Ordained Married Women in Tang China: Two Case Studies

Abstract

Historical records and tomb inscriptions have provided foundational insights into the lives of elite women in the Tang Dynasty. However, our understanding of their beliefs—particularly their modes of participation and how they negotiated the tensions between faith and familial responsibilities—remains limited. Most existing scholarship has concentrated on their relationships with parents and children, exploring how they balanced personal spiritual obligations with filial piety and filial duties. In contrast, relatively little attention has been paid to how they managed their relationships with their husbands. This gap in research is partly attributable to the prevailing assumption that women involved in religious ordination were unmarried, either divorced or widowed. This study examines tomb inscriptions of two prominent elite women—Madame Li and Lady Liu—to investigate how they negotiated their faith within the context of their familial and marital relationships. I argue that, owing to their social status, women in the Tang Dynasty, particularly those from the noble and elite classes, engaged in religious activities through a variety of modes that reflect their multifaceted participation in religious life. This broader participation not only challenges conventional perceptions of women’s religious involvement but also reveals the complex ways in which gender, social status, and religious expression intersected during this period.

1. Instruction

In the Tang dynasty, Buddhist and Daoist women maintained a remarkable presence. They came from all social classes, ranging from aristocratic ladies to daughters of commoners and even impoverished families. This widespread participation is reflected in the establishment of religious institutions. Historical records show that approximately one-third of Tang Daoist abbeys were convents, and two-fifth of Tang Buddhist monasteries were nunneries (L. Li 1992, p. 125). These ordained women—particularly princesses and members of the royal family who left a mark on history—have attracted considerable attention from modern scholars, especially regarding their motivations for ordination, the nature of their convents, and their relationships with Tang literati (Benn 1991; Yu 1994; Jia 2014; Jiao 2008; Y. Li 1989; Yao 2014). Beyond this, a number of studies, drawing on historical records and epitaphs, have explored the relationship between ordained women and their familial ties. A dominant theme in this scholarship is the Sinification of Buddhism, particularly through its endorsement of the Confucian virtue of filial piety (xiao 孝) (Cole 1998). Building on existing scholarship, this paper explores the relationship between ordained women and their families. It focuses on two elite women who joined religious life after marriage, examining how they navigated their marital relationships within ordination. By analyzing the epitaphs of a Buddhist nun and a Daoist priestess, the study reveals that during the mid-to-late Tang period, some elite women maintained close ties with their families and husbands, despite holding high clerical ranks. In some instances, they also preserved marital relationships and relocated based on their husbands’ official appointments.

2. Women, Marginalization and Religious Ideals

In the society of medieval China, women’s roles were defined by Confucian values and largely confined to the family—as daughters, wives, and mothers—which limited their participation in religious institutions. According to a Daoist scripture from the Six Dynasties period, Compendium of the Exterior Registers of the Zhengyi Canon (Zhengyi fawen taishang wailu yi 正一法文太上外籙儀), the Celestial Masters (Tianshi dao 天師道), an early Daoist movement, identified five categories of women considered suitable to become Daoist practitioners: young unmarried girls, women unable to marry due to inauspicious horoscopes, women forced into unwanted marriages, widows, and repudiated wives (Schipper 2004, pp. 132–33). All of these categories represented women in socially precarious or marginalized positions. Thus, perhaps to mitigate potential conflicts with prevailing societal norms, Daoism traditionally regarded only women on the margins of society as suitable candidates for ordination as Daoist priestesses. The Celestial Masters provided these women with an alternative pathway and a form of refuge within a society that had largely marginalized or excluded them, thereby offering a space for female spiritual agency outside mainstream social structures (Despeux 1986, pp. 61–66).

However, the Tang dynasty marked a turning point in this regard, and the transformation that took place can be attributed chiefly to two key factors. First, Wu Zhao’s 武瞾 (r. 690–705) accession to the throne as emperor significantly reshaped both the social standing and public representation of women. Wu Zhao was the only woman emperor in Chinese history. Her story is both extraordinary and compelling: she rose from the daughter of a merchant to become a concubine of Emperor Taizong 太宗 (r. 626–649) and eventually ascended the throne herself. During her reign, she actively sought to expand women’s presence in the public sphere by incorporating a broader circle of women into state ceremonies, recognizing those who contributed to frontier military campaigns, and appointing talented women such as Shangguan Wan’er 上官婉兒 (664–710) to important administrative roles. Moreover, her decree in 674 equalizing the mourning period for mothers and fathers established a precedent that was adopted by later dynasties, challenging long-standing patriarchal norms within the Confucian order (Rothschild 2008, pp. 205–7; Guisso 2007, p. 330). Her efforts contributed to a social environment in which Tang women became more assertive, active and publicly visible. After her death, this trend of female empowerment persisted, yet it was accompanied by a Confucian backlash that warned against female power. (Rothschild 2008, pp. 206–7). Second, the ruling class actively supported both Buddhism and Daoism, which significantly altered this dynamic. The Li-Tang emperors promoted Daoism, grounding their legitimacy in a claimed ancestral lineage from Laozi, the founder of Daoism. Empress Wu, however, in order to justify and legitimize the inevitability of her accession to the throne, turned to Buddhism—most notably through her promotion of the “Great Cloud Sutra” (Dayun jing 大雲經)—and became an ardent supporter and patron of the religion (Rothschild 2015, pp. 209–26).

This shift is evident in the growing number of Buddhist and Daoist monasteries for women. According to the Six Codes of the Tang (Tang liudian 唐六典), during the Kaiyuan 開元 reign (713–741), there were 1687 Daoist abbeys, of which 550 were convents, and 5358 Buddhist monasteries, including 2113 nunneries (L. Li 1992, p. 125). Moreover, the women who chose religious life increasingly included not only princesses, and royal women but also members of the aristocracy and elite families, for example, in the course of the Tang dynasty, about twenty-eight royal princesses were ordained as Daoist priestesses. This phenomenon is not seen in any other Chinese dynasty (Jia 2014, p. 18). Although the external factors undoubtedly played a role, attributing the transformation solely to them risks oversimplification. Jiao Jie 焦傑 contends that, beyond external factors such as state policies, three principal internal motivations influenced Tang women’s decisions to enter the Daoist order. First, following the death of their husbands, some women adopted Daoism as a source of spiritual solace or as a means of maintaining their chastity. Second, others, afflicted by illness, sought relief and healing through religious devotion. Third, a subset of women pursued Daoism in their pursuit of transcendence. These internal factors reflect complex individual motivations that cannot be fully understood solely through external structural influences (Jiao 2008, pp. 42–43).

