The origin of the Nine Dragon Wall?
The Nine Dragon Wall is a type of screen wall, a wall used to block sight in traditional architecture. The Nine Dragon Wall has five ridges and four sloping tops. There are nine dragons on each side of the main ridge, one on each side of the vertical ridge, one on the front and back of the main ridge. Under the spine-swallowing beast, there is a cover tile on the east and west sides, and there is a dragon on each top. , there are 32 dragons on the five ridges. There is a dragon on each of the dragon bricks under the simple tiles, Longbi and Dougong. Based on this calculation, there are a total of 635 dragons on the Nine Dragon Wall.
Origin of the Nine Dragon Wall:
After Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, established the Ding Yingtian Mansion, his many sons divided the land into kings and guarded the center. Zhu Yuanzhang's thirteenth son was named Zhu Gui, who was established as the prince since he was a child. When he was nearly 20 years old, Zhu Yuanzhang saw that he had no talent and virtue, so he deposed him as prince and named him the acting king to guard Datong. When King Dai arrived in Datong, he roamed the streets and often killed people for no reason. The people of Datong secretly called him "King Lengzhao Dai".
One day when King Dai was full and full of wine and food, he was wandering outside the palace. He looked up and saw a newly built glazed nine-dragon wall in front of the palace. He was very happy and clamored to build an elegant one in front of the palace in Datong. And he cheated and brought the drawings back to Datong.
The King of Dai immediately summoned Wu and his son, three glaziers from Huairen Wu Kiln, and ordered them to burn the dragon wall. After Wang Jixu knew about it, she requested that it must be "two feet longer, two feet higher, and two inches thicker than the dragon wall in Prince Yan's Mansion." King Dai had no choice but to agree. So to date, the Nine Dragon Wall in Datong is the largest in the country, and the one in the Forbidden City is also the largest. Nothing compares to it.
Six months later, the Nine Dragon Wall was completed. The acting king Zhu Gui, the veteran general Xu Da and his daughter Wang Jixu climbed up the tower and leaned on the railings to watch. It was indeed tall, majestic and dazzling.
The glazed tiles on the top of the wall are dazzling in the sun, and the two golden crouching dragons on the main ridge are lifelike; the nine glazed dragons on the wall are either twisting and turning, playing with waves and beads, or holding their heads high and swallowing clouds. Breathing mist; the huge Xumizuo is carved with lions, tigers, elephants, deers, dogs, unicorns, and pegasus on the middle waist. Some are galloping like flying, some are looking back with their tails raised, and some are walking at a leisurely pace. The images are very vivid. The entire Kowloon Wall is 45.5 meters long, 8 meters high and 2.2 meters thick.
Extended information:
The legend about the Nine Dragon Wall:
Tang Lusun mentioned in the book "North and South Views of Former Qing Dynasty Wangsun" that in the 21st year of Qianlong's reign, Tang Lusun mentioned One day, the Buddha's light shone in front of the Nine Dragon Wall in Beihai. There were incense tables and incense burners in the empty space. There was a yellow futon in front of the incense table. An eminent monk was sitting on the futon. Hundreds of people were watching devoutly. It was a solemn scene.
It turns out that Tibetan Tantric monks are consecrating the Nine Dragon Wall. When the sky was filled with auspicious clouds and the sunset glowed half of the sky, a miracle happened. Someone threw a handkerchief to the head of the ninth dragon, and the dragon became spiritually enlightened. Its eyes and whiskers moved, and it kept sucking the handkerchief, as if it was about to fly from the wall into the sky.
Of course, what is recorded in the book is just a legend, but it reflects the Chinese people's good wish that the dragon has spirituality and can bless the earth with good weather. It also shows how exquisite the workmanship of the Nine Dragon Wall in Beihai is.
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