From: "Yoon Ha Lee"
> > >"Monk" to Western readers, a friend pointed out to me, usually means a
> > >male person. "Monk" to me means male or female; I've seen enough
female
> > >Buddhist monks on the subway in Seou. <shrug>
> > The female equivalent of a monk is a nun, in both Buddhism and in the
west.
> > The reason for having different terms, though, is strictly historical.
Do
> > Koreans use the same word for both?
> <puzzled look> As far as I remember, yes. A folklorist I know told me
> this was true in general in the East, but I really don't know details
> myself. :-( "Nun" to me *does* connote Western monastic female persons
> rather than anything Eastern-religious, though I could be very wrong.
Can't speak for Korean, but as far as Chinese is concerned:
he2shang4 (seng1lü3) monk and ni2gu1 (seng1ni2) nun are Buddhist
xiu1shi4 monk and xiu1nü3 nun are Catholic
dao4shi4 is any ol' Taoist master, potentially male or female, I think, and
I'm not familiar with details around monasticism.
Seemed Japanese (save the Tao) made similar distinctions (though I don't
remember the words), but Buddhist monks were not required to be celibate.
Kou