Interestingly, these motivations closely resemble the reasons Tang women entered the Buddhist order, as observed by Li Yuzhen 李玉珍. She categorizes the motivations of Tang Buddhist nuns into five types: first, preserving chastity; second, divorce; third, the declination of family fortunes; fourth, fulfilling vows; fifth, praying for blessings on behalf of their ancestors (Y. Li 1989, p. 230). Furthermore, both these scholars and many others have observed, there were also women who exhibited genuine and deep religious devotion. These women are generally categorized into two types: first, those initiated into Daoist or Buddhist orders at a young age who remained unmarried throughout their lives; and second, women who developed a deep religious faith later in life and opted for ordination at an advanced age. In many cases, these women turned to religious life following the death of their husbands. Having fulfilled domestic responsibilities such as raising children, they subsequently committed themselves entirely to spiritual pursuits.

However, the cases mentioned above represent only the general pattern. This study focuses on two distinctive examples. First, both women examined in this paper—Madame Li 李 and Lady Liu 劉—embody the ideal lives of elite women. Second, both had undergone formal ordination. Additionally, their husbands were still alive, and they did not entirely sever their ties to their families or leave their husbands. Both women’s stories not only highlight the complexity and diversity of Tang women’s engagement with religion, but also prompt a more nuanced inquiry: how did ordained women navigate their familial roles while their husbands remained living? Were such familial and conjugal ties entirely broken, or did they persist alongside their religious commitments? The epitaphs of Madame Li and Lady Liu 劉 offer valuable insight into these questions, shedding light on how conjugal relationships were negotiated in such circumstances.

3. Madame Li: Buddhist Nun and Titled Woman

Madame Li’s epitaph “Muzhiming of Madame Li, County Countess of Longxi, Wife of Military Commissioner of Hedong, County Prince of Jincheng, and Jointly Appointed Minister of the Secretariat and Chancellery, Acting Palace Secretary, and Vice Director of the Left, and Posthumously Conferred Duchess of Su State” (Hedong Jiedushi jianjiao shangshu zuo pushe tong zhongshu menxia pingzhangshi Jincheng junwang Xingong qi Longxi Junfuren zeng Suguo furen Lishi muzhiming 河東節度使檢校尚書左僕射同中書門下平章事金城郡王辛公妻隴西郡夫人贈肅國夫人李氏墓誌銘) was discovered in Xi’an 西安 and included in the Compilations of Tang Dynasty Epitaphs (Tangdai muzhi huibian 唐代墓志彙編) edited by Zhou Shaoliang 周紹良 and Zhao Chao 趙超 (Zhou and Zhao 1992, p. 1809). It was written by Dugu Mian 獨孤愐 (fl.765) around the year 778, ten years after Madame Li’s death, on the occasion of her reburial in Xi’an. Little is known about the author Dugu Mian—the younger brother of the renowned Tang prose writer Dugu Ji 獨孤及 (725–777)—except that he once served as “Regional Inspector of Yongzhou” (Yongzhou cishi永州刺史) in 765 (Yu 2000, p. 2477). He identified himself as “Director of Granaries Section” (Cangbu yuanwailang 倉部員外郎) when he wrote the epitaph. His relationship with Xin Yunjing 辛雲京 (713–768)—Madame Li’s husband—and Madame Li was unclear. The calligraphy was done by Han Xiushi 韓秀實, the son of the renowned calligrapher Han Zemu 韓擇木 (fl. 713–740), whom Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 regarded as one of four great experts of bafen clerical scripts (bafen shu 八分書) during the Tang.1 Like his father, Han Xiushi was also a highly esteemed calligrapher of his era (Ouyang 2010, p. 193).

Madame Li was from Longxi 隴西, corresponding to modern-day Tianshui 天水 and Lanzhou 蘭州 in Gansu 甘肅 province. According to her epitaph, her original family name was Bao 保, but her ancestors were granted the imperial surname Li 李 by the emperor. During the Tang dynasty, emperors occasionally bestowed the royal surname Li as a means of placating surrendered generals, winning over leaders of foreign tribes, rewarding meritorious officials, or demonstrating imperial favor. Evidently, Madame Li’s family, as a prominent local lineage, received this esteemed honor, signifying their elevated status and distinguished position within the community, which can also be inferred from the official position held by Madame Li’s father. Madame Li’s father, Li Rugui 李儒珪, held the position of “Administrator of Sha Prefecture” (Shazhou zhangshi 沙州長史, in present-day Dunhuang 敦煌). The early Tang bureaucratic system generally assigned three principal administrative roles to each prefecture: Administrator (zhangshi 長史), Mounted Escort (biejia 別駕), and Adjutant (sima 司馬). Among these, zhangshi was the most powerful, typically holding a rank between the fifth and sixth official grades. All these suggest that Madame Li was born into a locally influential family.

When she reached marriageable age, Madame Li was married to Xin Yunjing, the County Prince of Jincheng (Jincheng junwang 金城郡王), a distinguished Tang general renowned for his role in resisting the forces of Shi Siming 史思明 (703–761) during the An Lushan 安祿山Rebellion (755–763). General Xin was originally from Jincheng 金城 (present-day Lanzhou 蘭州) which is geographically proximate to Madame Li’s hometown. But according to his biography preserved in the New Book of Tang (Xin Tangshu 新唐書), Xin Yunjing was registered as a “guest household of Jingzhao” 客籍京兆, indicating that later he had relocated to Chang’an 長安 (Ouyang 1981, p. 4753). After her marriage to Xin Yunjing, Madame Li conducted herself as a model of virtue: “her words conformed to rites and decorum; her conduct aligned with the models of the classics and historical records” 言成禮節, 行合圖史. More specifically, as the epitaph describes,

The madame paid homage to the ancestral temple, and devoted her heart to the offerings, which shows the meanings of chastity and obedience. [She] harmonized the order between elder and younger, and educated sisters-in-law be means of virtues, which is the harmony of rite and music. Weaving and needlework are works of women. Compliance and obedience are the virtues of women. Solemnity, respectability, kindness and wisdom are the maternal models. Illustrated five goods to regulate the internal, and embodied three obedience to decorate the external, and when the internal and the external are right, the human way is completed.

