An indispensable decorative part inside and outside the gate of Beijing quadrangle-screen wall

Screen wall is an important decorative wall inside and outside the gate of Beijing quadrangle. Its main function is to shield the messy and rigid walls and scenery inside and outside the gate and beautify the entrance and exit of the gate. When people go in and out of the house, the first thing they see is beautifully stacked and carved walls and auspicious words engraved on them.

Siheyuan has three common screen walls:

The first is located in the gate, in a straight line, called the shadow wall. The shadow wall inside the gate is independent of the gable or partition wall of the wing, which is called independent shadow wall. If you put a small wall cap directly on the gable of the wing to make it into the shape of a shadow wall, the shadow wall and the gable are connected into a whole, which is called a shadow wall.

The second is the screen wall outside the gate. This screen wall is located on the opposite side of the hutong, facing the door of the house. There are generally two shapes. The plane is in the shape of "I", which is called a shadow wall, and the plane is in the shape of "﹀", which is called a shadow wall of wild goose wings. These two kinds of screen walls are either independent of the wall of the opposite house or lean against the wall of the opposite house. It is mainly used to cover the opposite house and the untidy eaves in the corner, so that people who go out from the gate have a neat, beautiful and pleasant feeling.

The third shadow wall, located on the east and west sides of the gate, forms an included angle of 120 or 135 degrees with the cornice of the gate, and its plane is in a figure of eight, which is called "inverted shadow wall" or "skimming mountain shadow wall". When making this inverted Chinese character screen wall, the gate should retreat 2 to 4 meters inward to form a small space in front of the gate, which can be used as a buffer for entering and leaving the gate. Against the backdrop of the anti-eight-character shadow wall, the house door is more profound, open and rich.

The screen wall of the courtyard gate is mostly brick. The screen wall is divided into upper, middle and lower parts, the lower part is the base, the middle part is the center part of the screen wall, and the upper part of the screen wall is the wall cap part, just like the roof and eaves of a room.

The screen wall and the gate are mutually contrasted and inseparable. Although it is a wall, due to its ingenious design and fine construction, it has played a role in setting the clouds and seeing the moon at the entrance of the quadrangle.