During the period of Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan, Taiwan's Buddhist monks were mostly "Vegetarian Men." According to a report on religions in Taiwan prepared by the colonial government at the time, there were 700 monks in Taiwan and just 100 or so of these were based in temples.
根據日據時代台灣總督府編著的《台灣宗教調查報告書》顯示，當時全島僧侶有七百多人，而這些僧侶只有一百多人純粹住在寺院，其餘大多是僧侶兼道士。