The respected Taiwanese Buddhist monastic Venerable Shih Chao-hwei, who has earned global renown as a socially engaged Buddhist activist, scholar, and author, recently led a historic ordination in Taiwan. In the ceremony, 10 bhikshunis serving as the traditional “Three Masters and Seven Witnesses,” with Ven. Shih Chao-hwei as head preceptor, ordained male lay practitioner Deng Rong, who received the Dharma name Jian Yi (堅義). 

The ordination marks a pivotal moment in contemporary Chinese Buddhism, and has sparked debate within the Buddhist community regarding the interpretation of Vinaya rules, gender roles in ordination, and the interaction between religion and social change. The full ordination ceremony was recorded and photographed, with materials to be shared via social media and YouTube for broader community engagement.

The ordination ceremony, held on 5 May, which also marked observances commemorating the birth of the historical Buddha, has created waves in Taiwan for challenging long-standing gender norms in Buddhism, as traditionally only male monastics may ordain men. The move represents a challenge to established monastic gender roles that the organizers describe as aligning with Shakyamuni Buddha’s teaching on equality of spiritual potential. 

Sixty participants gathered for the occasion, including senior monastics and lay supporters. The ordination followed the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya tradition, an early school of Buddhism, drawing on classical commentaries such as the Four-Part Vinaya and the Transmission of Precepts Standard.  

A leading voice for liberation, empowerment, and compassionate engaged Buddhism in Asia and beyond, Ven. Chao-hwei is a noted scholar and author of more than two dozen books and over 70 research papers. As founder of the Life Conservationist Association, Ven. Chao-hwe is an outspoken advocate for animal rights legislation and has authored numerous papers on nature and wildlife conservation. She has also been a vocal supporter of same-sex marriage and a key figure in the movement to support female ordination in all Buddhist traditions.

Ven. Chao-hwei was born in 1957 in the city of Yangon in Myanmar (formerly Rangoon, Burma) to a Chinese family who had fled from China’s Guangdong Province during the rise of communism. At the age of eight, she moved with her family to Taiwan, where she flourished as a student. After attending Taiwan International Normal University, Ven. Chao-hwei was ordained as Buddhist monastic. In 1994, Ven. Chao-hwei began teaching at Fu Jen Catholic University, and in 1997 started teaching religious studies at Hsuan Chuang University. Ven. Chao-hwei founded the Research Centre for Applied Ethics in 2004, which she continues to direct.

Ven. Chao-hwei also serves as the dean of graduate studies at Buddhist Hongshi College and monastery, and is the chair of the department of religious studies at Hsuan Chuang University, where she teaches Buddhist philosophy and ethics, with a strong emphasis on animal rights. In 2007, Ven. Chao-hwei was awarded the 48th Chinese Literature and Arts Medal for her outstanding contributions to intercultural dialogue, and in 2009 was the recipient of the Outstanding Women in Buddhism Award. In 2021, the Niwano Peace Foundation of Japan awarded Ven. Chao-hwei with the 38th Niwano Peace Prize.* She is also a spiritual advisor to the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB).

The ordination and its broader implications, however, have drawn critical responses from respected voices within Taiwan’s monastic community, who argue that it risks undermining monastic discipline and traditional monastic boundaries.

The senior monk Ven. Guoqing of Yuantong Monastery, one of the most respected monastics in Taiwan for official ordinations, emphasized in a subsequent Dharma talk, the text of which was shared with BDG, that Buddhist precepts were the foundation of the path and should not be casually altered. He cited decisions by the first Buddhist council that rules established by the Buddha were not to be discarded arbitrarily. According to him, male monks must ordain male monks, and female monastics should follow their respective ordination procedures. He described the practice of bhikshunis ordaining monks as a breach of established Vinaya rules.

A separate public statement seen by BDG, and dated 11 May, stated:

Recently, a significant event occurred in the Buddhist community in which a group of bhikshunis performed the tonsure and full ordination for a male candidate. This event constitutes a serious violation of the Buddha’s established Vinaya regulations. In order to uphold proper understanding, protect the integrity of Buddhism, and prevent public misconception, we hereby issue the following joint statement:

We solemnly condemn the actions of the ten bhikshunis involved, as they contravene the Buddha’s disciplinary codes.

We refuse to recognize the monastic status of the male individual who received ordination.

We hereby call upon all ordained monastics to uphold the Vinaya strictly, to safeguard the Buddhist teachings together, and to maintain the discipline and purity of the monastic tradition, so that the True Dharma may long endure and the Buddha’s teachings may flourish.

Signatories:

The Buddhist Association of China
Taiwan Buddhist Federation
Chinese Bhikshuni Association
United Federation of Humanistic Buddhism
Chinese Sangha Association
Chinese Buddhist Monastic Protection Association
Tainan Monastic Protection Association
Keelung Buddhist Association
New Taipei City Buddhist Association
Miaoli County Buddhist Association
Taichung City Buddhist Association
Greater Taichung Buddhist Association
Changhua County Buddhist Association
Nantou County Buddhist Association
Yunlin County Buddhist Association
Chiayi City Buddhist Association
Chiayi County Buddhist Association
Tainan City Buddhist Association
Greater Tainan Buddhist Association
Kaohsiung City Buddhist Association
Greater Kaohsiung Buddhist Association
Pingtung County Buddhist Association
Taitung County Buddhist Association
Hualien County Buddhist Association
Yilan County Buddhist Association
Penghu County Buddhist Association
Kinmen County Buddhist Association
Taiwan Xinche Lianchi Merit Association
China Religious Practitioners Association
Kaizheng Rinpoche Charitable Foundation
Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia Literature Foundation
Luminary Bhikshuni Sangha
Luminary Bhikshuni Buddhist College
Cilong International Education and Culture Foundation
Tainan Women’s Buddhist College
Nanlin Bhikshuni Monastery
Yide Temple
Chung Tai Chan Monastery

The ordination led by Ven. Chao-hwei represents a defining moment in the dialogue around gender equality, religious authority, and contemporary expressions of the Buddhadharma, and highlights tensions in Buddhist communities between reformists and adherence to traditional interpretations of the Vinaya. Proponents see this as a restoration of the Buddha’s original egalitarian vision of spirituality, and some academics argue that early Buddhist texts show the sangha adapted rules to evolving cultural and social contexts.

The situation also echoes ongoing contention within the Theravada tradition, where the bhikkhuni lineage remains disputed, with some countries, such as Thailand, prohibit full female ordination due to claims of historical discontinuity, while some others have revived it through cross-tradition collaborations. In the Tibetan tradition, while bhikshuni ordination is accepted as valid, implementation still faces systemic and political hurdles, despite the explicit support of the Dalai Lama and other prominent spiritual leaders.

* Taiwanese Buddhist Master Ven. Shih Chao-hwei Awarded the 38th Niwano Peace Prize (BDG)

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