Among Taiwan’s 30,000 ordained monks and nuns the females outnumber the males almost 3:1. Apart from the college at Fo Guan Shan monks tend to live alone or in smaller communities whereas there are numerous large communities of Nuns around the island Women leaders have played a prominent role in establishing Buddhism in Taiwan. Among these the most notable include: Dharma Master Cheng Yen, who established Tsu Chi, Ven. Hsiao Yun the first Buddhist to establish an accepted university in Taiwan, Sakya Chao Fei, a prominent animal rights activist, Ven. Heng Ching Shih a scholar at the National Taiwan Normal university and Ven. Wu Yin, founder of the Luminary International Buddhist society.

Women seeking to become nuns (ni gu) in Taiwan first undergo a 3-6 month period as untonsured novices. After a possible further period of up to 6 months they become sramanenka, novices with observer status. Two years later they may be eligible for ordination as bhiksuni after which they may participate in ceremonies, hold the position of Abbess and vote on Buddhist affairs. Up until around 1 year ago there were almost no bhiksuni outside of Taiwan, most nuns in other Buddhist countries having to be content with sramanenka status. In contrast from 1953 when Taiwan’s first ordinations were held, in all but one year the number of women being ordained has exceeded men. At Fo Guang Shan under the Ven. Hsin Yun and the Dharma Drum Temple under Master Sheng Yan, nearly all the assistants under the temple director are women. At Fo Guan Shan the heads of all 5 councils are female bhiksuni.

The lack of bhiksun ordination in the rest of the Buddhist world has been a major topic of debate in world Buddhism, a debate in which Taiwan Buddhism has played a prominent role. In 1990 Fo Guan Shan held an ordination ceremony in India to help local Buddhist societies re-establish bhiksuni ordination there. In 1997 the Dali Llama sent a special envoy to Taiwan to study the role of women in Buddhism there with a view to establishing an organization for Tibetan Buddhist nuns.

A number of factors have led to the prominence of women in Taiwan’s Buddhism. Ven. Kuan Chen claims that they are attracted by the challenge and opportunities to succeed or make significant achievements as nuns, which would be denied to them by the sexism still present in secular career paths. Escape from the strong pressures within Taiwan’s society to marry and have children may also be a factor. Ven. Wu Ying adds, ‘today’s nuns come to Buddhism full of ideas and enthusiasm. They themselves are highly independent and haven’t been pushed to become nuns by some unpleasant event in their external lives’.