The Gate of Shanmen or Hall of the Shanmen or simply Shanmen, 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 "Hall of Shanmen". The Shanmen is the most important gate of a Chan Buddhist sect temple.
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
General Heng (哼將軍) inside the Shanmen Hall of the Hongfa Temple, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
The Hall of Mount Gate at the Jietai Temple, Beijing. The arched windows represent the traditional side gateways.
A paifang, also known as a pailou, is a traditional style of Chinese architecture, often used in arch or gateway structures.
Paifang in Shunfengshan Park in Foshan
A decorated paifang in Shanghai
Dongsi, an intersection in Beijing, had four paifangs in the 1920s.
A paifang photographed in Gansu Province (1933).
