How many female practitioners there have been over the centuries is unknown. Due to the circumstances in which they lived, women often practiced informally and in between other activities. It is clear, however, that far fewer women than men have received formal transmission. Additionally, less material from female Zen masters has been preserved and passed down. This has various reasons, all of which can be traced back to the inferior position women have had and sometimes still have – in society and within Buddhism.
OBEDIENCES
For centuries, even millennia, women were under the authority of men. Within Confucianism, there were the Three Obediences for women. They had to be obedient to their father, husband, and son, and take care of them. So, if a woman wanted to become a nun, she could often only do so if she was widowed and had no more obligations. There would then be a very few years left in her life to receive instruction and become a Zen master.
FEWER SKILLS FOR STUDY
Because women were often less educated, their skills and opportunities for reading Buddhist texts and studying the Dharma were limited.
FEW CONVENTS
There were significantly fewer convents than monasteries, and thus far fewer opportunities for Dharma study and guidance in Zen practice. In the Song period in China, a census from 1021 recorded 61,240 nuns and 397,615 monks. This means that women made up only 13% of the monastic community, even though this period is considered a flourishing time for women becoming nuns.
LESS FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Women received minimal and often no financial support from their families when they entered the convent. Government support was also usually very limited, sometimes only a tenth of what monasteries received. This meant that it was much more difficult for an abbess to maintain a convent, let alone establish one.
BUDDHIST RULES
According to tradition, the Buddha added eight extra rules for women when admitting them to the community. One of these rules states that a nun must always show respect to a monk, and that even a newly ordained monk ranks higher than any senior nun. This hierarchy has led to nuns being denied certain teachings and the highest ordinations throughout the centuries.
Additionally, there came a rule that a nun could only receive full ordination if, besides a fixed number of fully ordained monks, an equal number of fully ordained nuns were also present. This posed problems in areas where the female lineage did not exist or – later on -no longer existed. It remains an obstacle in some Buddhist countries today.
The Vinaya, the set of rules said to be given by the Buddha, includes 227 rules for monks and 311 for nuns.
LESS INTEREST
If women did become Zen masters, little or nothing was recorded about their lives and teachings. For example, the first successor of Zen master Dahui Zonggao (1063–1135) was a woman, Zen master Miaodao. However, she is rarely mentioned in information about Dahui, even though first successors are often noted. Similarly, we know almost nothing about Zen master Ekyu, the female successor of Keizan Jokin Zenji (1268–1325). Was nothing recorded about her history and teachings? Has it been lost?
DOCUMENTATION DONE BY MEN
Much has been documented by men. Therefore, if there are any stories, teachings, or talks from female Zen masters, they are almost always recorded from the male perspective. Men largely determined who was deemed important enough to be documented and what was written down. Women often had little or no education in writing and reading, which limited their ability to document. Additionally, they were not expected to record or document things.