This paper explores the gender identity of Chan Buddhist nuns in contemporary Taiwan. First, drawing from feminist critics on the philosophy of language and critical reading of Buddhist scriptures, I will discuss the rhetoric of da zhangfu 大丈夫 (a Great Man or a Virtuous Man) as a generic noun to designate a spiritually advanced person, including both men and women, rather than being understood as a gender-specific term equal to man as interpreted by scholars. This understanding of da zhangfu as a generic term is a critique of both the androcentric use of masculine pronouns in Chinese Buddhist scriptures as well as scholars’ use of textual scripture to overlook real practices in society. Second, drawing from my fieldwork of Taiwanese Buddhist nuns in Dharma Drum Mountain as a case study, I argue that Chan Buddhist nuns in contemporary Taiwan have an even more radical gender identity; that is, to become a da zhangfu that is neither man nor woman but is beyond dualistic form — the pedagogy of prajñā, the absence of doer, and “mind free from particularization” (wu fenbie xin 無分別心 ) in Chan Buddhism.
