Women wishing to become bhiksuni had to go to China to be ordained. As a result, a kind of substitute nun arose in society--the "Vegetarian Women." To this day older people still habitually call Buddhist temples "Vegetarian Halls" and call monks and nuns "Vegetarians" in Taiwanese dialect.
加上當時在台灣並無比丘尼傳戒的道場，出家女性得赴大陸才能受戒成為比丘尼，民間便發展出一種替代性的出家人﹘﹘菜姑（齋姑）。