When Your Daughter Is Your Teacher: The Family of Tanyangzi
Thu Oct 6, 11:00 AM - Thu Oct 6, 12:00 PM

About The Lecture:

Tanyangzi (1557-1580) was a girl born into a proper Confucian family in Ming dynasty China. Her family expected her to make a good marriage and produce fine sons but she refused to read texts which taught proper female behavior. Instead, as a child, she chanted the name of the Buddha each morning before getting out of bed and refused to eat. She had elaborate visions in which she visited Daoist deities. When her fiancé died, she asked that her family treat her as if she were a widow, which they somewhat reluctantly did. This gave her the space, both literal and metaphorical, to pursue her religious vocation. Her family was initially alarmed by her behavior, but gradually became convinced of the truth of her teaching. In 1580, she ascended heavenward and attained immortality, reportedly with 100,000 people in attendance. Our main source for her life is a long biography co-written by her father and one of her most important disciples, but there are dozens of other sources such as letters, poems, and other biographies. This talk will draw on these various sources to examine ways in which her experience was unique, and other ways she encapsulated trends that were common in sixteenth-century China.

www.EllingOEide.org