The
present work is an English adaptation of Ester Bianchi’s graduation
thesis Il Tiexiangsi. Un monastero buddhista femminile nella Cina
contemporanea written at the Department of East Asian Studies of the
Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy. The material for this study
was collected during a stay in China from October 1995 to August 1996,
and updated after a second visit in Summer 1999.

CONTENTS

Preface by Anne Chayet

Foreword

Historical introduction

CHAPTER ONE. VENERABLE LONGLIAN AND VENERABLE NENGHAI

I. Longlian fashi
I.1. Longlian’s life
I.2. Longlian’s works and teachings

II. Nenghai schangshi
II.1. Nenghai’s life
II.2. Nenghai’s works and teachings

CHAPTER TWO. LIFE IN THE TIEXIANGSI

I. The nunnery buildings

II. Everyday life
II.1. Organisation of the community
II.2. Daily activities

III. The religious calendar
III.1. Rituals from the vinaya
III.2. Rituals of Chinese and Tibetan tradition

IV. The Institute of Studies
IV.1. Features and structure
IV.2. Courses of study

CHAPTER THREE. CHANTING AND MEDITATION

I. Texts of the daily chanting services
I.1. The Shangshi gong
I.2. The Wuzi zhenyan

II. The Sanguiyi guan meditation
II.1. Introduction
II.2. Translation

Appendix One. Longlian’s works

Appendix Two. Nenghai’s works

Chinese characters

Bibliography

List of illustrations

Index One. Buddhist sites and personalities

Index Two. Technical terms

Per informazioni
e-mail: ufficio.editoriale@cini.it