Women shamans, diviners and spirit mediums in China

In this article I will try to survey both secondary and primary sources, providing a simple historical overview of female shamans, diviners and spirit mediums in China. The terminology, both in Chinese and in English, can be confusing. The term ‘divination’, as used in secondary literature, mostly describes the activities of prognostication of elite males. Women are present, but are a minority, and understood to be fairly irrelevant. In spirit-inspired forms of divination, like shamanism and spirit mediumship, on the other hand, women are not only present but widely disseminated across several practices and audiences, and actively engaged. My approach is broad and tries to encompass all of the above practices, foregrounding women’s activities, highlighting similarities over time but also differences.