Immeasurable Life, one copy of the Extensive [Scripture], one copy of the [Scripture for] Humane Kings, and one copy of [the Scripture of] the Medicine Master. By this little merit, [I aspire] to become a man after leaving this female body,5 and for the multitudinous beings in the realm of reality to become buddhas at the same time.

The eighth day of the fourth month of the second year of the Datong era [of the Western Wei dynasty] (15 May, 536 CE).

夫至妙沖玄，則言辭6莫表；惠（慧）深理固，則凝然常寂。淡泊夷竫，隨緣改化。凡夫想識，豈能窮達。推尋聖7典，崇善為先。是以比丘尼建暉為七世師長、父母敬寫《涅槃》一部，《法華》二部，《勝鬘》一部，《無量壽》一部，《方廣》一部，《仁王》一部，《藥師》一部。因此微福，使得離8女身後成男子，法界衆生一時成佛。

大統二年四月八日。

Dao Mingsheng’s colophon appears at the end of two Dunhuang manuscripts of the Da banniepan jing: Nakamura33 of the eighteenth fascicle and S.1329 of the twentieth fascicle.9 The scripts of these two copies of the colophon seem to be from different hands. This version of the Da banniepan jing, commissioned by Dao Mingsheng, is likely constituted of around forty fascicles. If each fascicle is appended with a copy of this colophon of a similar length, it is reasonable to suspect that this nun hired more than one scribe to copy the text and colophon instead of copying them on her own; they may have recommended this scripture to her, or even composed this colophon on behalf of her. If so, is it still worthwhile to study these colophons along with the Da banniepan jing? According to Lowe’s (2017, pp. 174–75) research and my own (Chen 2020a, pp. 19–23), the commissioning of scriptures for Buddhist textual practices was likely a collaboration between the patron and the scribe, if scribes were involved. It suggests that the patron acquired some knowledge of the scripture from a variety of sources, including reading the text, listening to Buddhist professionals or scribes, or even hearing miracle stories about these scriptures. In this case, the patrons whom I am discussing are all bhikṣuṇīs, Buddhist professionals who were likely familiar with scriptures. In terms of the colophon, even if it was the scribe who composed it using some template, the patron had to relate information to them for the composition, for example, their concerns and aspirations. Even if we assume that these nuns knew little about this text or the colophon, it is still significant to explore why the scribe copied the Da banniepan jing on behalf of the nuns for these colophons characterized by gender anxiety.

Below is a transcription with a translation of Dao Mingsheng’s colophon based on Nakamura33 with reference to S.1329:10

Generally speaking, the great sage is surpassingly true, and his awe-inspiring spirit is mysterious and subtle; the teaching of the [Buddha’s] way is pure, and the exclusively honoured [Buddha] is unparalleled. His adamantine body radiates light to the three realms; [his] wondrous tone reverberates far, and [his] voice diffuses itself throughout the eight difficult [states of existence where it is hard to see the Buddha or hear his teaching]; [his] penetrating wisdom and pervasive purity could be comparable to the great void; [he] fosters all the beings with sympathy, and shows kindness like a loving parent. Therefore, [I,] [bhikṣu]ṇī Dao Mingsheng, understanding that my previous cause is impure, have been reborn in this final period [of the three in the Buddha-kalpa], sinking and being caught in the net of births and deaths. Although [I] have been imbued in the teachings of the [Buddha’s] way, [however, since I] have received the filth of a woman’s body, [I] have been in a coma and a long slumber without any means to turn back. With all due respect, [I] have heard the holy teaching that if one is desirous of resting one’s spirit out of this world in the next life, one cannot do better than trusting and relying on the three treasures now. Accordingly, by cutting down my expenditure on clothing, [I] make this one copy of the Scripture on the Great Extinction [in order to] recite and uphold, to worship and venerate, to respect and praise. May the merit accruing from this deed reach up to [my] teachers of the past kalpa and [my] parents of seven lifetimes, and also the multitudinous beings of every description that possess sentient life, intelligence, or bodily form, that [they] may share this felicity. Furthermore, may the myriad ills within [my] current home disappear like melting ice, and all the wholesome things find their ways to come; may the four great elements be healthy and restful, giving rise to no calamities. So [I] have composed a laud as follows:

The sage teaches mysterious principles, which penetrate and embrace up to the furthest limit. [They] pervade all those who possess bodily form, [so that they may] receive their rewards according to the principles. [The Buddha will] manifest again in the eight difficult [states of existence], [so that all may] assemble together in order to behold Maitreya.11

夫大聖至真，12威神玄妙；道化清淨，獨尊無侶。金剛之身，光放13三界；妙音遙14嚮（響），聲流八難。慧通清徹，15方之虛空；愍育黎庶，恩加慈親。是以尼道明勝，自惟往殖16不純，生遭末代，沉羅17生死。雖18染19道化，受穢女身，昏迷長寢，20莫由能返。竊聞聖教，乃欲當生栖神21方外，莫若現今憑仰三寶。故以減割22衣資，寫此《大般涅槃經》一部，讀誦受持，供養供（恭）敬，尊重讚歎。以此之福，願上及曠劫師宗、七世父母，復為含令（靈）抱識、有刑（形）之類衆生，同獲此慶。復願現在居門，万惡冰消，衆善來臻；四大康休，23不造諸惡。乃作頌曰：

聖化玄宗，通含至極。普及有刑（形），獲報如則。八難返現，會覩彌勒。

Similarly, I found Dao Rong’s colophon appended to the Da banniepan jing in two Dunhuang manuscripts: one copy after the twelfth fascicle in S.4366 and the other after the twenty-sixth fascicle in Hane501.24 There are some differences between S.4366 and Hane501; for example, Hane501 does not have a brief note of bizi yijiao jing 比字一校竟 between the end title and the colophon in S.4366. Giles (1957, p. 46) translates this note as “revised word for word throughout”, and suggests that the colophon of S.4366 and this note were written by different hands. A more accurate translation would be “first word-for-word proofreading completed”, indicating that this copy of scripture was formally produced and proofread. In addition, Hane501 contains two notes that are absent from S.4366: xing bangzhu 性蚌珠 (nature of mussel pearl?) and an 安 (tranquil). They may be regarded as miscellaneous writings added to this manuscript later.

I transcribe Dao Rong’s colophon in S.4366 with reference to its copy in Hane501 and translate it as follows:25

Generally speaking, merit is not fallacious in its response: seek it, and it will respond. [Karmic] effects do not come themselves: accumulate the causes, and they will surely be achieved. Thus, [I,] a disciple of the Buddha, bhikṣuṇī Dao Rong, because my conduct in the previous life was not cultivated, have been born in “female filth”. If I do not obey and honour the wondrous decree of [the Buddha], how shall I find a response in the effects to come? Therefore, having cut down my expenditure on the food for my mouth and the clothing for my body, [I have] reverently made one copy of the Scripture on the [Great] Extinction. May those who recite it give rise to unsurpassed minds, and those who circulate it cause all the bewildered to be awakened. Also, may my present life be restful and joyful, and be without further suffering or sickness; may my parents in seven lifetimes, who died early or late, and my living family and kinsfolk enjoy surpassing bliss on the four great elements, and may what they seek come true as they wish; also, may it extend to all the beings naturally endowed with perception—may they all be embraced in the scope of this aspiration.

Copy completed on the twenty-ninth day of the fourth month of the sixteenth year of the Datong era (June 1, 550 CE).26

夫福不虛應，求之必感；果無自來，崇27因必尅。是以仏弟子比丘尼道容，往行不脩，生處女穢。自不遵崇28妙旨，何以應其將來之果。故減29徹身口衣食之資，30敬寫《涅槃經》一部。願轉讀之31者，興無上之心；流通之者，使衆或（惑）感悟。又願現身休悆，32無他苦疾，七世父母、先死後亡，現在家眷，四大勝常，所求如意。又及33稟性有識之徒，率齊斯願。

