1st Edition
Women in Chinese Buddhism Rights, Spirituality and the Path to Freedom
By Jessica Huset Tilton
Copyright 2026
202 Pages
by
Routledge
202 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
Tilton examines how cultural, political and economic forces exert pressures on the levels of freedom and equality for female Buddhists within the Buddhist community as well as women’s rights within society.
The book charts women’s spiritual paths over four periods, beginning with the Buddha and his revolutionary stance on women, to the creation of a fully ordained female Saṅgha in China—which... Read more
Preface
Introduction
1. The Buddha and the Status of Women
2. The Origins of Chinese Mahāyāna Nuns and Laywomen
3. The Emptiness Nature of Gender
4. A “This World” Search for Nirvāṇa
5. The Changing Nature of Buddhism: From a “This World” Nirvāṇa to a Religion, Science and Philosophy
6. An Avīci Hell in this World: The Struggle for Survival
7. The Cultural Revolution: Losing Religion, Losing Gender
Concluding Thoughts & Future Research
Biography
Jessica Huset Tilton is a part-time lecturer in the Humanities Department at the University of Tasmania, Australia.
