Also called *sōdō 僧堂; sometimes *masodō 媽姐堂 at Ōbaku 黄檗 sect, temples. Other names are saisōdō 聖僧堂, undō 雲堂, and senbutsudō 選仏堂. A meditation hall that is divided into two parts, the inner and outer, and has an earthen floor. One of the main buildings within the precincts of a Zen 禅 temple. It is also where Zen monks received strict training, part of which was the practice of a meditation technique zazen 坐禅. The best example of Zendō and the only one designated as a important cultural property is at Tōfukuji 東福寺 (1415) in Kyoto. It is a large, single-storied building. The main core *moya 母屋 is 7 ×4 bay (*ken 間) and is surrounded by a one-bay deep enclosure with a pent roof *mokoshi 裳階. Altogether the outer measurements are 42.08 m long × 21.92 m deep. The entrance vestibule is a later addition. The pillars of the mokoshi are smaller in diameter than the main ones that surround the moya. Six large pillars are erected through the center of the moya which has a gabled roof *kirizuma-zukuri 切妻造, and has double rainbow beams and bottle struts nijūkōryō taiheizuka 二重虹梁大瓶束, in the gable pediments. Built primarily in the Zen style *zenshūyō 禅宗様, there is a flavor of the daibutsu style *daibutsuyō 大仏様, in the use of brackets arms *sashihijiki 挿肘木, inserted directly into the pillars on either side of the wide bay in the middle of the center line of pillars. The floor of the moya is paved with tiles set diagonally. The ceiling is boarded. Around the perimeter are low platforms zashō 坐牀, on which the monks sat. Below the upper edge of the mokoshi roof are low openings fitted with vertical lath, between the moya pillars at each end, and two bays from the corner pillars at the back and the front at each end. The lath allows light and air into the central core of the building. The windows in the mokoshi are the Zen-style ogee type and are called *katōmado 火灯窓. Just above these openings are low openings with vertical lath surrounding the entire mokoshi. Another example as Manpukuji Zendō 萬福寺禅堂 (1663) in Kyoto.
