Zhuhong’s Communal Rules for the Late Ming Nunnery Filiality and Righteousness Unobstructed

Abstract

This article presents a single detailed case study of communal life at a small private Buddhist nunnery governed by strict rules and inhabited by religiously active nuns. The first half of this article focuses on why the nunnery was constructed, how it was funded, where it was built, its architectural design, and its residents. The second half examines the daily ritual activities of the nuns, their education, disciplinary procedures, fundraising, and community relations. In bringing to life how the culture of monastic discipline shaped the daily rhythms of these nuns’ lives, this article further sheds light not only on monastic culture in Hangzhou at the end of the Ming, but also demonstrates the contrast between that culture and other Buddhist and contemporary religious competitors in the surrounding religious landscape. In so doing, this article shifts our attention from the study of hagiography to the broader context of female monastic culture exhibited in the genres of communal rules (guiyue) and vinaya texts.