The screen wall, also known as the screen wall, is built opposite the gate of a courtyard or inside the gate to the outside. The screen wall is to block the cluttered buildings opposite the gate and make people feel spacious and spacious when standing in front of the gate. Neatness also shows the difference between the inside and outside of the courtyard. According to ancient Feng Shui experts, the screen wall in front of the door and the screen wall in the courtyard are to make the air flow around the screen wall, and the gathered air will not disperse. There is also a saying in the "Dragon Book" that going straight will harm people. It plays the role of blocking the murderous spirit. However, due to the different sizes of courtyards, the identities of the owners in the houses, and the sizes of doors, there are certain rules for the construction of screen walls. Generally, it is a one-word screen wall, which is usually built in front of official residences or wealthy merchants. The screen wall is divided into three parts. The upper part is decorated with tube tiles, and the middle wall is made of rectangular bricks to form a frame. The center and four corners of the frame are decorated with brick carvings, and the middle part is engraved. There are the words "Fu", "Wealth" and "Hong" with the words "Fu", "Wealth" and "Hong", and Xumizuo is built underneath. There is also a kind of "Goose Wing Screen Wall" with fine masonry work, polished bricks and seams, and carved flowers. There are also flowers, grass, etc. carved on the corners of the screen wall. The architecture of the entire Yanchi Screen Wall fully embodies solemnity and beauty. Generally speaking, wild goose-wing screen walls are mostly built in yamen, government offices, and mansions. There are three common screen walls in courtyards. The first one is located inside the gate and is in the shape of a straight line, which is called a one-word screen wall. The one-word screen wall inside the gate is independent of the gable wall or partition wall of the wing room, which is called an independent screen wall. If a small wall cap is directly built on the gable wall of the wing room and the shape of the screen wall is made, so that the screen wall and the gable wall are integrated into one, then It is called a mountain screen wall.
The second type is the screen wall located outside the gate. This screen wall is located opposite the alley, facing the house gate. It generally has two shapes. The one with a "1" shape on the plane is called a one-word screen wall. The one in the shape of "冖" is called the wild goose wing screen wall. These two kinds of screen walls are either independent from the opposite courtyard wall, or built against the opposite courtyard wall. They are mainly used to block the opposite houses and uneven corner eaves, so that people who go out through the gate have a neat, beautiful and pleasant feeling. .
There is also a kind of screen wall, which is located on the east and west sides of the gate, forming an angle of 120 degrees or 135 degrees with the eaves of the door. The plane is in the shape of /, which is called the "reverse eight-character screen wall" or "mountain-skimming screen wall". ". When making this kind of reverse-eight screen wall, the door should be set back 2-4 meters inward to form a small space in front of the door, which can be used as a buffer for entering and exiting the door. Set off by the inverted horoscope screen wall, the door of the house appears deeper, wider and more magnificent.
Most of the screen walls of courtyard houses are made of bricks. The screen wall is divided into three parts: upper, middle and lower. The lower part is the base, the middle part is the core part of the screen wall, and the upper part of the screen wall is the cap part, which is like the roof and eaves of a room.
The screen wall and the gate complement each other and reinforce each other. The two are inseparable. Although it is a wall, due to its ingenious design and meticulous construction, it serves as the finishing touch at the entrance of the courtyard. role.
There is another type of shadow wall on both sides of the gate, called the eight-character shadow wall, also called the eight-character pink wall. When building this eight-character shadow wall, the angle between the gate tower, legs and cornice of the gate should be about 130 degrees. On the screen walls on both sides of the gate, there are symmetrical patterns and large-scale brick carvings, leaving an open space in front of the gate. It was originally used to place the horse-mounting stone and the horse-mounting stone, but it is no longer needed.