大統十六年四月廿九日寫訖。34

Unlike the colophons of Jianhui, Dao Mingsheng, or Dao Rong, Sengyuan’s colophon is found in a fragmentary manuscript from Khara-khoja (Halahezhuo 哈拉和卓) in Turfan (See Wenbi Huang 1954, p. 10), which was the capital of the Gaochang 高昌 Kingdom (460–640 CE). According to this colophon, Wenbi Huang (1954, p. 28) conjectures that this fragment was cut off from a manuscript of the Da banniepan jing. So far, there is no evidence questioning the authenticity of this colophon. I transcribe and translate it as follows:35

[I,] bhikṣuṇī Sengyuan, universally for all [beings], respectfully produce and worship [this scripture].

On the eighth day of the second month of the seventeenth year of the Yanchang [era] (March 14, 577 CE), the dingyou year, [I,] bhikṣuṇī Sengyuan, bow my head and take refuge in order to permanently adhere to the Three Treasures. [I,] Sengyuan, due to the previous unfortunate causes, was born a filthy woman. My parents sympathized with me, and let me enter the [Buddha’s] way. Although I have joined the dharma-companion [i.e., the saṃgha], my three karmas face the wall.36 Day and night, [I] panic, fearing that my life passes in vain. Awake and asleep, [I] think and reflect, [unsettled as] holding both ice and hot coals in my arms. Therefore, [I] cut down the allotment on clothing and bowl for the use of making one copy of the [Scripture on the Great] Extinction. May those who chant [this copy of scripture] obtain the bliss of the extinction, and those who revere it cross over the sufferings of the three [evil] destinies. Also, with this merit, may my current body be healthy and strong, and far away from fetters of suffering. May the spiritual souls of the ancestors of seven generations, parents and acquaintances who passed away, ascend to the palace of Maitreya, and be reborn in the realm of paradise.

比丘尼僧願普為一切敬造供養。

延昌十七年丁酉歲二月八日，比丘尼僧願稽首歸命，常住三寶。僧願先因不幸，生稟女穢。父母受憐，令使入道。雖參法偘（侣），37三業面墻。夙宵驚懼，恐命空過，寤寐思省，冰炭交懷。遂割減衣缽之分，用寫《涅槃》一部。冀讀誦者獲涅槃之樂，禮覲者濟三塗之苦。復以斯福，願現身康彊，遠離苦縛。七祖之魂，考姚（妣）往識，超昇慈宮，誕生養界。

The colophons of Jianhui, Dao Rong, and Sengyuan are all dated to the sixth century. Dao Mingsheng’s colophon is not dated, but according to its script, I do not think it is much later than the other three nuns’ colophons. I cannot find more information on these four nuns; therefore, it is difficult to depict their backgrounds. This version of the Da banniepan jing was translated by Tanmochen 曇無讖 (Skt. Dharmakṣema; 385–433 CE) circa 421–432 CE in Guzang 姑臧 (present-day Wuwei 武威, Gansu 甘肅), based on material obtained from Khotan or Dunhuang (Shimoda 2015, p. 158). By the dates of these colophons, it was over one century since this scripture was translated into Chinese, which is a period long enough for it to have been circulated among, and received by, Chinese Buddhists, especially by those who lived in Northwest China.

These four colophons together suggest that it may have been popular for Chinese Buddhist nuns from Dunhuang and Turfan around the sixth century to commission this specific scripture in order to address their concerns about their gender. As she begins her colophon, Jianhui emphasizes that wisdom and truth are beyond the comprehension of mundane people, while goodness (or merit) is of the utmost importance, as described in Buddhist texts. It provides a rationale for copying scriptures for merit. Using the merit accrued from her commissioning of these scriptures, she aspires to gender transformation and wishes that all the multitudinous beings attain buddhahood together. Her aspiration for the multitudinous beings to become buddhas together may appear to be formulaic. Nevertheless, the question of whether a woman can attain buddhahood was a topic of heated debate in the Buddhist community (Sponberg 1992, p. 24). In addition, becoming a buddha is a significant achievement for Jianhui as a Buddhist professional, which is closely associated with the transformation of gender in Buddhist literature. Therefore, I suspect that Jianhui considers herself to be one of these numerous beings.

