The ''Fatang'' (Traditional Chinese: 法堂, pinyin: ''Fǎtáng'') (lit: “Dharma Hall”) is an important building in
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
temples.
The ''fatang'' is the place for senior monks to preach and generally ranks right after the
Mahavira Hall
A Mahavira Hall, usually simply known as a Main Hall, is the main hall or building in a traditional Chinese culture, Chinese Buddhist temple, enshrining representations of Gautama Buddha and various other buddhas and bodhisattvas. It is encoun ...
.
With the similar architecture form with other halls, the ''fatang'' is more spacious.
In the central back, there is a high platform with a sitting chair putting in the middle.
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" (), hung on the wall.
Seats are placed on both sides of the platform with bells and drums for senior monks to beat when they are preaching.
There are also seats on both sides of the monks' seats for laymen to listen to the Buddha Dharma by senior monks.
References
Further reading
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External links
{{Buddhist temples in China
Chinese Buddhist architecture