Shangtang

shangtang (J. jōdō; K. sangdang 上堂). Literally, “ascending the hall”. A Chinese term referring to a public lecture or sermon delivered by a Chan (or Seon or Zen) master in a dharma hall. The master would typically ascend the dais in the dharma hall to deliver his sermon, hence the term shangtang, or “ascending the hall.”

The Digital Dictionary of Buddhism states:

A major convocation in a Zen monastery. Literally, to 'go up' 上 to the 'hall' 堂. The reference here is to a dharma hall 法堂, where all the residents of a monastery (and outside visitors as well) gather to hear the abbot give a sermon or engage members of the assembly in debate 問答. ...

In Chinese Buddhist monasteries of the Song dynasty and the medieval Japanese Zen monasteries that were modeled after them, convocations in a dharma hall were among the most solemn, formal observations held on a regular basis. The words of the abbot, who was understood to speak in the capacity of a flesh-and-blood buddha, were recorded for posterity. Abbots belonging to the Zen lineage were often asked to comment on 'old cases' 古則 (i.e. kōans), or raised such cases themselves to test their followers in the audience. [Griffith Foulk]

See also

• Dharma talk

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University