Stephanie Balkwill
Biographic Data
| ID | 1601259 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Stephanie Balkwill |
| GIVEN NAMES | Stephanie |
| FAMILY NAME | Balkwill |
| SIGNATURE | BALKWILL S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Winnipeg |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8814-6869 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 8 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 4 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 8 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Northern Wei: A New Form for Women in East Asia
Disappearing and Disappeared Daughters in Medieval Chinese Buddhism: Sūtras on Sex Transformation and an Intervention into Their Transmission History
This study interprets three little-known Mahāyāna sūtras preserved in Chinese that all contain remarkable teachings on the buddhahood of women and the practice of sex transformation along the path to buddhahood. Showing that these three sūtras are part of a larger and more complicated subgenre of texts regarding Mahāyāna notions of emptiness circulating in early medieval China, the study demonstrates the relationship between these texts and the b…
A Virtuoso Nun in the North: Situating the Earliest-Known Dated Biography of a Buddhist Nun in East Asia
This paper introduces and critically discusses the earliest dated biography of an East Asian Buddhist nun that is known to us, and also provides a complete annotated translation of said biography. The text in question is the entombed biography and eulogy (muzhiming ) of a Buddhist nun whose name was Shi Sengzhi (d. 516 CE). Sengzhi held high positions at the court of the Northern Wei (386-534 CE) and on her death was given an imperial burial that…
"Teaching and learning guide for "Why does a woman need to become a man in order to become a Buddha? Past investigations, new leads
Why does a woman need to become a man in order to become a Buddha: Past investigations, new leads
This paper puts forth a new interpretation of the problem of the ineligibility of the female body for Buddhahood as it is seen in the texts of the Mahāyāna tradition of Buddhism. Recognizing that advanced female practitioners in Mahāyāna sūtras both lecture their detractors on the emptiness of physical forms while simultaneously changing their female forms to male ones, this paper provides an interpretation of the available textual material that …
Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers , by N. Harry Rothschild
"Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers, by N. Harry Rothschild." Studies in Chinese Religions, 2(1), pp. 82–83
The Sūtra on Transforming the Female Form: Unpacking an Early Medieval Chinese Buddhist Text
In this article I seek to show that T564, the Sūtra on Transforming the Female Form (Zhuan nüshen jing 轉女身經), is not only a composite text which integrates narrative and doctrinal material from a number of other sūtras, but also that it was likely written in early medieval China. The identification of this text as a Chinese indigenous creation is important for the text has enjoyed a long and rich transmission history across East Asia, and also be…
When Renunciation is Good Politics: The Women of the Imperial Nunnery of the Northern Wei (386–534)
In order to examine the ways in which women of the court interacted with the Buddhist monastic establishment in early medieval China, this article investigates one particularly important nunnery, the imperially-funded Yaoguang si (Jeweled radiance nunnery) of the Northern Wei (368–534). Using the Luoyang qielan ji (Record of Buddhist Monasteries in Luoyang, T. no. 51.2092), the Weishu (Book of the Wei), and selections from entombed mortuary epigr…
Why does a woman need to become a man in order to become a Buddha: Past investigations, new leads
This paper puts forth a new interpretation of the problem of the ineligibility of the female body for Buddhahood as it is seen in the texts of the Mahāyāna tradition of Buddhism. Recognizing that advanced female practitioners in Mahāyāna sūtras both lecture their detractors on the emptiness of physical forms while simultaneously changing their female forms to male ones, this paper provides an interpretation of the available textual material that …
Disappearing and Disappeared Daughters in Medieval Chinese Buddhism: Sūtras on Sex Transformation and an Intervention into Their Transmission History
This study interprets three little-known Mahāyāna sūtras preserved in Chinese that all contain remarkable teachings on the buddhahood of women and the practice of sex transformation along the path to buddhahood. Showing that these three sūtras are part of a larger and more complicated subgenre of texts regarding Mahāyāna notions of emptiness circulating in early medieval China, the study demonstrates the relationship between these texts and the b…
Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers , by N. Harry Rothschild
"Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers, by N. Harry Rothschild." Studies in Chinese Religions, 2(1), pp. 82–83
The Sūtra on Transforming the Female Form: Unpacking an Early Medieval Chinese Buddhist Text
In this article I seek to show that T564, the Sūtra on Transforming the Female Form (Zhuan nüshen jing 轉女身經), is not only a composite text which integrates narrative and doctrinal material from a number of other sūtras, but also that it was likely written in early medieval China. The identification of this text as a Chinese indigenous creation is important for the text has enjoyed a long and rich transmission history across East Asia, and also be…
When Renunciation is Good Politics: The Women of the Imperial Nunnery of the Northern Wei (386–534)
In order to examine the ways in which women of the court interacted with the Buddhist monastic establishment in early medieval China, this article investigates one particularly important nunnery, the imperially-funded Yaoguang si (Jeweled radiance nunnery) of the Northern Wei (368–534). Using the Luoyang qielan ji (Record of Buddhist Monasteries in Luoyang, T. no. 51.2092), the Weishu (Book of the Wei), and selections from entombed mortuary epigr…
"Teaching and learning guide for "Why does a woman need to become a man in order to become a Buddha? Past investigations, new leads
Why does a woman need to become a man in order to become a Buddha: Past investigations, new leads
This paper puts forth a new interpretation of the problem of the ineligibility of the female body for Buddhahood as it is seen in the texts of the Mahāyāna tradition of Buddhism. Recognizing that advanced female practitioners in Mahāyāna sūtras both lecture their detractors on the emptiness of physical forms while simultaneously changing their female forms to male ones, this paper provides an interpretation of the available textual material that …
A Virtuoso Nun in the North: Situating the Earliest-Known Dated Biography of a Buddhist Nun in East Asia
This paper introduces and critically discusses the earliest dated biography of an East Asian Buddhist nun that is known to us, and also provides a complete annotated translation of said biography. The text in question is the entombed biography and eulogy (muzhiming ) of a Buddhist nun whose name was Shi Sengzhi (d. 516 CE). Sengzhi held high positions at the court of the Northern Wei (386-534 CE) and on her death was given an imperial burial that…
Disappearing and Disappeared Daughters in Medieval Chinese Buddhism: Sūtras on Sex Transformation and an Intervention into Their Transmission History
This study interprets three little-known Mahāyāna sūtras preserved in Chinese that all contain remarkable teachings on the buddhahood of women and the practice of sex transformation along the path to buddhahood. Showing that these three sūtras are part of a larger and more complicated subgenre of texts regarding Mahāyāna notions of emptiness circulating in early medieval China, the study demonstrates the relationship between these texts and the b…
Northern Wei: A New Form for Women in East Asia
Buddhism (6 works) · Archaeology (5 works) · History (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works) · Art (4 works) · China (4 works) · Chinese history and philosophy (4 works) · Indian and Buddhist Studies (4 works) · Theology (4 works) · Gautama Buddha (3 works)