Born in Taiwan in 1940, Venerable Wu Yin received the shramanerika, or novice, vows in 1958 from Venerable Ming Tzung and bhikshuni vows in 1960 with Venerable Pao Shen as her preceptor. She graduated from the Chinese Cultural University with a degree in Chinese Literature and from the five-year Buddhist studies program at the Chinese Buddhist Threefold Training Seminary. Then she resided at the Hsin Lung Temple, headed by the distinguished Bhikshuni Tien Yee.

After World War II, people in Taiwan were struggling to survive. They were trying to recover from the Japanese occupation, deal with the huge influx of refugees from mainland China, and rebuild their political and economic infrastructure. At that time most Buddhist temples in Taiwan engaged in agriculture or depended on ritual services for the deceased in order to support themselves. Very few could afford to offer in-depth teachings on the Buddhadharma, nor did the monastics have time to engage in social work. Most laypeople were unable to distinguish Buddhism from folk religion. Saddened by the condition of Buddhist education and practice and inspired by the examples of past monastics who upheld the Buddha's teachings, Bhikshuni Wu Yin made a vow: she would establish Buddhist institutes and temples to train nuns so that they would have the necessary knowledge and skills to transmit the Dharma to the greater society. Her goal became to help Buddhist nuns in Taiwan, China, and the West so that they could establish sangha communities and use their talents and wisdom to help humanity.

In 1980 she became the abbess of Hsiang Kuang Temple (Luminary Temple) in Chia-I Country, Taiwan, and began the Buddhist Institute of Hsiang Kuang Temple. Most of the institutes' students -- nuns or those preparing for ordination -- came from universities and colleges. By 1994, over eighty nuns had graduated, each being capable of teaching the Dharma and of offering spiritual leadership and guidance. To engage monastics in social education, she founded a Buddhist Studies School for laypeople in 1984. This was the first time in Taiwan that structured and organized materials were designed and used to teach Buddhadharma to the public. At present, under Venerable Bhikshuni Wu Yin's guidance, three such schools have been founded in southern Taiwan. They offer a three-year program of study to the public, and each year over eight hundred people graduate from this program.

In 1985 Bhikshuni Wu Yin initiated the magazine Glorious Buddhism, and in 1992 she established Hsiang Kuang Publishers. At present her ordained disciples translate and edit Buddhist texts and are preparing a Vinaya dictionary. In 1989, the Luminary International Buddhist Society was founded to encompass these various projects, with Bhikshuni Wu Yin as its abbess and leader.