ABSTRACT
Marginalized, frequently persecuted to the point of near-extinction, but always sustained by the faith of its religious—the Jiuku miao is experiencing a resurgence of its historical prominence in the local community at a time when the religious leadership and ordinary Daoist believers reach back into the past to claim rightful autonomy. In current negotiations with local Government authorities, it is this inheritance of a longstanding female tradition and women’s pride in their historical institution that outweighs both its much diminished lack of space and a ruined architectural grandeur. Inspiring leadership, support from a community of faithful believers and a cautious but courageous re-connection with the main precepts of the Daoist Quanzhen tradition all mark the development of the Jiuku miao. This proudly self-governed female organization takes pride in its history as it evolves towards a more stable future by using ‘fluid’ strategies to adapt to political and social conditions without compromising its re-emerging identity. As is true of mosque organization and culture, gender is central here, whether as a marker of identity within the Quanzhen tradition, as instrumental in developing an independent status within the ‘postdenominational’ community in Kaifeng set up under the auspices of the State (MacInnis, 1989; Tong, 1999), or as cementing solidarity within the ‘sisterhood’ of the Jiuku miao community.
