Shanmen

The Hall of Shanmen at Jietai Temple, in Beijing, capital of China.

The shanmen (Gate of Three Liberations) at White Horse Temple, in Luoyang, Henan Province

The Gate of Shanmen or Hall of the Shanmen or simply Shanmen (simplified Chinese: 山门殿; traditional Chinese: 山門殿; pinyin: Shānméndiàn), is the entrance gate of a Buddhist temple. In ancient times, nearly all Buddhist temples had a single Shanmen gate leading into a large hall for the temple. Today, it is observed that most of the surviving Chinese Buddhist temples follow the hall style but have three main gates incorporated into their construction. After successive wars and cultural discontinuity, most Chan Buddhist temples have changed the middle gate into a hall entrance, called the "Hall of Shanmen". The Shanmen is the most important gate of a Chan Buddhist temple.