Mother, courtesan, nun, medium or goddess: the feminine in Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism

Conference by Catherine Despeux, sinologist, professor emeritus of INALCO.

In traditional China, there is a strong patriarchy in the models of gender differentiation. This does not mean that women play a minor role in Chinese society: they are omnipresent there, whether in the family, in the fields, in the markets, in harems, convents or hermitages. We will present some facets of the status of women and representations of the feminine in the main religious currents of China.