Although none of the other three nuns clearly state that they aspire to become men as Jianhui does, this does not deny that gender is a significant concern for them, as emphasized in their colophons. Reading their colophons, it is striking that all these nuns suffer from and lament over their “filthy” female bodies and attribute this destination to their impure, uncultivated, or unfortunate previous causes. These sentiments are not a formulaic composition that appears in every colophon to Buddhist scriptures commissioned by female patrons from Dunhuang or Turfan.38 In other words, based on their colophons characterized by these sentiments, I contend that these three nuns do suffer from gender-based anxiety, which reveals to us how they are mindful of the particular challenge imposed on them because of their gender. Moreover, they all desire changes. Specifically, Dao Mingsheng wishes to rest her spirit out of this world in the next life; Dao Rong desires to “find a response in the effects to come”; and Sengyuan probably seeks the bliss of the extinction (i.e., the bliss of Nirvana). Then, they unanimously commissioned the Da banniepan jing to address their anxiety and to accrue merit for their desires. Furthermore, the bliss of Nirvana, which Sengyuan wishes those who chant this scripture to obtain, is an essential topic in this scripture. It is likely that Sengyuan understands the content of this scripture to some extent, and her aspiration is related thereto. Therefore, I believe that when they respond to the misogynistic attitude related to female impurity, they probably have thought about it in a consistent and logical way. Rather than randomly selecting a scripture to copy, they actively use this practice to express themselves in a male-dominated discourse. Thus, I wonder if it was the content of this scripture that attracted these nuns, who suffered from gender anxiety, and they used it in order to express their sentiments and pray for changes.

3. Tension on Womanhood: Re-Reading the Da banniepan jing

The Da banniepan jing contains several passages that are compatible with gender questions:39

1. There are also some bhikṣuṇīs in this gathering of bhikṣuṇīs, who were all bodhisattvas, dragons among the people, for in rank they were firmly settled within the ten stages (daśabhūmi) from which they could not be moved. Having taken on female bodies in order to teach the multitudinous beings, they were constantly cultivating the four immeasurable minds, had obtained unimpeded power, and were able to attain buddhahood.

於比丘尼衆中復有諸比丘尼，皆是菩薩，人中之龍，位階十地安住不動，為化衆生，現受女身，而常修習40四無量心，得自在力，能化作佛。 (T no. 374, vol. 12, 366a26–29)

2. [These upāsikās] meditate on their own bodies as four poisonous snakes: this body is constantly nibbled by innumerable small organisms. This body is foul-smelling and unclean, shackled in a prison of greed. This body is as loathsome as a dead dog. This body is impure, with its nine holes from which matter continuously flows…Therefore, it is to be discarded, as one would expectorate nose mucus and saliva. … They keep their original vows and disdain their female bodies, regarding them as loathsome and their nature as insubstantial.… Although presented in female bodies, in fact, they are bodhisattvas…

[優婆夷]自觀己身如四毒虵：是身常為無量諸䖝之所唼食。是身臭穢，貪欲獄縛。是身可惡，猶如死狗。是身不淨，九孔常流。……是故當捨，如棄涕唾。……護持本願，毀呰女身，甚可患猒，性不堅牢。…… 雖現女身，實是菩薩…… (T no. 374, vol. 12, 367a28–b19)

3. I have also manifested myself in Jambudvīpa as someone who attained buddhahood in a woman’s body. The many people [who saw this] all said: “How rare it is for a woman to be able to attain anuttarāsamyaksaṃbodhi (supreme correct enlightenment)”. [I,] the Thus-come One cannot accept a woman’s body after all, but in order to tame a great many living beings, therefore [I] manifest [myself] in a female form…

我又示現於閻浮提女身成佛，衆人皆言：“甚奇，女人能成阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。”如來畢竟不受女身，為欲調伏無量衆生，故現女像…… (T no. 374, vol. 12, 389b23–26)