夫致敬於宗廟, 盡心於蘋藻, 貞顺之義也; 睦長幼以序, 訓娣姒以德, 禮樂之和也; 織紝組紃, 女工也; 婉婉聽從, 婦道也; 莊敬慈慧, 母儀也; 昭五美以理內, 體三從以飾外, 內外正而人道備矣.

Madame Li was portrayed as adhering to the behavioral norms and moral expectations prescribed for women of her time: she is said to have assumed the responsibility of offering sacrifices to ancestors, maintained harmony among her husband’s brothers, guided her sisters-in-law with propriety, treated others with benevolence, and excelled in domestic skills such as weaving and needlework. This description brings to light two important dimensions of the issue: first, while it may be shaped by the conventional tropes and idealized formulas typical of epitaph writing, the depiction of the deceased’s virtues remains of paramount importance. It might be because on the one hand, it allows future readers to better understand Madame Li as a daughter, wife and mother and also conveys the harmonious and morally exemplary life the deceased lived. On the other hand, from the perspective of the function of epitaphs, it seems important to narrate the virtues and merits of the deceased in the epitaph to ensure her well-being in the afterlife, as Keith Knapp and Timothy Davis have already pointed out that the epitaph serves the talismanic function while simultaneously communicating the good virtues to the spectral officials and the denizens of the underworld (Knapp 2000, pp. 23–24; Davis 2015, p. 32). As Knapp wrote, “the hun’s treatment in the afterlife depended upon its moral qualities” (Knapp 2000, p. 24). Second, the depiction suggests that the values embodied by Buddhist nuns were not necessarily in conflict with Confucian ideals. For example, Baochang 寶唱 (fl. early 6th c.) also presented nuns in his Lives of the Nuns (Biqiuni zhuan 比丘尼傳) as women who were willing to uphold Confucian values, especially chastity and filial piety (Schuster 1985, p. 99).

Moreover, Madame Li gave birth to a son named Hao 浩, an event of great significance for a woman in traditional society. Bearing a son was seen as a means of continuing the ancestral line—particularly that of her husband—and thereby ensuring the family’s legacy. Thus, Madame Li fulfilled all these societal expectations. More than that, Madame Li offered wise and capable support to her husband during his military appointments, earning additional praise from the emperor and further cementing her reputation as a virtuous and exemplary wife. As the epitaph reads:

The emperor praised Madame Li when he heard this and issued an edict by saying: Madame Li is most suitable for the household, who is definitely a wise woman, dedicating herself to the meritorious achievement, [but] in effect, assisting her respectable husband. She was bestowed [the title] County Duchess of Longxi.

天子聞而嘉之, 乃下詔曰:李氏宜于室家, 是稱哲婦, 致玆勳業, 實佐良夫, 可封隴西郡夫人.

In the Tang dynasty, women could hold noble titles through personal merit, marriage, or the accomplishments of their children. As Noboru Niida 仁井田陞 has outlined based on the Six Codes of the Tang and the Comprehensive Institutions (Tongdian 通典), the titles and corresponding entitlements granted to the wives of ranked officials can be briefly summarized as follows (Niida 1989, p. 229; see

Table 1. Titles and Corresponding Entitlements.

Title	Granting Criteria
Duchess of Sate (Guo furen 國夫人)	Granted to the mother or wife of a civil or military official of the first rank, or to the wife or mother of a Duke of the State (Guo gong 國公).
Commandery Duchess (Jun furen 郡夫人)	Granted to the mother or wife of an official of the third rank or above.
Commandery Countess (Jun jun 郡君)	Granted to the mother or wife of a fourth-rank official, or of a second-rank merit official (xun guan 勲官).
District Viscountess (Xian jun 縣君)	Granted to the mother or wife of a fifth-rank official, or of a third-rank merit official.
Township Baroness (Xiang jun 鄉君)	Granted to the mother or wife of a fourth-rank merit official.

).

Madame Li was granted the title of “Commandery Duchess of Longxi” (Longxi junfuren 隴西郡夫人), the second highest rank of noble title for women. This honor was closely linked not only to her husband’s military achievements and rank, but also to her own exemplary moral conduct. After her death, she was posthumously honored with the title “Duchess of Su State” (Suguo furen 肅國夫人). In any case, Madame Li’s life, by the standards of her time, embodied the ideal model of elite womanhood.

However, Madame Li’s “happy life” did not diminish her longing for spiritual fulfillment. She aspired to leave the secular world and enter religious ordination. As her epitaph records:

[She] felt the Dao in middle age, realized that one cannot rely on life for long, and embraced the aspiration to leave the secular world.

而中年體道, 知生生之不可以久恃也, 有離俗之志.

It is not surprising that Madame Li became deeply drawn to Buddhism, as Tang women had many opportunities to encounter Buddhist culture, often through popular forms of entertainment, such as story-telling (Mair 1989, pp. 110–51; Riley 1997, p. 276). During the Tang, temples were not exclusively spaces for Buddhist worship, they also functioned as important sites for social and communal gatherings. For example, Veneration Nunnery (Chongjing si 崇敬寺) with which Madame Li was affiliated was a well-known public site for viewing peony blossoms. As Bai Juyi 白居易 (772–846) wrote: “The Jade Pistil festival takes place at Tangchang nunnery, and the Peony Blooming season at Chongjing nunnery” 唐昌玉蕊會, 崇敬牡丹期 (J. Bai 1980, p. 4824). In addition, sūtra lectures (jiang fojing 講佛經) were also widespread, as reflected in Han Yu’s 韓愈 (768–824) poem “The Woman of Mount Hua” (Huashan nü 華山女), where he wrote: “on the Eastern and Western streets, [Buddhists] expounded the sūtras; they rang bells, blew conches, and clamored in the palace” 街東街西講佛經, 撞鐘吹螺鬧宮廷 (Qu 1996, p. 934). Although Han Yu depicted the scene with a critical tone, his description nonetheless reveals the vigor with which Buddhist teachings were disseminated and the extent to which Buddhist culture had permeated everyday life.

