Opening up new religious and poetic worlds for readers, this anthology presents the poems of Buddhist nuns from China's late imperial period (1368-1911), a time marked by great political upheavals and social changes. Appreciation of the poems is enhanced by individual biographical accounts for each of the sixty-five nun-poets and an Introduction to the historical, religious, and literary context of these women's writing, including a concise discussion of their place in Chinese Buddhism and Chinese Buddhist poetry.