4. In addition, good son! Among good sons and good daughters, there are none who do not seek a male body. Why is this? Because all women are lodges for a multitude of problematic issues. In addition, good son! Just as the urine of a mosquito would not be able to moisten the surface of the earth, that is how difficult it is to satisfy the lust of a woman.… Good son! It is in this sense that good sons and good daughters who listen to this Mahāyāna Scripture of the Great Extinction will always decry the marks that characterize a female and seek to be male. Why? Because this great scripture has the mark of manliness, which is referred to as buddha-nature. If someone does not understand this buddha-nature, he does not have the male mark. Why? Because he cannot grasp the fact that the buddha-nature exists within himself. As for those who are unable to know the buddha-nature, I would say that they are to be called women. As for those who are able to know that the buddha-nature exists within themselves, I would say that they are characteristically male. If a woman is able to know definitively that buddha-nature exists within herself, [you] should know that this constitutes her as male.

復次，善男子！若善男子、善女人等，無有不求男子身者。何以故？一切女人皆是衆惡之所住處。復次，善男子！如蚊子尿不能令此大地潤洽，其女人者婬欲難滿亦復如是。……善男子！以是義故，諸善男子、善女人等，聽是大乘大涅槃經，常應呵責女人之相，求於男子。何以故？是大經典有丈夫相，所謂佛性。若人不知是佛性者，則無男相。所以者何？不能自知有佛性故。若有不能知佛性者，我說是等名為女人。若能自知有佛性者，我說是人為丈夫相。若有女人能知自身定有佛性，當知是等即為男子。 (T no. 374, vol. 12, 422a15–b6)

5. When [the Buddha] was expounding this teaching…two thousand billion human women and goddesses had their female bodies changed, and obtained male bodies right away…

說是法時……人女、天女二万億人，現轉女身得男子身…… (T no. 374, vol. 12, 603c9–24)

The first two passages are from part one of the first chapter of the Da banniepan jing, which provides an overview of the background of this lengthy scripture. When the Buddha’s nirvāṇa was approaching, heterogeneous groups of living beings came to listen to his teachings. There are female human beings among the large assembly, including nuns in the first passage and female lay followers (upāsikās) in the second passage. Masahiro Shimoda (2015, p. 165) notes that this scripture is unique when compared with many other Mahāyāna scriptures since it introduces female bodhisattvas in the assembled congregation. He suggests that some scholars take this feature as evidence that this scripture and the tathāgatagarbha theory were generated in a female-friendly society. However, I must point out that the introduction to these women (or female bodhisattvas) is immediately followed by harsh criticism of their “filthy” bodies. Given that attachment to the physical body is considered a hindrance to awakening, the filth of the human body is a common trope that is not peculiar to women. However, it is intriguing that the passages in this text describing these women refer to the filth of the body, whereas the passages describing the groups of men do not mention this filth. In other words, the discourse of bodily filth is only ascribed to the female bodies in this chapter. These passages, together with the criticism of women’s lust in the fourth passage, demonstrate the Da banniepan jing’s “ascetic misogyny” toward women. Therefore, I do not think this scripture simply advocates gender equality or was composed in an environment that was friendly to women. Three specific points are stressed in the text.

Firstly, these women are bodhisattvas who have reached high stages and thus can attain buddhahood, which I consider to be an attitude of “soteriological inclusiveness”. It is vital for the text to acknowledge women’s potential to attain buddhahood since it echoes the Buddha’s manifestation as a woman in the third passage, as well as the existence of buddha-nature within female bodies in the fourth passage. Second, the text criticizes the inherent filth of female bodies, particularly in the second passage referring to female lay followers. Through a number of metaphors, this text describes how loathsome their bodies are,41 concluding that their bodies should be discarded. Despite this, it indicates that this undesirable situation can be changed. As a means of addressing their concern regarding “female filth”, if these four nuns deliberately chose this scripture, perhaps they had these passages in mind. Lastly, the text explains why these women assume female bodies: these bodies are manifestations of bodhisattvas, which serve to transform and liberate other living beings.

