The Social Death of an Ugly Princess: A History of A Medieval Buddhist Narrative in Transnational Reception

This study examines the translation adaptation and its inherent gender implications within "The Occasion of the Ugly Woman, Vajrā," a 10th-century Dunhaung text inspired by the 5th-century Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish. Previous research has compared different versions of this story and identified the "ugly woman" as a common theme in folk literature. Such ugliness, typically associated with vulgar language, often forms the quintessential image of the shrew. In contrast, this study argues that the "ugliness" in "The Occasion of the Ugly Woman, Vajrā," resulting from verbal misdeeds, differs from conventional shrew images. The ugliness does not empower the princess with the audacity common to viragos, but leads to her social isolation. In the Buddhist context, verbal abuse results in physical ugliness; while prolonged isolation due to unfortunate appearance can lead to the erosion of one's identity. Because the narrative involves the social death of the ugly princess, translators must adapt the social context of the story to the changing circumstances in order to increase the reader's relatability. One adaptation is to reimagine the regular outdoor gatherings of caste-bound Indian landlords as elaborate house parties of Tang capital elites where they could meet the host's wife, a scenario familiar to Dunhuang residents. This paper argues that such adaptations, often overlooked, can illuminate gender and sociocultural differences across regions and enrich our understanding of medieval religion and society.