Nine Dragons Screen


China today. It is three times larger than that in Beihai Park, Beijing City.

According to Chinese superstition, ghosts and devils can only travel in straight lines, so these magnificent
screens were placed before residency gates in order to block their paths. The two meter thick screen and
glaring dragons certainly make penetration of this screen difficult.

The screen, built for the thirteenth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-
1644), has been well preserved and remains intact to this day. The glazed tile screen was built in 1771
during the administration of Emperor Qianlong. It is 3.5 meters high and about 30 meters long. It consists
of 270 pieces glazed tiles, having 9 featuring dragons playing with pearls with a background of clouds and
seawater.

The design of the body is that of a green wave on the lower part and a blue and yellow cloud on the upper part. It consists of nine flying dragons,
with a golden-scaled, shiny-eyed dragon located in the center. On each side of the central dragon is a pair of light yellow dragons with their heads
pointed East and tails pointed towards the central dragon. A second pair of elegant yellow dragons is next with their heads and tails pointed west.
A third pair is ferocious-looking purple dragons which seem to be wrestling with the sea. The fourth pair is highly spirited dragons. The nine
dragons are life-like and illustrating their ability of calling the wind and controlling the rainfall. The areas around the dragons are supplemented
with images of plants, mountains, stones, water and grass. These patterns along with the nine dragons compliment each other.

In front of the huge screen, there is a pool with clear running spring. Dragons also occupy the places inside
and outside the pool. The top of the Nine Dragons Screen is wood carved items covered with glazed color
tiles and sustained by glazed brackets.

The optimum time to visit is meant to be in the early morning, when the slanting light gleams on the glaze,
and when breezes ripple the pool under the screen.