Eggs are not vegetarian, but are forbidden by Buddhists. This is because eggs can hatch chicks, and even hens who can't hatch chicks have to suffer in the process of producing eggs. Moreover, we simply don't know whether the eggs we eat can hatch chicks, so Buddhists prohibit eating eggs.

According to Buddhism, there are four forms of life: viviparous, oviparous, wet and metaplasia. Eggs are oviparous, and the existence of this form represents the existence of a life. Eating an egg is equivalent to killing a life. Therefore, eating eggs is equivalent to killing.

Extended data

For China people, the so-called "monk" is a "vegetarian", which is a matter of course. However, whether Buddhist monks must be vegetarians does not seem to be the case in fact; In addition to China Buddhism (and Taiwanese Buddhism introduced directly from the mainland), others such as Tibetan Buddhism, Southern Buddhism in Southeast Asia, Japanese Buddhism, etc., are not taboo to eat meat.

In fact, even in China Buddhism, it was nearly 500 years after Buddhism was introduced to China, and the key figure who directed this epoch-making event in Buddhist history was Liang Wudi (502-549) in the Southern and Northern Dynasties.