University of Virginia Library

Becoming a Nun

The biographies record that women entered the monastic life anywhere
from a very young age of five or six to the age of seventy. Those
who took up that life as children would have remained novices until
the proper age for receiving the full obligation, which was ordinarily

age 20. Anyone entering the monastic life also had to have permission
from the person who had authority over her, whether father, husband,
or son.[27] On occasion permission was given by the local governor (no.
54) or even by the Buddha (no. 24).

There were probably as many reasons to become a nun as there
were nuns, but general motives can be identified.[28] Ideally, one joined
because of religious aspirations. One felt a desire to live in an environment
within which to observe the precepts of Buddhism, disciplining
oneself in the rigors of convent life, which provided the best place to
cultivate meditation with the hope of enlightenment. Many nuns certainly
followed such hopes into the convent.

For women, however, the convent also provided a refuge from such
vicissitudes of life as unwelcome marriage, flight from war, homelessness,
lack of protection, or frustrated intellectual ambitions.

The most dramatic example, perhaps, of a woman fleeing marriage
is T'an-hui (no. 54), who threatened a spectacular suicide if forced to
marry. The threat of suicide, although by less bizarre means, was a
part of Chinese tradition. The woman of virtue and principle does not
shy away from taking her own life if necessary.

For women who had been left without a family and without protection
during the years of warfare and turmoil, the convent provided
a haven and a refuge, a home and a family. The most poignant case
is that of Fa-sheng (no. 15), who became a nun at age 70: "She
still longed for her old home. Only by delving deep into the mysteries
of Buddhism was she able to leave behind sorrow and forget
old age."

Fifty-three of the sixty-five biographies mention the woman's ability
to read and write. Traditional Chinese society did not encourage literacy
among women, and education for girls was ordinarily restricted to
the domestic arts. Therefore, the very high rate of literacy among our
select group of nuns is noteworthy. The biographies suggest that some
women may have gone into the monastic life to be able to follow
scholarly pursuits, a vocation that might otherwise have been denied
them. The repeated claim that a nun was very intelligent is not necessarily
mere convention.