The reason for this is that, in the days before an orthodox bhiksuni ordination system came to Taiwan, Taiwan's Buddhist nuns were mainly these "Vegetarian Women."
時至今日，老一輩的人習慣稱佛寺為「菜堂」，稱出家為「食菜」（吃齋），稱出家女性為「菜姑」，就是因為正統的比丘尼制度在台灣傳習之前，台灣的出家人以這些菜姑居多。