Nine-Dragon Wall

Detail of the Nine-Dragon Wall at the Forbidden City, in Beijing.

A Nine-Dragon Wall or Nine-Dragon Screen (九龙壁; pinyin: Jiǔ Lóng Bì) is a type of screen wall with reliefs of nine different Chinese dragons. Such walls are typically found in imperial Chinese palaces and gardens.

Early reference to the tradition of putting a screen wall at the gate is found in the Analects, 3:22: therein, it is mentioned as a trivial ritual norm ("The princes of States have a screen intercepting the view at their gates". 邦君樹塞門, trans. by James Legge).

Partial list of Nine-Dragon Walls:

Nine-Dragon Wall in Beihai Park, Beijing
Nine-Dragon Wall in the Forbidden City, Beijing

References

  1. "Chicago Architecture Info - Nine Dragon Wall". Artefaqs Corporation. Retrieved 30 April 2014.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nine-Dragon Walls.