Women of Utopia: Female Saviours, Immortals and Deities in Late Ming and Early Qing Literature 烏托邦中的女性：明末清初文學中的女性救世主、女神與女仙
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2025-08-28
Author(s)
Abstract
Seventeenth-century China, a vortex of social upheaval, spiritual anxiety, and dynastic crisis,
produced visions of both utopia and anti-utopia: nostalgia for a lost paradise of the past and
apocalyptic satire of current conditions. Perceptions of late Ming decadence, political
impotence, and dynastic decline led to a surge in literary and religious imagination portraying
women as superheroes, immortals and goddesses—both alien and alternative “Others” to the
established scholar-official elite. This paper examines how seventeenth-century vernacular
fiction, poetry, drama, hagiography and religious sectarian texts construct figures of
supernatural or divine womanhood as agents of moral reform, cosmic salvation and social
renewal. Focusing on Madame Chao, the heroine of the novel Xingshi yinyuan zhuan
(Marriage Destinies to Bring Society to its Senses), this research explores her transformation
from Confucian widow to social reformer and her apotheosis as the goddess of Mount Yi. Her
character embodies the late Ming syncretism of Confucian, Daoist and Buddhist teachings
while responding to contemporary nightmares of the apocalypse. In comparative perspective,
this paper explores parallel female figures in poetry, drama, and historical, religious and
sectarian texts, serving as vehicles for moral critique, spiritual redemption, and utopian
longing. In analysing these representations as narrative constructs, cultural symbols and
utopian tropes, this study argues that female saviours, immortals and goddesses function as
vernacular responses to moral crisis and historical trauma. They reveal a female-coded
utopian imagination that redefined moral virtue, social models, political authority, and
spiritual transcendence in a world on the brink of disaster.
烏托邦中的女性：明末清初文學中的女性救世主、女神與女仙
白岱玉(Daria Berg)，
中華民國,台灣,台北市,中央研究院「台灣獎助金學人」;
瑞士聖加侖大學教授
十七世紀的中國處於社會動盪、精神焦慮與王朝危機的漩渦之中，催生出烏托邦
與反烏托邦的雙重想像：一方面對過去樂園的懷舊，另一方面則對當下現實的末世諷
異人類：他者、邊界與生命處境
Alien Creatures: Alterity, Boundary and the Condition of Life
刺。對明末頹靡、政治無力與王朝衰敗的集體感知，促使文學與宗教想像中湧現出大
量女性超級英雄、女神與女仙的形象——她們既是異質的他者，也構成對既有士大夫
菁英秩序的替代方案。本文探討十七世紀的白話小說、詩詞、戲劇、女聖傳與宗教派
別文本如何建構超自然或神聖女性形象，使其成為道德革新、宇宙救贖與社會重建的
代理者。以小說《醒世姻緣傳》中的女主角晁夫人為核心，本文剖析其從儒家寡婦蛻
變為社會改革者，並最終昇華為嶧山女神的過程。她的形象體現了明末儒、道、佛三
教合一的思想特色，同時回應了當代末世意識形態下的文化恐懼。在比較視角下，本
文亦探討詩詞、戲劇及歷史、宗教與宗派文本中的其他女性角色，如何作為道德批
判、精神救贖與烏托邦渴望的載體。透過對這些女性形象作為敘事建構、文化符號與
烏托邦象徵的分析，本文主張，女救世主、女仙與女神的形象，構成了對道德危機與
歷史創傷的庶民回應，展現出一種以女性為主體的烏托邦想像，重新定義了道德典
範、社會模式、政治權威與精神超越的可能性。
produced visions of both utopia and anti-utopia: nostalgia for a lost paradise of the past and
apocalyptic satire of current conditions. Perceptions of late Ming decadence, political
impotence, and dynastic decline led to a surge in literary and religious imagination portraying
women as superheroes, immortals and goddesses—both alien and alternative “Others” to the
established scholar-official elite. This paper examines how seventeenth-century vernacular
fiction, poetry, drama, hagiography and religious sectarian texts construct figures of
supernatural or divine womanhood as agents of moral reform, cosmic salvation and social
renewal. Focusing on Madame Chao, the heroine of the novel Xingshi yinyuan zhuan
(Marriage Destinies to Bring Society to its Senses), this research explores her transformation
from Confucian widow to social reformer and her apotheosis as the goddess of Mount Yi. Her
character embodies the late Ming syncretism of Confucian, Daoist and Buddhist teachings
while responding to contemporary nightmares of the apocalypse. In comparative perspective,
this paper explores parallel female figures in poetry, drama, and historical, religious and
sectarian texts, serving as vehicles for moral critique, spiritual redemption, and utopian
longing. In analysing these representations as narrative constructs, cultural symbols and
utopian tropes, this study argues that female saviours, immortals and goddesses function as
vernacular responses to moral crisis and historical trauma. They reveal a female-coded
utopian imagination that redefined moral virtue, social models, political authority, and
spiritual transcendence in a world on the brink of disaster.
烏托邦中的女性：明末清初文學中的女性救世主、女神與女仙
白岱玉(Daria Berg)，
中華民國,台灣,台北市,中央研究院「台灣獎助金學人」;
瑞士聖加侖大學教授
十七世紀的中國處於社會動盪、精神焦慮與王朝危機的漩渦之中，催生出烏托邦
與反烏托邦的雙重想像：一方面對過去樂園的懷舊，另一方面則對當下現實的末世諷
異人類：他者、邊界與生命處境
Alien Creatures: Alterity, Boundary and the Condition of Life
刺。對明末頹靡、政治無力與王朝衰敗的集體感知，促使文學與宗教想像中湧現出大
量女性超級英雄、女神與女仙的形象——她們既是異質的他者，也構成對既有士大夫
菁英秩序的替代方案。本文探討十七世紀的白話小說、詩詞、戲劇、女聖傳與宗教派
別文本如何建構超自然或神聖女性形象，使其成為道德革新、宇宙救贖與社會重建的
代理者。以小說《醒世姻緣傳》中的女主角晁夫人為核心，本文剖析其從儒家寡婦蛻
變為社會改革者，並最終昇華為嶧山女神的過程。她的形象體現了明末儒、道、佛三
教合一的思想特色，同時回應了當代末世意識形態下的文化恐懼。在比較視角下，本
文亦探討詩詞、戲劇及歷史、宗教與宗派文本中的其他女性角色，如何作為道德批
判、精神救贖與烏托邦渴望的載體。透過對這些女性形象作為敘事建構、文化符號與
烏托邦象徵的分析，本文主張，女救世主、女仙與女神的形象，構成了對道德危機與
歷史創傷的庶民回應，展現出一種以女性為主體的烏托邦想像，重新定義了道德典
範、社會模式、政治權威與精神超越的可能性。
Language
English
Event Title
Alien Creatures: Alterity, Boundary and the Condition of Life
Event Location
Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
Event Date
28.-29.08.2025
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