Although many Mahāyāna Buddhist scriptures introduce female groups as part of the great assembly attending the Buddha’s teaching at the beginning of the texts, the Da banniepan jing is unique in that it explicitly describes “female filth”, states that women detest their bodies, and explains why they temporarily accept such bodies. Furthermore, the point of temporary reception is confirmed in the third passage, in which the Buddha, in order to tame living beings, also manifested as an awakened woman. The fourth passage explains the rationale for seeking a male body by condemning women’s lust. More significantly, this passage proposes a concept of “the mark of manliness”, namely the “buddha-nature”, which this scripture bears.42 It further claims that anyone, either physically male or female, who can realize this buddha-nature, is regarded as a man, otherwise, as a woman. In this same scripture, it explains that any man or woman can be referred to as a “manly man” (zhangfu 丈夫) if one is able to be a good teacher of the Buddhist way, listen to the Buddhist teachings, reflect on them, and practice the Buddhist way as told (T no. 374, vol. 12, 469a24–26).43 To reconcile the contradictory attitudes of “soteriological inclusiveness” and “ascetic misogyny”, this method attempts to transcend conventional physical differences between men and women, which presents an attitude of “soteriological androgyny”, despite the term “mark of manliness” remaining male-oriented. As Lin (2008, p. 211) points out, this passage posits that, regardless of one’s physical gender, both men and women have the same starting point on the path of practice by redefining “maleness” in terms of whether they are capable of realizing the buddha-nature within themselves. I would add that the text also stresses that it has the mark of manliness. Therefore, it is possible to interpret the nuns’ copying of this scripture as a direct response to the teachings in this passage.44 Then, in the fifth passage at the end of this scripture, upon hearing the Buddha’s teaching, human women and goddesses in the audience transformed their female bodies into male bodies. A happy ending like this is precisely what these four nuns aspire to, and it might have encouraged them to commission this scripture in order to fulfill their aspirations.

Concerning “soteriological androgyny”, many scholars of Buddhism are familiar with a number of famous motifs of gender transformation or women attaining buddhahood in Mahāyāna scriptures. For instance, Lin (2008, pp. 271–72) quotes motifs of the dragon king’s daughter in the Lotus Sūtra, the goddess in the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra, and Queen Śrīmālā in the Śrīmālā-sūtra found in Buddhist women’s epitaphs from the Sui and Tang dynasties (581–907 CE) as examples by which women’s spiritual attainment is praised. Living in a modern time, some readers may assume that, among Mahāyāna scriptures, a text such as the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra would be more preferred and, therefore, more widely circulated by Buddhist women than the Da banniepan jing. It is because this text does not represent much “ascetic misogyny”, but emphasizes “soteriological androgyny”, which is more egalitarian than the other attitudes toward women. However, Sponberg (1992, p. 28) questions the extent to which this attitude was implemented in reality. As Diana Paul (1981, p. 70) suggests, the egalitarian view of bodhisattvahood that is devoid of innate sexual traits in the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra was never actually realized in society at large, in either India or China. Coincidentally, I have not found any references to gender issues in the colophons to this scripture from Dunhuang or Turfan. In contrast, I note four nuns who expressed the aspiration for gender transformation or concerns regarding their gender in their colophons to the Da banniepan jing, which presents multiple, systematic attitudes toward women.

When it comes to patrons’ selection of texts, a potential concern always exists: what if they simply chose the most popular texts to copy for merit? According to Liang (1999, p. 128), the Da banniepan jing was the most popular Buddhist text to be copied during the Six Dynasties (220–589 CE) in the Dunhuang area. There are around 149 colophons in approximately 3200 manuscripts of this scripture in the Dunhuang corpus,45 including the aspirations of patrons from a variety of social echelons and professions. This text covers a wide range of topics and promises a diversity of benefits to those who copy it, as many other Mahāyāna scriptures do. The extent to which all these aspirations are related to the content of the scripture is unclear. It is evident, however, that all of these aspirations must be based on the well-known Mahāyāna Buddhist teaching that copying scriptures produces merit, enabling patrons to achieve their diverse desires, as indicated in these four nuns’ colophons as well. Therefore, is it possible that these nuns used a popular scripture, the Da banniepan jing, to generate the necessary merit in order to address their gender concerns?

