Fóshuō zhuǎn nǚshēn jīng 佛說轉女身經
Sūtra of Transforming the Female Body translated by 曇摩蜜多 (Tánmómìduō / Dharmamitra, 譯)
About the work
The Fóshuō zhuǎn nǚshēn jīng (T564) is a one-fascicle Liú-Sòng Mahāyāna sūtra translated by Tánmómìduō 曇摩蜜多 (曇摩蜜多; Dharmamitra, 356–442 CE). The text addresses the doctrine of “transforming the female body” (zhuǎn nǚshēn 轉女身) into a male body for the attainment of buddhahood — the controversial Mahāyāna doctrine that women must transform their bodies before achieving full buddhahood.
Prefaces
The text opens with the canonical formula.
Abstract
The “transformation of the female body” doctrine is one of the most discussed and debated themes in Mahāyāna Buddhist gender theory. Some Mahāyāna texts (including this one and the famous Nāga-girl episode in the Lotus Sūtra) present the transformation as required; other texts (the Vimalakīrti’s Goddess scene, the Candrottarā sūtra) reject the requirement. Tánmómìduō was active 424–442 CE at Jiànkāng; this translation falls in his middle to late period.
Translations and research
- Paul, Diana Y. Women in Buddhism. Berkeley, 1979.
- Faure, Bernard. The Power of Denial. Princeton, 2003.
- Schuster, Nancy. “Changing the Female Body: Wise Women and the Bodhisattva Career in Some Mahāratnakūṭa-sūtras.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 4 (1981): 24–69.
Links
- CBETA T14n0564
- Kanseki DB
- 曇摩蜜多 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (430) — Schuster, Nancy. “Yoga-Master Dharmamitra and Clerical Misogyny in Fifth Century Buddhism.” The Tibet Journal 9, no. 4 (1984): 33-46. 36.