Madame Li’s decision, however, met with resistance from her husband.

Jincheng [General Xin] tried to dissuade her, but her will could not be taken from her. As a result, word reached the emperor, who issued an edict to ordain her as a Buddhist nun at Chongjing nunnery, granting her the Dharma name Yuanji.

金城諭而止之, 而志不可奪, 由是上聞, 有詔度為崇敬寺尼, 法號圓寂.

General Xin “persuaded her and [tried to] dissuade her” 諭而止之. Although Madame Li had been portrayed as a model elite woman—“illuminating the five virtues to govern the inner realm and embodying the three obedience to adorn the outer realm” 昭五美以理內, 體三從以飾外—she displayed strong resolve in the matter of her religious aspirations. Despite General Xin’s opposition, the epitaph states that “her will could not be taken from her” 志不可奪. While the epitaph does not clarify whether her husband eventually relented, it notes that the emperor ultimately endorsed her decision: he issued an edict ordaining her as a Buddhist nun at the renowned Chongjing nunnery and bestowed upon her the religious name Yuanji 圓寂.

Chongjing nunnery located in the Jing’an Quarter (Jing’an fang 靖安坊) of Chang’an. It was originally a temple constructed by Emperor Wen 文帝 of the Sui (r. 581–604) and later renovated in the second year of the Longshuo 龍朔 reign (662) by Emperor Gaozong 高宗 of the Tang (r. 649–683), who repurposed it as a nunnery in honor of his deceased sister, Princess Anding 安定公主 (654–654) (P. Wang 1955, pp. 846, 853). According to historical records, there were initially five nunneries in Chang’an established specifically for eminent Buddhist nuns, and Chongjing convent was one of them.2

Although during the Tang, many women were drawn to Buddhism, the majority remained lay practitioners. As Su Shimei’s 蘇士梅 research based on the Compilations of Tang Dynasty Epitaphs (Tangdai muzhi huibian 唐代墓志彙編) shows, among 423 Buddhists recorded in epitaphs, 206 were women, yet only 30 were ordained nuns (Su 2003, p. 85). Lay Buddhism allowed women to participate in religious life without leaving home or observing the full set of precepts. In contrast to this more common path, Madame Li’s decision to undergo full ordination as a Buddhist nun demonstrates not only her exceptional piety but also her strong personal determination. However, although Madame Li was ordained as a Buddhist nun, she did not appear to reside continuously within the nunnery like common nuns.

On the fifteenth day of the intercalary sixth month of the third year of the Dali reign (768), she fell ill in bed at Shuntian Monastery in Taiyuan and then returned to quiescence. At the time, she was fifty-eight years old.

以大曆三年閏六月十五日寢疾於太原順天寺, 因歸寂滅, 時年五十八.

This detail raises an important question: why did she die at a nunnery in Taiyuan? In the Tang dynasty, Taiyuan Garrison (Taiyuan fu 太原府, present-day Taiyuan city 太原), which administered thirteen districts 縣, was regarded as the Northern Capital (Beidu 北都 or Beijing 北京), alongside the Western Capital, Chang’an, and the Eastern Capital, Luoyang 洛陽. According to the epitaph, Madame Li passed away in the Monastery of Obedience to Heaven (Shuntian si 順天寺). Unfortunately, we know almost nothing about this monastery. Based on its name—Shuntian—it is plausible to speculate that the monastery was either built or renamed during Shi Siming’s 史思明 short-lived Shuntian reign (759–761). In 759, Shi Siming 史思明 attacked and captured Weizhou 魏州 (modern Daming 大名 in Hebei 河北), declared himself the founding emperor of the Great Yan (Dayan 大燕) regime, and inaugurated his reign under the title Shuntian, meaning “Following the Mandate of Heaven” (Ouyang 1981, p. 6430). He subsequently renamed monasteries as Shuntian Monasteries, a strategy reminiscent of the Kaiyuan Monastery network established by Emperor Xuanzong 玄宗, (r. 712–756). This suggests Shi Siming aimed to replace the existing Kaiyuan state monastery network with a new system centered around Shuntian Monasteries (Nie 2012, pp. 132–33). It is thus plausible that the Shuntian Monastery in Taiyuan was either renamed or newly established in connection with Shi Siming’s brief reign. If this connection holds, the monastery may have functioned as a “state monastery” (guan si 官寺) (Nie 2012, pp. 132–33). Building upon Nie Shunxin’s 聶順新 research, which demonstrates that most state monasteries were established within the administrative centers of prefectures, it is most plausible that the Shuntian Monastery was located in Jinyang 晉陽 (present-day Taiyuan), the administrative seat of the Taiyuan Garrison (Nie 2012, p. 48).

Madame Li’s presence in Taiyuan was most likely due to her husband’s official reassignment. This conclusion is supported by three main considerations. First, in the first year of the Baoying 寶應 reign (762), Emperor Suzong 唐肅宗 (r. 756–762) appointed General Xin as the “Administrator of the Taiyuan Garrison” (Taiyuan yin 太原尹) and his tenure lasted for six years, from 762 to 768—the year in which Madame Li passed away (Q. Li 2020, p. 44). This is clearly not a coincidence. Second, within the Tang Buddhist context, transferring from a prominent capital monastery—such as Chongjing Nunnery—to a regional one was typically regarded as a demotion. Moreover, moving one’s monastic registration (sengji 僧籍) from one monastery to another involved a complex bureaucratic process, usually requiring a formal application submitted by a respected Buddhist master (dade 大德) or a government official on the applicant’s behalf.3 Therefore, such transfers would rarely occur unless absolutely necessary. Third, traveling from Chang’an to Taiyuan was no easy task. The Japanese monk Ennin 圓仁 (794–864), who once journeyed between the two cities, recorded that the route traversed three prefectures and sixteen districts, covering a distance of more than two thousand li (see Figure 1).

