What shocking secrets are hidden in the Nine Dragon Wall in the Forbidden City?
The biggest secret of the Nine Dragon Wall is that the belly of a white dragon on the wall is not entirely made of white glazed tiles. One of the tiles is a wooden block painted with white paint by craftsmen. Because the craftsmen accidentally broke a white glazed tile after firing it, but they had no time to bake it again, so a craftsman carved the glazed tile shape out of nanmu and then painted it white Painted and placed the white dragon belly. Unexpectedly, this wooden block completely deceived Emperor Qianlong. Not only that, he also rewarded these craftsmen heavily.
Although there are nine dragons on the Nine Dragon Wall, it is actually just a royal screen wall. What is "zhaobi"? A screen wall is actually a common wall in a courtyard house. It is usually built at the entrance of the courtyard. Some are outside the door, and some are inside the door. Those outside the door are called external screen walls, and those inside the door are called internal screen walls. The reason why screen walls are built in courtyards is because of Feng Shui. The ancients believed that the turbid air outside the house would easily rush into the house through the door.
To avoid air rush, building a wall to block the direct passage from the door to the house is the best way. In order to maintain indoor and outdoor air circulation, they built a wall that does not need to be closed. , called Zhaobi. Of course, the screen wall can also play a role in wind protection and privacy protection, preventing passers-by from directly seeing the courtyard when the door is open. The Nine Dragon Wall is a screen wall that blocks the privacy of the emperor's home and blocks the wind and gathers energy. Here, the emperor specifically refers to Emperor Qianlong.
After Qianlong decided to retreat behind the scenes and become the Supreme Emperor, he ordered the construction of Ningshou Palace. The Nine Dragon Wall is located outside the Huangji Gate of Ningshou Palace. The nine dragons on the wall represent the emperor and the Eight Banners respectively. The yellow dragon representing the emperor is located in the middle and is called Zhenglong. There are four dragons of different colors on the left and right sides of the Zhenglong, which represent the Eight Banners. The nine of the Nine Dragons plus the fifth of the Zhenglong exactly constitute the Nine Five. The meaning of "respect" contains the core concept of the supremacy of imperial power.