Bhikkuni - Bikuni

A female Buddhist monk. As opposed to a male bhikkhunī. A Buddhist nun. A transliteration of the Pāli word bhikkhunī. In Sanskrit, it is called bhikunī. The ni at the end of the word indicates the feminine form. There were no female monks in India (or anywhere in the world), but it is said that the first bhikkhunī was the foster mother of Shakyamuni, who fervently wished to become a monk, and their numbers gradually increased after that. After becoming a monk, they received the precepts (called full precepts) and continued to keep them, and, together with male monks, they are considered the most important members of the Buddhist sect. They demonstrate the egalitarian character of Buddhism, which does not discriminate between men and women. However, the sect of bhikkhunīs was operated independently of the sect of bhikkhunis. Currently, in Buddhism throughout Southeast Asia (Theravada Buddhism), the practice of giving and receiving precepts has been discontinued, and so bhikkhunis (or their religious orders) have disappeared. However, in China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan, which follow Mahayana Buddhism, bhikkhunis are active, and in Korea in particular they number as many as bhikkhus.

[Mitsunori Saegusa]

According to records, the first nuns in Japan were the daughter of Shibatatto, who went by the name Zenshinni. Nuns are known to have existed in the Nara and Heian periods, but it was in the Kamakura period that a certain status was established, with the establishment of nunnery temples. In response to these, nuns who traveled from country to country appeared, such as the Kumano nuns. They were the counterpart of male hijiri, and were more like nun-like shrine maidens whose occupations included praying and prophesying. The early modern singing nuns and the selle nuns who descended into prostitution are said to have descended from this tradition.

[Masaru Sasaki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

仏教における女性の出家修行者。男性の比丘に対する。仏教の尼僧。パーリ語のビックニーbhikkhunīの音写。サンスクリット語ではビクシュニーbhikunīという。語尾のニーは女性形を示す。かつてインド（のみならず、世界のどこにも）に女性の出家者は存在しなかったが、釈迦(しゃか)の養母が切願して出家したのが比丘尼の最初といわれ、以後しだいに増加した。出家して戒（具足(ぐそく)戒とよばれる）を受け、それを保ち続け、男性の出家修行者の比丘とともに、仏教教団のもっとも重要な成員とされる。男女の差別を設けない仏教の平等主義の特徴を示す。ただし、比丘尼の教団は比丘の教団とは独立して運営された。現在、東南アジア一帯の仏教（テーラバーダ＝長老部(ちょうろうぶ)仏教）では、戒の授受が中絶したために、比丘尼（の教団）は消滅したが、大乗仏教を奉ずる中国、台湾、韓国、日本では、比丘尼が活躍しており、とくに韓国では比丘と同数を占める。

［三枝充悳］

　日本における比丘尼は、記録のうえでは、善信尼(ぜんしんに)と称した司馬達等(しばたっと)の娘がその初めとされる。奈良・平安時代にも尼の存在は認められるが、鎌倉時代になると尼門跡寺ができるなど一定の地位が築かれた。これらに対して、熊野比丘尼に代表されるような諸国を遊行する比丘尼が現れる。男性のヒジリに対応するもので、むしろ尼形の巫女(みこ)で祈祷(きとう)や託宣を業とした。近世の歌(うた)比丘尼や、遊女にまで転落した売(うり)比丘尼はそうした流れをくむといわれている。

［佐々木勝］

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