Native Chinese monks appeared quite early in China. The earliest on record was Liu Jun, Marquis of Yangcheng, who got Emperor Ming’s permission to adopt monasticism. However, the monks in the early days merely adopted monasticism by following their masters, shaving their beards and hair, and abiding by certain rules, there was yet no ordination system according to the Vinaya rules. Not until 250 AD, when Dhammakala from Central India established a regular ordination altar at Baima Temple in Luoyang to transmit the precepts, did China have genuine bhikkhus. Owing to the absence of foreign bhikkhunis in China, women who renounced the world at first merely shaved their hair. Later on, their ordination was presided over by senior monks. A full system of ordination was not in place until 429 AD, when nineteen bhikkhunis headed by Devasara (or Tissara) came from Sri Lanka. It was then that fully ordained bhikkhunis came into existence in China. (From Essentials of Buddhism: Questions and Answers)