Description
Book SynopsisThe Pitfalls of Piety for Married Women shows how problematic the practice of Buddhist piety could be in late imperial China. Two thematically related precious scrolls (baojuan) from the Ming dynasty, The Precious Scroll of the Red Gauze and The Precious Scroll of the Handkerchief, illustrate the difficulties faced by women whose religious devotion conflicted with the demands of marriage and motherhood.
These two previously untranslated texts tell the stories of married women whose piety causes them to be separated from their husbands and children. While these women labor far away, their children are cruelly abused by murderous stepmothers. Following many adventures, the families are reunited by divine intervention and the evil stepmothers get their just deserts. While the texts in The Pitfalls of Piety for Married Women praise Buddhist piety, they also reveal many problems concerning married women and mothers.
Wilt L. Ide
Trade Review
A valuable resource for scholars of Asian studies, in particular popular literature and religious studies. Highly recommended.
* Choice *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Buddhist Preaching and Storytelling: Transformation Texts and Precious Scrolls
Female Piety in Precious Scrolls: Miaoshan and Woman Huang
Precious Scrolls of the Sixteenth Century: Hagiographies, Sectarian Writings, Formal Features,andPerformance
The Precious Scroll of the Handkerchief
The Precious Scroll of the Red Gauze
The Third Lad and the Printing History of the Precious Scroll of the Red Gauze
The Precious Scroll, as Preached by theBuddha, of Little Huaxian: How Woman Yang as a Ghost Embroidered Red Gauze
The Precious Scroll, as Preached by the Buddha, of the Handkerchief: How Wang Zhongqing Lost Everything
