Divine Traces of the Daoist Sisterhood: Records of the Assembled Transcendents of the Fortified Walled City, by Du Guangting (850-933)

Divine Traces of the Daoist Sisterhood presents unique materials on the lives and religious quests of Daoist women in medieval China. Translating and discussing religious women's biographies, the book explores the social context, ideals, and specific techniques of their practice, relating the stories to overall Daoist themes and contemporaneous political events. It elucidates the underlying threads of women's divine careers, and brings out both the deep human interest and humor of the stories. Through Suzanne Cahill's efforts, the women of medieval Daoism receive a new and clear voice, to be heard across cultures and millennia.