Aleph, UCLA Undergraduate Research Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences

This paper examines how female Daoists achieved ideological political power within the Confucian feudal society in the Tang Dynasty in ancient China. It compares the influence of the three core religions Ru Shi Dao to show the social background of the Tang Dynasty, serving as a basis for discussing women’s empowerment. The paper demonstrates that Daoism played a significant role in helping women obtain the liberation of their physicality, step out of their nuclear family, and obtain social power. The paper employs Michael Mann’s theory on sources of social power to understand the power structure in the Tang Dynasty. It examines classical texts on Confucianism and Daoism, as well as Chinese poems, providing both theoretical support to the social order of the Tang Dynasty and individual experience in the specific social environment.