ABSTRACT
An overview of (1) how gender has been defined in Chinese belief systems, especially in mythology, folk religion, ancestor worship, Daoism, Buddhism, and Christianity; (2) religious practices that reinforced such understandings; (3) women who entered religious orders; and (4) women’s role in religion.
Primary sources introduced: early myths and legends, folklore, monastery regulations, biographies of female believers, religious letters, and, most importantly, hagiography.