His account reflects not only the arduous nature of the journey but also the potential dangers along the way, such as the threat of banditry.4 Given the complexity of transferring monastic registration and the considerable difficulty of the journey itself, it is unlikely that Madame Li chose to relocate to a monastery in Taiyuan entirely on her own initiative or undertook the trip independently. It is far more plausible that she traveled to Taiyuan with her husband after his appointment.

Figure 1. Imperial Postal Route Map between Chang’an and Taiyuan during the Tang.5

Figure 1. Imperial Postal Route Map between Chang’an and Taiyuan during the Tang.5

According to the epitaph, in 768, Madame Li passed away at Shuntian Monastery due to illness. As previously noted, Shuntian Monastery was possibly a state monastery. If so, it was unlikely to have been a nunnery, as state monasteries were typically designated for monks.6 This makes it improbable that Madame Li resided there on a long-term basis. Thus, she might live elsewhere—perhaps at her family’s residence—and moved to the monastery when her illness became serious.7 Relocating to the monastery may have been motivated by two factors: first, the spiritual and emotional solace that a monastery could offer; and second, the medical care available through Buddhist institutions. During the Tang dynasty, monasteries often functioned as charitable establishments, many of which maintained hospitals and dispensaries to care for the sick and the poor, such as infirmaries (bingfang 病坊) (Ch’en 1976, p. 229). However, these monastic hospitals also served the honorable and wealthy (Chen 2003, pp. 268–70). For example, Zhu Chongqing 朱崇慶 (659–725), who held the position of “Regional Inspector of Hu Prefecture” (Huzhou cishi 湖州刺史), sought medical treatment at a Buddhist monastery. According to his epitaph, “Muzhiming of Lord Zhu, Late Regional Inspector of Hu Prefecture, and Grand Master of the Palace with Silver Seal and Blue Ribbon” (Da Tang gu yinqing guanglu dafu Huzhou cishi Zhugong muzhi 大唐故銀青光祿大夫湖州刺史朱公墓誌), Zhu Chongqing traveled to the Dragon Prosperity Monastery (Longxing si 龍興寺) in Bianzhou 汴州 in search of healing. The epitaph states:

[Zhu Chongqing] was seriously ill in bed and on the verge of death. Neither medicine nor prayer to the gods brought a cure. On the third day of the eighth month in the thirteenth year of the Kaiyuan reign (725), he died in the pure quarters of Longxing Monastery in Bianzhou.

寢疾彌留, 藥禱無降, 以開元十三年八月三日薨于汴州龍興寺之淨宇. (Zhou and Zhao 1992, pp. 1308–9)

By analogy, it is reasonable to speculate that Madame Li may have taken up residence at Shuntian Monastery for both medical treatment and spiritual support during her final days, ultimately passing away there. In any case—whether she was living with her family or staying at the monastery—it is evident that she relocated from Chang’an to Taiyuan alongside her secular household.

Madame Li lived what was considered an ideal life for elite women, yet she chose to be ordained as a Buddhist nun in pursuit of her own spiritual calling. As her epitaph states, “wealth and honor are what people desire, but Madame Li regarded them as dust and chaff” 夫富與貴是人之所欲也, 夫人視之猶塵垢粃糠焉, and “[she] understood that one cannot rely upon life for long and thus embraced the aspiration to leave the secular world” 知生生之不可以久恃也, 有離俗之志. Realizing that worldly wealth and prestige were fleeting illusions, Madame Li no longer considered them worth cherishing. Despite her husband’s opposition, she remained steadfast in her decision to pursue a religious life. However, her trajectory after taking vows suggests that she did not sever ties with her husband and family. All available evidence suggests that she relocated from Chang’an to Taiyuan in accordance with her husband’s official appointments. Her life thus offers a different perspective on the relationship between Buddhist nuns and their families, particularly their husbands, during this period.

4. Lady Liu: Daoist Priestess and Virtuous Wife

Madame Li was not unique among Tang elite married women who took religious vows yet continued to maintain a relationship with their husbands. A comparable case is that of Liu Zhirou 劉致柔 (789–849), the chief concubine of Li Deyu 李德裕 (787–850). Li Deyu is recognized as one of the most successful and influential ministers of the Tang dynasty, having served as Chief Minister (Zaixiang 宰相) under Emperors Wenzong 文宗 (r. 827–840), and Wuzong 武宗 (r. 840–846). In addition to his political achievements, Li Deyu is also remembered as a prominent factional leader. According to traditional scholarship, he was deeply involved in a prolonged political struggle spanning three decades against a rival faction led by Niu Sengru 牛僧孺 (779–848). This enduring conflict, known as the Niu–Li Factional Strife (Niu–Li dangzheng 牛李黨爭), is often cited as a significant factor contributing to the weakening of the Tang empire (Dalby 1979, pp. 561–681; Y. Wang 1996, pp. 17–22; Takeuchi 2011, pp. 77–113), though Michael Höckelmann’s recent article argues that the notion of “factional strife” is a historiographical construct that first emerged during the Five Dynasties (907–960) and Northern Song (960–1127) periods but only fully crystalized in the twentieth century (Höckelmann 2025; Eisenberg 2003).

As a poignant symbol of his defeat after a three-decade-long political struggle with the rival faction,8 Li Deyu was banished in the third year of the Dazhong 大中reign (849) to Yazhou 崖州 (present-day Haikou 海口, Hainan province 海南) by Emperor Xuanzong 宣宗 (r. 846–859). Lady Liu accompanied him into exile. Having suffered from illness for years, she eventually passed away in Yazhou, due to the lack of proper medical care and treatment. In her memory, Li Deyu composed the “Muzhiming of Lady Liu of Pengcheng of the Tang, Refined Master of Great Cavern of Yandong Convent of Mount Mao” (Tang Maoshan Yandong gong Dadong lianshi Pengcheng Liushi muzhiming 唐茅山燕洞宮大洞鍊師彭城劉氏墓誌銘). The epitaph is also preserved in the Compilation of Tang Dynasty Epitaphs (Zhou and Zhao 1992, p. 2303).

