Miaodao and Miaozong : Women Zen Masters, the Dharma Heirs of Dahui Zonggao in the Song Dynasty

Among the official disciples of the Southern Song Dynasty Zen master Dahui Zonggao(1089-1163) of the Chinese Linzi School were two bhikkhunis, Miaodao and Miaozong. Before Miaodao and Miaozong, the only other bhikkhuni in the history of Chinese Zen Buddhism was Moshan Liaoran in Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu. In the Southern Song period, the number of bhikkhunis and lay people recorded in Zen Buddhist texts gradually increased. Writers of Zen Buddhist texts sought to broaden the scope of Zen Buddhism by including royal women and elite men, often criticising the traditional focus on male ascetics. Miaodao and Miaozong were two of the earliest pioneers of this transformation of Zen Buddhism in the Southern Song Dynasty and were highly respected and representative bhikkhuni Zen masters. This paper examines these two bhikkhunis, Miaodao and Miaozong, through the literature on the history of Zen Buddhism in the Southern Song Dynasty and the writings of Dahui. In order to examine the evaluation of these bhikkhunis and their characteristics in relation to the context of the Southern Song period, the scope of this study is limited to the Zen Buddhist literature of the Southern Song period. The reason why Zen Buddhist texts record the biographies of many female Zen masters and actively include them in Zen Buddhist genealogies is that the examples of excellent female Zen masters can demonstrate the effectiveness of Zen Buddhist practice and increase the popularity of Zen Buddhism. Dahui often referred to the examples of Miaodao and Miaozong to teach and inspire his followers, especially women, to practice his Zen meditation. While presenting them as serious practitioners on the path to enlightenment, he also sought to present them as exemplary female leaders for other female students. This shows that he recognised the need for the active participation of women in the spread of his Zen Buddhist practice and in the development of Zen Buddhism. The Southern Song Dynasty Zen texts that record the Miaodao and Miaozong show an unprecedented high regard for female Zen masters. However, we can also see the limits of the male-centred authoritarianism that still persists in these texts. In the Southern Song Dynasty of China, elites were actively engaged in Zen Buddhism, the bhikkhuni order was highly prominent, and the traditional bhikkhu-centred hierarchy of the transmission records was being challenged. These changes were reflected in the high esteem in which female Zen masters were held.