The Women Who Ruled China

In the late fifth century, a girl whose name has been forgotten by history was born at the edge of the Chinese empire. By the time of her death, she had transformed herself into Empress Dowager Ling, one of the most powerful politicians of her age and one of the first of many Buddhist women to wield...

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المؤلف الرئيسي: Balkwill, Stephanie
التنسيق: Online
اللغة:الإنجليزية
منشور في: University of California Press 2024
الموضوعات:
الوصول للمادة أونلاين:https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/92641
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author Balkwill, Stephanie
author_browse Balkwill, Stephanie
author_facet Balkwill, Stephanie
author_sort Balkwill, Stephanie
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description In the late fifth century, a girl whose name has been forgotten by history was born at the edge of the Chinese empire. By the time of her death, she had transformed herself into Empress Dowager Ling, one of the most powerful politicians of her age and one of the first of many Buddhist women to wield incredible influence in dynastic East Asia. In this book, Stephanie Balkwill documents the Empress Dowager’s rise to power and life on the throne against the broader world of imperial China under the rule of the Northern Wei dynasty, a foreign people from Inner Asia who built their capital deep in the Chinese heartland. Building on largely untapped Buddhist materials, Balkwill shows that the life and rule of the Empress Dowager is a larger story of the reinvention of religious, ethnic, and gender norms in a rapidly changing multicultural society. The Women Who Ruled China recovers the voices of those left out of the mainstream historical record, painting a compelling portrait of medieval Chinese society reinventing itself under the Empress Dowager’s leadership. “This book is truly groundbreaking in its focus, theoretical contributions, and methodological innovations. Stephanie Balkwill’s deft treatment of Buddhism, gender, and ethnic difference in the Northern Wei court of Empress Dowager Ling will surely serve as a model for other scholars.” — Megan Bryson, author of Goddess on the Frontier: Religion, Ethnicity, and Gender in Southwest China “Balkwill’s penetrating scholarship greatly enlarges our understanding of two often-ignored and deeply intertwined aspects of rulership in East Asia: women and Buddhism. This book explores the powerful role that women played in Northern Wei politics and how Buddhism provided a new repertoire for enlarging their roles, especially in the more populist forms favored by the Empress Dowager. A revealing, thought-provoking read.” — Andrew Chittick, author of The Jiankang Empire in Chinese and World History
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1428202024-08-13T04:02:55Z The Women Who Ruled China Balkwill, Stephanie women; China; buddishm; multiculturalism; governance; sixth century thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRA Religion: general thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1F Asia::1FP East Asia, Far East::1FPC China In the late fifth century, a girl whose name has been forgotten by history was born at the edge of the Chinese empire. By the time of her death, she had transformed herself into Empress Dowager Ling, one of the most powerful politicians of her age and one of the first of many Buddhist women to wield incredible influence in dynastic East Asia. In this book, Stephanie Balkwill documents the Empress Dowager’s rise to power and life on the throne against the broader world of imperial China under the rule of the Northern Wei dynasty, a foreign people from Inner Asia who built their capital deep in the Chinese heartland. Building on largely untapped Buddhist materials, Balkwill shows that the life and rule of the Empress Dowager is a larger story of the reinvention of religious, ethnic, and gender norms in a rapidly changing multicultural society. The Women Who Ruled China recovers the voices of those left out of the mainstream historical record, painting a compelling portrait of medieval Chinese society reinventing itself under the Empress Dowager’s leadership. “This book is truly groundbreaking in its focus, theoretical contributions, and methodological innovations. Stephanie Balkwill’s deft treatment of Buddhism, gender, and ethnic difference in the Northern Wei court of Empress Dowager Ling will surely serve as a model for other scholars.” — Megan Bryson, author of Goddess on the Frontier: Religion, Ethnicity, and Gender in Southwest China “Balkwill’s penetrating scholarship greatly enlarges our understanding of two often-ignored and deeply intertwined aspects of rulership in East Asia: women and Buddhism. This book explores the powerful role that women played in Northern Wei politics and how Buddhism provided a new repertoire for enlarging their roles, especially in the more populist forms favored by the Empress Dowager. A revealing, thought-provoking read.” — Andrew Chittick, author of The Jiankang Empire in Chinese and World History 2024-08-13T04:02:53Z 2024-08-13T04:02:53Z 2024-08-12T11:34:16Z 2024 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/92641 9780520401815 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/142820 eng open access image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/92641/1/the-women-who-ruled-china.pdf University of California Press 10.1525/luminos.192 10.1525/luminos.192 19856893-4bf2-4e3e-9137-c7692d64e4c1 9780520401815 262 Oakland open access
spellingShingle women; China; buddishm; multiculturalism; governance; sixth century
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRA Religion: general
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1F Asia::1FP East Asia, Far East::1FPC China
Balkwill, Stephanie
The Women Who Ruled China
title The Women Who Ruled China
title_full The Women Who Ruled China
title_fullStr The Women Who Ruled China
title_full_unstemmed The Women Who Ruled China
title_short The Women Who Ruled China
title_sort women who ruled china
topic women; China; buddishm; multiculturalism; governance; sixth century
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRA Religion: general
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1F Asia::1FP East Asia, Far East::1FPC China
topic_facet women; China; buddishm; multiculturalism; governance; sixth century
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRA Religion: general
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1F Asia::1FP East Asia, Far East::1FPC China
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