As Ping Yao observes, the Confucian four womanly virtues of faithfulness, filial piety, chastity and kindness remained a key aspect of how women were depicted in Tang epitaphs. This demonstrates that these virtues continued to serve as the principal guidelines for women’s roles within the family in the Tang, even though their content had much expanded (Yao 2011, p. 139). In her epitaph, Lady Liu—like Madame Li—was depicted as a paragon of virtue.

Harmony and docility existed within her, and the illuminating radiance emanated from her. Her amenability and serenity were in good measure. She was accommodating, brilliant, and loved benevolence.

和順在中, 光英發外, 婉嬺有度, 柔明好仁.

In addition to being portrayed as an exemplary woman, Lady Liu was also recognized as a Daoist priestess, holding both moral and religious authority in her community. The epitaph reads: “in her middle age, Lady Liu received Upper Clarity ritual methods at Yandong Convent at Mount Mao” 中年於茅山燕洞宮傳上清法. According to Fu Xuancong 傅璇琮, Lady Liu received the Upper Clarity (Shangqing 上清) register at Yandong Convent (Yandong gong 燕洞宮) around the year 826, at the age of thirty-seven (Fu 2001, p. 148). This occurred during Li Deyu’s tenure as the “Inspection Commissioner of Zhexi Circuit” (Zhexi guanchashi 浙西觀察使), based in Runzhou 潤州 (present-day Nanjing南京, Jiangsu province 江蘇), a position he held from 822 until the eighth month of 829 (Fu 2001, pp. 116, 158). Mount Mao, located in Juqu 句曲 county (present-day Jurong 句容) of Runzhou, was approximately 25 miles away from Runzhou’s administrative center, making it geographically convenient for Lady Liu to access this principal center of the Upper Clarity tradition (Wei 2014).

According to the epitaph, Lady Liu was not merely an ordinary practitioner. She was respectfully honored with the title “Refined Master of the Great Cavern” (Dadong Lianshi 大洞煉師), reflecting her esteemed status and profound cultivation. “Refined Master” (lianshi 煉師) was also written as 練師. According to the collection of official statutes of the Tang Dynasty, the Six Codes of the Tang:

Daoist practitioners are often designated by three titles during their cultivation: the first is called Master of Rituals; the second is called Master of Awesome Protocol; the third is called Master of Precepts. The ones whose virtues are lofty and whose thoughts are refined are called Refined Master.

道士修行有三號: 其一曰法師, 其二曰威儀師, 其三曰律師. 其德高思精謂之練師. (L. Li 1992, p. 125; Schafer 1989, p. 79)

Thus, the title “Refined Master” designates a practitioner of exceptional Daoist knowledge and advanced spiritual cultivation. This interpretation is further supported by evidence from surviving Tang epitaphs, which attest to the use of this title for highly accomplished Daoist adepts, for example, the abbess (guanzhu 觀主) of the Convent of Universal Benefit (Xianyi guan 咸宜觀), Li Dongzhen 李洞真 (?–842). During mid-late Tang, Convent of Universal Benefit was one of the most famous convents in Chang’an and it even became the first choice for female members of upper class who decided to ordain as Daoist priestesses (Jia 2018, pp. 14–15; Lei 2019, pp. 129–32). As the New History of the South (Nanbu xinshu 南部新書), a brush-note (biji 筆記), compiled by the Northern Song scholar Qian Yi 錢易 (968–1026) wrote, “among scholar-official families, all those [women] who entered the dao did so at the Convent of Universal Benefit” 士大夫之家入道盡在咸宜 (Qian 2013, p. 212). As the abbess of such a prestigious convent, the epitaph composed for her—titled “Muzhiming of Refined Master Li, Ritual Master of Three Caverns, Late Abbot of the Convent of Universal Benefit of Tang” (Tang gu Xianyi guanzhu sandong fashi Li lianshi muzhiming 唐故咸宜觀主三洞法師李練師墓志銘)—records that she received “Register of Equal Completion of Interlocking Belts of Upper Clarity” (Shangqing jiaodai deng bi lu 上清交帶等畢籙), often abbreviated as “Register of Completion” (bilu 畢籙) (Z. Bai 2018, pp. 315–16; Lei 2019, p. 127). Attainment of this register signified that Li Dongzhen had been entrusted with the full transmission of the Upper Clarity canon, marking her as a recipient of the highest level of ordination within the Daoist tradition.

In addition, Wang Xuming 王虛明 (791–859), a Daoist priestess of the Convent of Stabilizing State (An’guo guan 安國觀)9 also held the title “Refined Master of Great Cavern”.10 According to her epitaph, titled “Muzhiming with Preface of the Deceased Refined Master of Great Cavern Wang of Convent of Stabilizing State of Eastern Capital” (Gu dongdu Anguo guan dadong Wang lianshi muzhiming bing xu 故東都安國觀大洞王煉師墓銘並序) (Wu 2005, p. 197), Wang Xuming received the complete transmission of the “Great Cavern and Three Effulgences of Shangqing” (Shangqing sanjing dadong 上清三景大洞) (Wu 2005, p. 197). Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that the title “Refined Master” designated the most advanced Daoist practitioners—those who had completed the full ordination system, received the full transmissions of scriptures, and attained the highest rank within the Daoist clerical hierarchy.11 Although Lady Liu was a Daoist priestess affiliated with a convent and held the highest clerical rank, she did not reside in a convent, which was the customary practice for most ordained Daoists.

At that time, [Lady Liu] had suffered from a persistent illness for six years. Because I had been exiled to the south, [Lady Liu] could not bear to be apart [from me] and continuously traveled ten thousand li [with me]. A full cycle of the seasons had passed again. The carriage traversed mountain paths and the boat was pulled [along the river]. We ferried across the sea and resided in humble dwellings. There were no good physicians and good medicine to [allow her] to fulfill her allotted life. There were no fragrant rice and good vegetables to improve her diet. The cruel heat wore us down during the day, and the miasmas attacked [us] at night. After three seasons, spring, summer, and autumn, she succumbed to the crisis. On the twenty-first day of the eighth month of the Jisi year, [Lady Liu] passed away in the official residence at Hainan, at the age of sixty-two. Alas, alas, my grief!

