p8nda
p8nda BETA
Home Dictionary Translate Flashcards

上座

shàngzuò
noun #55,978

Meanings

  1. 1 seat of honor
  2. 2 (of an audience or customers) to fill the seats
  3. 3 chief elder (of a Buddhist monastery)

Examples

HSK 5
主人请爷爷坐上座。
Zhǔrén qǐng yéye zuò shàngzuò.
The host asked Grandpa to sit in the seat of honor.
HSK 7-9
这部电影口碑不好，首映当天影院上座不到三成。
Zhè bù diànyǐng kǒubēi bù hǎo, shǒuyìng dàngtiān yǐngyuàn shàngzuò búdào sān chéng.
The film got poor reviews, and on opening day the cinemas were less than a third full.
HSK 7-9
唐代的寺院由上座、寺主和维那共同管理。
Tángdài de sìyuàn yóu shàngzuò, sìzhǔ hé wéinà gòngtóng guǎnlǐ.
In Tang dynasty monasteries, the chief elder, the abbot and the weina shared the running of the community.

Tips

usage
请上座 is the polite way to invite a guest to the seat of honor; at a banquet that is usually the seat facing the door. 上首 means the same but sounds literary. The "fill the seats" sense gives 上座率, the occupancy rate of a cinema, theater or restaurant.
history
As a Buddhist title it translates Sanskrit sthavira "elder". In Tang monasteries the three officers were the 上座, a senior monk respected for age and learning, the 寺主, who ran the buildings and property, and the 维那, who kept discipline. Theravada Buddhism is 上座部佛教, the "school of the elders".

Stroke Order

上 shàng
座 zuò