Sengjing Li

Background

Li Sengjing was born in 402. Her family had dedicated her to the monastic life before she was born, and at her birth gave her as a disciple to a nun at Jian’an Convent in the capital.

Career

During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Liu Song dynasty, Sengjing accompanied an official to Guangzhou (present-day Guangdong Province) in south China as part of his retinue. There, in 433, she happened to meet up with the group of nuns led by the nun Tessara who had come by ship from what is now Sri Lanka and were on their way to the capital. With the help of these nuns from Sri Lanka, Sengjing went through the ceremony of receiving the monastic obligations from both the assembly of monks and the assembly of nuns, thus becoming a fully ordained nun.

Later Sengjing wished to take a ship “to seek out the holy traces of the Buddha’s life on earth.” The people among whom she lived, however, persuaded her not to leave them. They joined together to buy land and build a convent for her, and she remained with them for more than thirty years. Her good reputation reached the ears of Emperor Ming, who summoned her back to the capital. This probably took place in 465. Sengjing served as a model and teacher for both monastics and laity during the Liu Song dynasty and was later equally revered by members of the royal family of the Qi dynasty. At her death in 486, the well-known official and poet Shen Yue composed the eulogy that was inscribed upon her memorial stone.

Achievements

• Li Sengjing was known in Chinese history as a Buddhist nun who spent thirty years in the remote southern region of China serving as an example and teacher of Buddhism.

Connections

Li Sengjing wasn't married and had no children.

References

• Lives of the Nuns: Biographies of Chinese Buddhist Nuns from the Fourth to Sixth Centuries This book contains the biographies of 65 Chinese women who were Buddhist monks in early China. It is a great read for anyone interested in Buddhism or women in religion.
  1994
• Women in China: Current directions in historical scholarship
  1981
• Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui, 1600 B.C.E. - 618 C.E This new volume of the "Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women" spans more than 2,000 years from antiquity to the early seventh century. It recovers the stories of more than 200 women, nearly all of them unknown in the West.
  1998