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Datong Nine Dragon Screen Wall

Datong Nine Dragon Screen Wall

Write: Klaud [2011-05-23]

As the existing famous nine-dragon screen walls in China, the Datong Nine-Dragon Screen Wall is by far the oldest, biggest and most artistic. This 600-year-old glazed screen wall, 45.5 meters long, 8 meters high and 2.09 meters wide, was originally used for guarding the gate of the mansion of Prince Zhu Gui, the 13th son of the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD).
Built during the Ming Dynasty (1271-1368), this marvelous wall is 45.5 meters long, 8 meters high and 22 meters thick. Nine dragons, each playing with a pearl with the sun and moon aside, were carved in a very lifelike manner. Yellow, blue, purple and white are applied to the carvings to depict the writhing dragons, and make the wall very enchanting. Among the nine dragons, one heading to the front with imposing appearance is held in awe by other dragons. The left space is filled with patterns of mountains, rivers and trees, which serve as a contrast to make the dragons stand out. The whole wall was built on a 2.09-meter sumeru throne ( ), on which carved 41 patterns of two dragons playing with a pearl . In addition, on the waist of the sumeru throne, 75 pieces of vitreous brick constitute a grand relief with varieties of lively animals on it, such as cattle, horses, sheep, dogs, deer and rabbits. The wall reflects the superb carving skill of ancient China.
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.
Besides, tourists can find many streets, gates, and places with imperial names in Datong, like Huangchen Street (the Imperial City Street) , Zhengdian Street (The Main Hall Street) , Donghua Gate (East China Gate) and so on. They are all ruins of imperial palaces in ancient China.