Shih Chao-hwei

Chao-hwei is a Taiwanese nun. Born Lu Qiongzhao to Chinese parents living in Burma, she and her family moved to Taiwan in 1965. While studying Chinese literature at National Taiwan Normal University, she became ordained as a Buddhist nun, receiving the Dharma name Chao-hwei. Chao-hwei has gone on to become actively involved in various social movements in Taiwan, including publicly supporting feminism and same-sex marriage and opposing the legalisation of gambling; she has also called for the reform within Buddhism, including the abolition of the Eight Garudhammas. In 2021, she received the Niwano Peace Prize. She is currently a professor of religious studies at Hsuan Chuang University.