ABSTRACT
A present inheritor of the Kaifeng Shouzhen guniang tradition, Chai Yuhuan praises the tradition of female celibacy as an expression both of women’s faith and engagement in religious affairs, as well as of women’s aspirations for a spiritual life and educated understanding of society that would have raised them above the level of ordinary Catholic women. In this view, the women’s strength of character (Gerenxing) compelled them to reject a space assigned to Catholic nuns that would only have provided a life diminished of such cherished characteristics. In Jingang, Nanyang, located like Kaifeng in the province of Henan, celibate women known colloquially as Shouzhenü or as Zhujia guniang or Lao guniang, look back on an equally rooted tradition of celibate women outside convent organization. In this chapter, we explore how local Jingang Catholics interpret the origin of this tradition, of the factors contributing to its endurance and of the celibate women’s relationship with religious women who joined local, conventional convents. We compare the two Henan traditions in order to reveal the role of the Catholic Church in providing celibate role models as alternatives to mainstream society’s gender roles. How did Shouzhen guniang, as well as convent Sisters, think about their decisions not to follow popular conceptions of women’s fate—namely, that ‘everyone should get married when coming of age’? We have sought to understand how women perceived the choices open to them and how they confronted the consequences of their choice on relations with their natal family and with the wider community.
