Female Practitioners’ Religious Lives: The First Generation of Female Wŏn Buddhist Clerics

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

I found a few typing/word choice mistakes:

line 54 Women's should be lower case

line 101 Tonghak should be inserted between groundbreaking and teaching to that it is clear to readers that Tonghak is discussed here.

line 219 Chŭngsan religions would reject the label of shamanistic for their ch'ŏnji ritual. It would be better to call it unique rather than shamanistic.

line 328 Do you really want to say "priesthood"? Wouldn't ministry be better. 

like 563 Posŏn should be Posŏng.

line 687. wouldn't clerics or ministers be better than priests? 

line 688, similarly, wouldn't ministry be better than priesthood? 

Author Response

Thank you very much for reviewing my work and providing your valuable suggestions. I have incorporated all of the recommended changes into my document as follows: 

line 54 Women's should be lower case --> women 

line 101 Tonghak should be inserted between groundbreaking and teaching to that it is clear to readers that Tonghak is discussed here. ---> Suun’s groundbreaking Tonghak teaching

line 219 Chŭngsan religions would reject the label of shamanistic for their ch'ŏnji ritual. It would be better to call it unique rather than shamanistic. ---> a unique religious 

line 328 Do you really want to say "priesthood"? Wouldn't ministry be better. --> ministry 

like 563 Posŏn should be Posŏng.--> Posŏng

line 687. wouldn't clerics or ministers be better than priests? ---> clerics 

line 688, similarly, wouldn't ministry be better than priesthood? --> ministry 

Reviewer 2 Report

This research paper, "Female Practitioners’ Religious Lives: The First Generation of Female Wŏn Buddhist Clerics" is well-written by analyzing the biographies of the first 146 female clerics based upon the original data for women in the early days of Wŏn Buddhism.

It is my pleasure to suggest a few comments as follows for the development of this paper:

1) line 53-56: Although it is not different from the author's overall disclosure of women's status and education during the Chosŏn Dynasty, it can be considered a case of denying even the importance of women's legal status and property rights in Kyŏngguktaejŏn(經國大典), a law code of the Chosŏn Dynasty. Also, the social status system generally follows the Chongmo Act(從母法, maternal line).

2) line 97-112:

It would be good to provide some more detailed information about the Ch'ŏndogyo. For example, Ch'ŏndogyo published <Puin (Wife)> in June 1922 and <Shinyŏsŏng> in 1923 to promote the women's movement to innovate life and establish a new image of women by emphasizing gender equality based on the idea of Shich'ŏnju.

3) from the line 240 -

It is well analyzed 146 female kyomu in section 4 “Examination of the Biographies of 146 Female kyomu.” I think it would be easier for readers to understand if a chart of 146 people's situations such as marriage, education, etc. is presented. (Because charting itself is difficult, this suggestion is optional for the author.)

Author Response

Thank you very much for reviewing my work and providing your valuable suggestions. I have incorporated all of the recommended changes into my paper as follows: 

1) line 53-56: Although it is not different from the author's overall disclosure of women's status and education during the Chosŏn Dynasty, it can be considered a case of denying even the importance of women's legal status and property rights in Kyŏngguktaejŏn(經國大典), a law code of the Chosŏn Dynasty. Also, the social status system generally follows the Chongmo Act(從母法, maternal line).

 --->I agree with your point. Therefore, I have incorporated the following paragraph at the beginning of the section, and I have made changes to the wording (indicated in bold font) to better reflect the nuanced context of women's status in the late Chosŏn Dynasty.

The Confucian patriarchal social system, which had gradually established during the five hundred years of the Chosŏn Dynasty (1391-1897), limited women’s social position and abilities in numerous ways. During the Koryŏ Dynasty (918-1392), particularly in the early Chosŏn Dynasty, women held a relatively high status in society. Throughout both the Koryŏ and early and medieval Chosŏn Dynasties, it was customary to grant women an equal division of inheritances according to the Kyŏngguk taejŏn (經國大典), a law code of the Chosŏn Dynasty, and this law was practiced until the seventeenth century (Yun 2013, 278-281). However, after the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, and with the reinforcement of the Confucian chongpŏp (clan law) system aimed at ensuring the continuity of the patriarchal family line, society shifted towards conservatism, leading to significant changes in women’s social status (Yi 2011, 30). 

The late Chosŏn period was characterized by strict gender roles and limited opportunities for women, and there were no official educational institutions for girls (Bishop 1898, 342). Even though a few women from the upper class in Korea (yangban) were educated in reading Korean and in Classical Chinese and Confucianism, the idea of allowing a girl to be educated was not widely accepted. Women were generally uneducated, and women’s social activities were extremely limited. They were taught that they are lascivious, reckless, emotional, jealous, quarreling, and of little spiritual depth, so that they should be pious and submissive to men. This was a widespread Korean view on women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

2) line 97-112:

It would be good to provide some more detailed information about the Ch'ŏndogyo. For example, Ch'ŏndogyo published <Puin (Wife)> in June 1922 and <Shinyŏsŏng> in 1923 to promote the women's movement to innovate life and establish a new image of women by emphasizing gender equality based on the idea of Shich'ŏnju.

---> I've added the following sentences: 

After  Tonghak was renamed as a new religion under the name of “Chŏndogyo” (a religion of the Heavenly Way) by Son Pyŏng-hi (1861-1922) in 1905, various efforts were made to promote women’s rights to establish a new image of women, including the launch of women’s magazines such as Puin (Wife) in June 1922 and Sinyŏsŏng (New Women) in 1923. 

3) from the line 240 -

It is well analyzed 146 female kyomu in section 4 “Examination of the Biographies of 146 Female kyomu.” I think it would be easier for readers to understand if a chart of 146 people's situations such as marriage, education, etc. is presented. (Because charting itself is difficult, this suggestion is optional for the author.) 

---> Thank you very much for your helpful suggestions. However, as you pointed out in your note, creating a chart would require a significant amount of time and effort at this stage. Therefore, would it be acceptable to leave it in its current format for the time being?