page_title: Women in Taoism
hierarchical_section_title: Women in Taoism
caption_attribution_description: English: The Taoist deity Doumu, approx. 1700-1800. China; Fujian province. Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Dehua ware, mold-impressed porcelain with sculpted decoration. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60P1362. Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. This goddess, as her name implies, is the mother of the seven stars of the Northern Big Dipper, the constellation also known as Ursa Major. It is unclear when worship of the Dipper Mother began, but she did not gain prominence until the 1400s, when she appeared in the Taoist canon. This porcelain sculpture, combining Buddhist and Taoist elements, shows the Dipper Mother, with a third eye in her forehead, sitting on a lotus throne and wearing a crown. In her eighteen arms she holds various symbolic implements, among them sacred weapons and vessels. The finely sculpted hands and face are distinctive features of Dehua porcelain. Français&#160;: La divinité taoïste Doumu. Fours de Dehua, porcelaine moulée avec une décoration sculptée. XVIIIe siècle. Chine, Province de Fujian. Dynastie Qing (1644-1911). Collection Avery Brundage , B60P1362 . Musée d'art asiatique de San Francisco. Cette déesse, comme son nom l'indique, est la mère des sept étoiles de la contellation du Nord, correspondant à l'astérisme Beidou chinois, en Europe c’est la constellation de la Grande Ourse. On ne sait pas quand le culte de la Mère des étoiles de cette constellation a commencé, mais elle n'a pas eu une grande importance jusqu'au Template:S- quand elle est apparue dans le canon taoïste. Cette sculpture en porcelaine, combine des éléments bouddhistes et taoïstes, ainsi la Mère des étoiles de la Grande Ourse possède un troisième œil dans le front, elle est assise sur un trône de lotus et porte une couronne. Dans ses dix-huit bras, elle tient divers instruments symboliques, parmi lesquels des armes et des récipients sacrés. Les mains et le visage finement sculptés sont des traits distinctifs de la porcelaine des fours de Dehua.
context_page_description: The roles of women in Taoism have differed from the traditional patriarchy over women in ancient and imperial China. Chinese women had special importance in some Taoist schools that recognized their transcendental abilities to communicate with deities, who frequently granted women with revealed texts and scriptures. Women first came to prominence in the Highest Clarity School, which was founded in the 4th century by a woman, Wei Huacun. The Tang dynasty was a highpoint for the importance of Daoist women, when one-third of the Shangqing clergy were women, including many aristocratic Daoist nuns. The number of Daoist women decreased until the 12th century when the Complete Perfection School, which ordained Sun Bu'er as the only woman among its original disciples, put women in positions of power. In the 18th and 19th centuries, women Daoists practiced and discussed nüdan, involving gender-specific practices of breath meditation and visualization. Furthermore, Daoist divinities and cults have long traditions in China, for example, the Queen Mother of the West, the patron of xian immortality, He Xiangu, one of the Eight Immortals, and Mazu, the protectress of sailors and fishermen.
context_section_description: The roles of women in Taoism (/ˈdaʊɪzəm/, /ˈtaʊ-/) (also spelled "Daoism" /ˈdaʊ-/) have differed from the traditional patriarchy over women in ancient and imperial China. Chinese women had special importance in some Taoist schools that recognized their transcendental abilities to communicate with deities, who frequently granted women with revealed texts and scriptures. Women first came to prominence in the Highest Clarity School, which was founded in the 4th century by a woman, Wei Huacun. The Tang dynasty (618-907) was a highpoint for the importance of Daoist women, when one-third of the Shangqing clergy were women, including many aristocratic Daoist nuns. The number of Daoist women decreased until the 12th century when the Complete Perfection School, which ordained Sun Bu'er as the only woman among its original disciples, put women in positions of power. In the 18th and 19th centuries, women Daoists practiced and discussed nüdan (女丹, "women's neidan inner alchemy"), involving gender-specific practices of breath meditation and visualization. Furthermore, Daoist divinities and cults have long traditions in China, for example, the Queen Mother of the West, the patron of xian immortality, He Xiangu, one of the Eight Immortals, and Mazu, the protectress of sailors and fishermen.
caption: Dehua porcelain statue of the Taoist goddess Doumu (Dipper Mother), adapted from the Buddhist deva  Marici,18th century (Little 2000: 283).
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