Many patrons, as well as some scribes, may have been influenced by contemporaneous trends regarding the commissioning of Buddhist scriptures. It would be too idealistic to assume that each text contains certain content that can be used to explain the patron’s choice of this text unilaterally by considering the patron’s aspirations. However, there is still great value in exploring potential connections between texts and textual practices. By reviewing the lists of popular scriptures during different periods in the Dunhuang area provided by Lin et al. (2013, pp. 30–46), it appears that, in addition to a few widely recognized scriptures (e.g., the Scripture on the Great Extinction and the Lotus Sūtra), many other scriptures also pervaded Dunhuang during different eras. This means that, in medieval China, patrons and scribes had plenty of choices among “popular” scriptures, and they had to make decisions among them on a variety of occasions. For example, in the Dunhuang corpus, there are more than 3700 manuscripts of the Jingang jing 金剛經 (Diamond Sūtra) with 113 colophons (Luo 2018, pp. 130–62). Even though there are more copies of this text than of the Da banniepan jing, none of the colophons to the Jingang jing address this gender issue. I would suggest that this absence is probably because the Jingang jing itself does not address the gender issue. In addition, I demonstrate that, among the other six scriptures that Jianhui commissioned together with the Da banniepan jing, four scriptures include significant material directly related to her aspirations, and the other two (the Extensive Scripture and the Scripture for Humane Kings) are to some extent connected to her aspirations (Chen 2020a, pp. 134–62). This confirms that, at the very least, Jianhui’s choices of scriptures are highly likely to have been informed by the content of the texts. Conversely, if some scriptures were commissioned as a result of their popularity, have we considered the factors that contributed to their popularity? By studying these nuns’ colophons to the Da banniepan jing, I provide a case study suggesting that the content of the texts could be an essential reason that accounts for their popularity.

4. Conclusions

By means of reading bhikṣuṇī Jianhui’s colophon aspiring to gender transformation and buddhahood, and three other bhikṣuṇīs’ colophons that include gender concerns of “female filth”, with reference to the Da banniepan jing that they all commissioned, I suggest that these four nuns selected this scripture based on their understanding of its content that is closely related to gender questions. In other words, it is doubtful that they chose this scripture without any knowledge of its content or blindly followed the contemporaneous popular textual practices merely as generalized or popular sources of merit. In this way, I explain why the Da banniepan jing could be a popular scripture used to address the gender question. That said, I am not writing this article to prove that every single Buddhist textual practice is hermeneutically connected to the text but rather to provide an alternative perspective to interpret textual practices in contrast to a unilateral focus on the generation of merit. I do not argue that the Da banniepan jing was the most popular scripture for Buddhist women to commission for gender concerns in medieval China either, but to introduce the reception of this scripture by concentrating on its content and uses related to gender questions, adding to scriptures, such as the Lotus Sūtra, the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra, and the Śrīmālā-sūtra, with which many modern scholars are familiar.

Meanwhile, I introduce a new way of reading Buddhist texts—assessing their role for contemporaneous users as objects put into practice rather than treating them as disembodied, transparent windows into authorial intent. This reading method sheds light on medieval Chinese Buddhist nuns’ knowledge of the scriptures with which they practice and further offers clues into their intellectual backgrounds. According to these four Buddhist nuns’ colophons, it is clear that they are mindful of their gender due to misogyny. This study suggests that, based on their knowledge and savings, Chinese Buddhist nuns around the sixth century probably acquired the power to actively select and utilize specific scriptures as a means of addressing their gender anxiety or aspiring to change their gender. This is likely a way in which they negotiate their identity in Buddhist terms, although it is unclear yet why they did not choose a scripture that appears to be more gender-equal to modern readers, such as the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra. While they did not practice in accordance with modern gender-equal expectations, they nevertheless showed agency by noticing and making a choice, which enabled them to carve out a lived space for their community as their way of navigating the multiplicity of attitudes toward womanhood in Buddhist literature.