屬久嬰沉痼, 彌曠六年, 以余南遷, 不忍言別, 綿歷萬里, 寒暑再朞, 輿嶠拖舟, 涉海居陋, 無名醫上藥可以盡年, 無香稻嘉蔬可以充膳, 毒暑晝爍, 瘴氣夜侵, 纔及三時, 遂至危亟. 以已巳歲八月二十一日終於海南旅舍, 享年六十有二. 嗚呼哀哉!

According to the epitaph, at the end of 847, when Li Deyu was exiled, Lady Liu had already been suffering from an illness for six years. However, as Li Deyu wrote, she was unable to endure the separation from her husband and wished to continue caring for the disgraced Li Deyu. Consequently, she chose to accompany him to the distant south, despite her worsening health. One can imagine how difficult the journey must have been. The official biography of Li Deyu contained in the Old Book of Tang (Jiu Tangshu 舊唐書) records:

Deyu was banished. In the second year of Dazhong reign (848), he departed from Luoyang, traveling by waterway, through Yangzi river and Huai river for Chaozhou. In the winter of the same year, he arrived in Chaoyang, but he was then demoted to the position of Revenue Manager of Yazhou. By the first month of the third year of Dazhong reign (849), he arrived in Zhu’ya zhou. In the twelfth month of the same year, he died at the age of sixty-three-year-old.

德裕既貶, 大中二年, 自洛陽水路經江, 淮赴潮州. 其年冬, 至潮陽, 又貶崖州司戶. 至三年正月, 方達珠崖郡. 十二月卒, 時年六十三. (X. Liu 1981, p. 4528)

As Li Deyu depicted in the epitaph: “they continuously travelled ten thousand li” and “traversed mountain paths and the boat was pulled along the river”. By the time they eventually arrived in Yazhou, Li Deyu and Lady Liu must have been physically and mentally exhausted. What’s worse is that there was no good physician and food. In addition, the living environment of Yazhou was harsh and hostile. The region had an almost tropical climate, characterized by mild winters and long, hot, humid, and rainy summers. It was notorious for its noxious miasmas (zhang 瘴), which made it a frequent destination for the exile of officials accused of serious offenses.12 All of these circumstances caused Lady Liu’s heath to deteriorate rapidly, ultimately leading to her death. Four months after the death of Lady Liu, Li Deyu himself passed away. It is evident that, despite being an ordained Daoist priestess affiliated with Yandong Convent, Lady Liu maintained her marriage and remained with Li Deyu until the end of her life.

Unlike Buddhism, Daoism during the Sui 隋 (581–619) and Tang periods did not impose any strict regulations on the marital status of its practitioners. This can be observed from Xuanyi’s 玄嶷 (fl. 684–704) critique preserved in his Treatise on Revealing the Correct (Zhenzheng lun 甄正論).

Daoist tradition has no law for prohibiting the matters of sexual desires. Today, Daoists do not marry, which is an imitation of Buddhists. There is no regulation, so the Daoist Li Bo of Songyang abbey of the Sui presented a memorial to the emperor [by saying]: please allow Daoists who work on Daoist rituals to have no regulation of prohibiting marriage.

道家無律禁淫欲之事. 今道士等不婚娶. 學僧為之. 一無憑據, 故隋嵩陽觀道士李播上表云. 准道法道士無禁婚娶之條. (T52, no. 2112, pp. 569b8–11)

Based on Xuanyi’s statements, it appears that most Daoists of his time indeed observed celibacy. In fact, this trend had already begun to take shape during the Six Dynasties period. According to the Biographies of the Adepts of the Dao (Daoxue zhuan 道學傳) compiled by Ma Shu 馬樞 (522–581), the vast majority (including all documented female Daoists) adhered to the practice of celibacy. A rare few have been formerly married. This indicates that celibacy was predominantly observed by the majority of Daoist practitioners. However, there were certainly individual Daoists who maintained that marriage should be allowed, like Li Bo 李播. Xuanyi argued that the practice of celibacy among Daoist practitioners did not originate from Daoist doctrine itself but was instead a result of Buddhist influence. Indeed, early Daoist traditions did not prohibit marriage or sexual practices. Rooted in a cosmological belief in the universal harmony of yin and yang, early Daoist traditions viewed sexuality—whether physical or spiritual—as a valid form of cultivation, aimed at achieving longevity and transcendence. These more flexible attitudes helped to legitimize not only the sexual but also the emotional lives of Daoist practitioners. This perspective continued into the Tang dynasty, when celibacy was not strictly enforced and marriage was allowed under certain conditions (Jia 2014, p. 105).

Moreover, evidence from Daoist texts suggests that provisions concerning the marital status of Daoist practitioners were relatively lenient. During the medieval period, as monasticism became the dominant model of organized and state-supported Daoist practice, diverse Daoist traditions were loosely incorporated into an ordination system known as the Three Caverns (Sandong 三洞), comprising seven hierarchical ranks. The clearest record of this hierarchical system is found in a concise text titled Rite for the Practice of the Dao of the Three Caverns (Sandong xiudao yi 三洞修道儀), transmitted by the priest Liu Ruozhuo 劉若拙 (fl. 882–972) and compiled by the scholar-official Sun Yizhong 孫夷中 in 943.13 According to the Rite for the Practice of the Dao of the Three Caverns, the seven ranks of ordination were as follows: Orthodox Unity (Zhengyi 正一) or Novice (Chu rudao 初入道), Cavern of Spirit (Dongshen 洞神), Ascending to Mystery (Shengxuan 昇玄), High Mystery (Gaoxuan 高玄), Numinous Treasure (Lingbao 靈寶), Three Caverns (Sandong 三洞) and Great Cavern (Dadong 大洞) (Z. Liu 2014, p. 94). Among these ranks, certain levels permitted practitioners to marry or to maintain existing marital relationships. The text reads:

For those [of Orthodox Unity] who have already married and returned to the Dao: men are referred to as disciples of pure truth, and women as disciples of pure faith. They should observe codes, ritual fasting and precepts, and may also practice the way of the Yellow and Red. However, if they are able to cease this practice, it is considered ideal.

