Stephen Teiser: "Merit for Mothers: Childbirth Rituals in Early Chinese Buddhism"

Abstract:

Buddhist traditions the world over have attended to the difficulties of giving birth. Early Chinese Buddhism offered expecting mothers a host of measures, including techniques to vanquish fear, exhortations to act morally, sacred syllables for chanting, special talismans to wear, deities offering protection, and merit-making rituals dedicated to a happy birth. After surveying Chinese Buddhist approaches to childbirth, this talk focuses on quotidian rituals that assigned merit to the safety of mothers and newborns. It draws on 20 handwritten liturgies from northwest China in the ninth and 10th centuries used by monks who provided ritual services to local families. The talk discusses concepts of illness and health, women’s medicine, the dynamics of Buddhist ritual, notions of karma and merit, and the interplay between childbirth, rebirth, and enlightenment.

Bio:

Stephen F. Teiser is D.T. Suzuki Professor in Buddhist Studies and Professor of Religion, Emeritus, Princeton University. His work concentrates on Chinese texts as well as artistic and material evidence from the silk road, reflecting on the interaction between Buddhism and local traditions. His monographs include The Ghost Festival in Medieval China (1988), The Scripture on the Ten Kings and the Making of Purgatory in Chinese Buddhism (1994), Reinventing the Wheel: Paintings of Rebirth in Medieval Buddhist Temples (2006), and Yili yu fojiao yanjiu (Ritual and the Study of Buddhism) (2022).