The Women Who Ruled China: Buddhism, Multiculturalism, and Governance in the Sixth Century

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Stephanie Balkwill

The Women Who Ruled China

Buddhism, Multiculturalism, and Governance in the Sixth Century

Stephanie Balkwill

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English

University of California Press
24 September 2024

Asian history; Social & cultural history; History of religion; Buddhism; Ethnic studies

A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press's Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.

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.

By: Stephanie Balkwill
Imprint: University of California Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780520401815
ISBN 10: 0520401816
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 24 September 2024
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Stephanie Balkwill is Assistant Professor of Chinese Buddhism in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she is also Associate Director of the Center for Buddhist Studies.