Between Motherhood and Otherhood: Maternity and Religious Motivation in Song China (960–1279)

This paper will demonstrate that motherhood, as a social expectation and a social role, greatly shaped Chinese women’s religious lives in the Song (960–1279) . Because women’s life trajectories in pre-modern China were shaped by the expectation of motherhood, their religious practices and experiences were often informed by it—either by the need to fulfill it or the desire to escape it. The longing to experience motherhood motivated women to pray to different deities, while the desire to avoid it catapulted young women to become monastics. Similarly, solitary religious adepts also chose to reject motherhood. In addition, the religious practices and experiences of mothers were sometimes related to their maternal roles. Drawing on different sources such as the Record of the Listener, tomb epitaphs, and Miscellanies written by Songliterati, this paper seeks to underscore how motherhood, as a defining factor in Song women’s lives, regularly informed their religious choices.