Chao-hwei

Chao-hwei (Chinese: 釋昭慧; pinyin: Shì Zhāohuì; born 28 May 1957) is a Taiwanese nun. Born Lu Qiongzhao (盧瓊昭; Lú Qióngzhāo) 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.