This article examines how ordination and education have affected the formation of Taiwanese bhikshunisangha, and consequently nuns' autonomy, highlighting the historical context of these processes. The Three-Platform Ordination system that initiated women of this monastic lineage in Taiwan legitimized itself by appealing to canonical texts; such emphasis on canonical texts inadvertently led to text-based monastic education for nuns. With the knowledge supplied by canonical study, Taiwanese nuns demanded Dual Ordination in accordance with textual requirements, and in this way built up their institutional autonomy. After the 1980s, monastic education and secular education converged as college-educated women entered monastic life. These ＂nuns with Bachelor's degrees＂ (and later with Master's and Doctoral degrees) have expanded the scope of Buddhist social engagement as well as established their self-identity as religious professionals since the 1990s, even demanding the appellation of ＂professional religious teachers＂ for themselves. This article analyzes the key events and leading figures in the formation and consolidation of Taiwanese bhikshunisangha. The first section discusses the mass ordination of Taiwanese women and the role of female ritual assistants in the post-war period; second, the Dual Ordination and the establishment of the bhikshuniientity; third, the shift of focus of bhikshunieducation from monastic discipline to canonical study; fourth, the scholarly nuns and the ＂rectification of names＂ for the bhikshunis; and fifth, the emergence of bhikshuni self-identity as professional religious teachers.
