After China adopted the reform and open door policy in early 1980s, thanks to their knowledge on Buddhism, their familiarity of religious rituals, and their experience in temple management, vegetarian women have doubled their efforts not only to transmit their traditions their next generation but also to establish the authentic Buddhist image of temples in Southern Fujian. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) / The research is carried out according to the discussions on (1) the gender and power relations within the religious institutions that were re-presented and re-produced by renaming vegetarian women as Brahma-carya upasika, and (2) the influences of being identified as Brahma-carya upasika on the life and religious practice of these vegetarian women. From a bifocal perspective, the study demonstrates that women are victim as well as agent within a religious organization in a patriarchal society. It has been discovered that vegetarian women in Southern Fujian have been suppressed yet they have also made use of the opportunities of changing their identity since the late Qing Dynasty. Study results also show that [vegetarian] women in Southern Fujian have adopted obedient attitudes instead of revolutionary means to establish their space and women culture. This could be considered as their expedient means and power yet indicates their powerlessness under the patriarchal society and religion. In other words, they have employed the least powerful approach to conducting their religious life and maximizing their power for self-development. / This thesis, based on historical, textual and field studies, explores a special religious group of vegetarian women (Caigu in Chinese) in Southern Fujian. The research is focused on examining their identify transformation as a religious group to a Buddhist organization along the process of societal change from the end of the Qing up to present time. The key issues discussed in this thesis are as following: (1) the process of institutionalization of the vegetarian women into mainstream Buddhist, (2) the elements that have exercised influences on the religious identity of vegetarian women, (3) temple managements, daily activities and religious rituals, and (4) the relationship between vegetarian women and the mainstream Buddhism in contemporary China.
