When Buddhism was brought to China in the second century BC and temples first began to be built, it appears that Buddha halls were already being constructed along with pagodas used to enshrine Buddha's ashes as essential elements of a temple.
仏教が中国に伝来し、寺院が建立され始めた紀元前2世紀には、既に寺院を構成する建物として仏舎利を祀る塔と共に仏堂が建立されていたようである。