Dharma Hall

Dharma Hall
The Dharma Hall at Hanshan Temple, in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Traditional Chinese	法堂
Simplified Chinese	法堂
Literal meaning	Lecture Hall
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Fǎtáng

The Dharma Hall, also known as Lecture Hall, is an important building in Han Chinese Buddhist temples.^[1] The Dharma Hall is the place for senior monks to preach and generally ranks right after the Mahavira Hall.^[1]

With the similar architecture form with other halls, the Dharma Hall is more spacious.^[1] In the central back, there is a high platform with a sitting chair putting in the middle.^[1] In front of the chair is a table with a small sitting Buddha on it, behind the platform is a screen or a picture of lion which is also known as "Roaring lion" (獅子吼) in Buddhism Dharma hung on the wall.^[1] Seats are placed on both sides of the platform with bells and drums for senior monks to beat when they are preaching.^[1] There are also seats on both sides of the monks' seats for laymen to listen to the Buddha Dharma by senior monks.^[2][3]

• Wang Guixiang (2016-06-17). 《中国汉传佛教建筑史——佛寺的建造、分布与寺院格局、建筑类型及其变迁》 [The History of Chinese Buddhist Temples] (in Chinese). Beijing: Tsinghua University Press. ISBN 9787302427056.
• Zhang Yuhuan (2014-06-01). 《图解中国佛教建筑、寺院系列》 (in Chinese). Beijing: Contemporary China Publishing House. ISBN 9787515401188.