如已成夫歸者, 男稱清真弟子, 女稱清信弟子, 常依科齋戒, 兼行黃赤交接之道, 能便斷得, 即為佳也. (DZ 1237: 3b)

Those [achieved the level of Cavern of Spirit] who renounce the secular world and enter the Dao must, from that point onward, sever marital relations and abstain from consuming meat and blood.

如捨俗入道者, 自此夫婦隔絕, 不茹葷血也. (DZ 1237: 5a)

It indicates that those at the level of Orthodox Unity, regarded as novices, were allowed to remain married or to enter into marriage, and to perform sexual practices (or the way of the Yellow and Red). Starting from the second rank, the Cavern of Spirit (Dongshen 洞神), Daoist practitioners were expected to observe celibacy, and those already married were supposed to separate. While it remains uncertain how rigorously these rules were enforced, it is clear that in practice, they were not always strictly applied—Lady Liu stands as a compelling example of this flexibility.

5. Conclusions

Becoming a Buddhist or Daoist is referred to as chujia 出家, meaning “leaving the household [for monastic life].” In Buddhism, once a practitioner is formally ordained as a monk or nun, they are expected to live and train in a monastery, rather than practice as a householder (jushi 居士). So did Daoism. However, in Chinese society, Confucian values placed “human relationships” (renlun 人伦)—especially the bond between children and parents, or filial piety (xiao 孝)—at the center of social life. To adapt to this cultural framework and promote the spread of their faith, Chinese Buddhists actively reinterpreted Buddhist teachings through the lens of filial piety. A prominent example of this effort was the promotion of images of filial Buddhist women. As Bret Hinsch argues, Chinese Buddhists constructed images of filial Buddhist women to counter Confucian critiques that accused Buddhism of undermining family responsibilities. In this process, Buddhism was presented as a means of fulfilling filial obligations, while filial piety was used to justify the legitimacy of Buddhist practice. This gendered ideal became a powerful strategy to reconcile Confucian ethics with Buddhist doctrine, ultimately contributing to the formation of a distinctively Chinese Buddhism (Hinsch 2002, pp. 49–76). In practice, however, as Ping Yao observes, it was often Buddhist nuns, rather than monks, who shouldered greater filial responsibilities within the family (Yao 2014, p. 33). A notable example is the phenomenon of zhujia ni 住家尼 in the Tang dynasty—a term coined by modern scholars to describe “stay-at-home” Buddhist nuns who maintained their monastic vows while continuing to reside with and care for their families (Yao 2014, p. 33).14 While some embraced this hybrid role out of filial devotion, others did so due to practical constraints, such as the limited space and financial resources of local convents (Hao 1998, pp. 74–83; Shi 2009, p. 62). Furthermore, Daoist sources reflect a similar situation. Mianheng Liu in his recent article also noted that although most Daoist practitioners rejected marriage, they were rarely depicted as experiencing conflicts between their faith and their relationships with blood relatives (parents or children) (M. Liu 2025, p. 5). However, the bond between children and parents represents only one dimension of human relationships. This prompts a broader inquiry: how were other relational bonds—for example, the spousal relationship—negotiated? Although scholars generally agree that most women entered religious life after the death of their husbands or following divorce, there were indeed exceptions—women like Madame Li and Lady Liu—who were married, enjoyed stable and harmonious domestic lives, and still chose to receive ordination. Their cases complicate conventional assumptions about the motivations behind women’s religious commitments and demonstrate that the decision to pursue a spiritual path was not necessarily tied to marital disruption or social marginalization. At the same time, their experiences reflect the complexity and diversity of women’s religious lives in the Tang dynasty.

According to their epitaphs, despite numerous differences in background and religious affiliation, Madame Li and Lady Liu shared several notable characteristics. First, neither was a laywoman; both underwent formal ordination into their respective religious traditions. Second, although they both enjoyed stable and harmonious domestic lives, they still chose to enter religious life in middle age. Third, both were married to prominent, high-ranking officials—a circumstance that likely influenced the shape of their religious commitments. Fourth, neither woman severed ties with their husbands; instead, both remained in close proximity to their spouses and accompanied them in accordance with their official appointments, reflecting their ongoing engagement with familial responsibilities.

Their differences, however, reveal the distinct ways that Buddhist and Daoist institutional norms shaped the lived experience of ordained women. Given that Buddhist nuns were typically bound by vows of celibacy and prohibited from marrying, Madame Li seemingly maintained a more formalized and intimate affiliation with the convent. Her epitaph offers no explicit evidence that she maintained contact with her husband after ordination. Nonetheless, the trajectory of her life following ordination suggests that she may have remained within her familial network, possibly continuing to travel or reside in proximity to her husband. By contrast, Daoism, which historically allowed for more flexibility regarding marriage and sexuality, accommodated a different model of religious life. Lady Liu’s epitaph clearly states that she never separated from her husband, who was himself a high-ranking Daoist priest and referred to himself as a “Disciple of the Three Effulgences from the Great Cavern of the Upper Clarity Mysterious Capital” (Shangqing xuandu dadong sanjing dizi 上清玄都大洞三景弟子) (D. Li 2018, p. 653). This clearly suggests that Lady Liu continued to uphold her marital relationship even after attaining the highest rank within the Daoist clerical hierarchy.

Their elite social status undoubtedly afforded them greater flexibility in balancing religious commitments with familial roles. Their cases highlight the diverse motivations and strategies employed by ordained women in the Tang dynasty, reflecting the complexity of their individual trajectories and social positioning. Moreover, their cases demonstrate that neither the motivations for entering religious life nor the approaches to negotiating familial relationships conformed to a single standardized model. Instead, they exemplify the diverse range of possibilities available to elite women as they navigated the intricate interplay of piety, emotional bonds, kinship obligations, and societal expectations.