北魏遷洛以後，墓誌文體的發展朝向以讚揚誌主為重心，墓誌成為社會所認可的表揚私人成就的場域。墓誌文對於誌主人生的建構，是經過撰誌者選擇、重組，並與文化價值交疊、虛實互映的理想品格與人生圖景。北魏後期出現將誌主佛教信仰寫入墓誌的現象，佛教被接受為組合誌主理想形象與人生成就的元素之一，可視為佛教價值滲入正統文化的表徵。筆者嘗試以墓誌文本為分析場域，探究佛教與中古時期的性別文化可能如何相互影響。本文蒐集整理北朝、隋代佛教在家女信徒墓誌，分析撰誌者如何呈現佛教信仰與女性誌主人生的關連；佛教描述與其他敘述主題如何組合，與傳統環繞著家庭角色展開的女性人生藍圖有何連結或斷裂；加入信仰元素，女性的理想形象產生什麼變化等問題。北朝、隋代女性墓誌中的信仰描述，反映部分中古時人對於佛教價值的容受面向與程度，佛教加入建構理想女性形象的行列，影響評價女德的標準、擴充女性「典範」，提供超越家族人倫的人生格局。墓誌作為稱揚誌主的場域，一定程度反映了社會價值趨向，印證佛教對於中古社會女性精神世界與生活處境的影響，絕對不容小覷。

After the Northern Wei dynasty moved its capital to Luoyang, the emphasis of epitaph texts developed toward praise of the dead, and the epitaph became a socially accepted arena for the recognition of personal achievement. The epitaph writer constructed an idealized narrative of the subject’s life, selecting elements from his or her life and mixing them with cultural values. In the late Northern Wei Dynasty, belief in Buddhism began to be written into these epitaph narratives, as an accepted part of the ideal image and life achievement. This can be regarded as evidence of the incorporation of the value of Buddhism into orthodox culture.
This article focuses on narratives of religious belief in epitaphs of lay women of the Northern Dynasties and Sui Dynasty, exploring how Buddhism and gender culture might have affected each other in early medieval China. It examines how the writers presented the relationship between Buddhism and the ideal life of women. How was the narrative of Buddhism combined with other narrative themes, and how did it connect or disconnect with traditional women's roles? With the inclusion of Buddhist narrative elements, what changed in women’s ideal images? These narratives reflect how and to what extent society had come to accept the values of Buddhism. This article shows that Buddhism took part in constructing ideal female images, influenced the evaluation of female virtues, expanded the range of women's "role models", and provided a life pattern that transcended family roles and ethics. The significant influence of Buddhism on women’s subjective experience and living environment in early medieval China should not be underestimated.