A Woman's History
A Lifetime of Practising Yiguandao-The Senior Leader of the Subdivision Baoguang Chongzheng
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3581597 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Yeh-Ying Shen (Singapore University of Social Sciences, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 849 |
| Publication date | 2023-06-28 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel14070849 |
| OpenAlex | W4382723607 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 17 |
This paper examines a female Yiguandao (一貫道) leader's lifelong history of practising the faith: Huang Shih-Yen (黃世妍, 1940-), the Elder (qianren 前人) of the subdivision Baoguang Chongzheng (寶光崇正). The journey begins with her conversion to Yiguandao and devotion to its religious practices, followed by her assuming leadership of a subdivision and expanding overseas proselytising missions. Female leaders are not uncommon in modern and contemporary Yiguandao; however, Huang presents a different image from that of conventional female leadership in popular Chinese religions. First, unlike most female leaders who refuse marriage, Huang is a wife and mother; she has shouldered both sacred and secular duties. Second, when she gained leadership, her husband, who was also an Elder of Baoguang Chongzheng, followed and assisted her in managing the temple affairs. Third, she was personally and actively involved in missionary outreach rather than being a spiritual mentor. The materials used to investigate Huang's life history were predominantly oral history and my own participant observations. This paper illustrates that women's contributions to religious practices may be on par with their male counterparts, but their stories have been overlooked
Faith · Oral history · Outreach · Political science · Sociology · Theology · Wife · Anthropology · Chinese history and philosophy · Gender Studies · History · Law · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious studies · Religious Tourism and Spaces
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Chinese Religious Life
Daoist Nuns in Taiwan
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Women of the Sisters' Hall
Gender and Modernity
Female Gender in Chinese Religious Symbols
Gender and Ministry Style
Risk and Religion
The Power, but Not the Glory
| Highly cited | No |
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