Located in the southern side of Dong Street, is the Nine-Dragon Screen built for the Prince Hongwu, the 13th son of the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). It is presently the oldest and largest glazed screen in China and even before 350 years. It is three times larger than the one in Beihai Park, Beijing City.
The screen is made up of yellow, green, blue, purple, black, white and other colored glaze. It can be divided into three parts such as the pedestal, body and roof. The picture depicts the blue sky, the rising sun and moon in the east and west of the screen respectively. The picture also shows flowing water and cloud. The life-like glass glazed animals are inlaid in different postures and arranged in two layers on the border of the pedestal. The first layer consists of giraffe, lion, tiger, deer and Pegasus while small dragons are inlaid on the second layer.There is a stroke of green wave on the lower part and a blue and yellow cloud on the upper part of the glazed screen.
The nine dragons flowing amidst cloud, fog, water and mountain gives a dreamy effect. The glazed screen altogether and especially the body of the nine dragons are produced in a third dimension.A golden-scaled, shiny-eyed dragon occupies the center of the screen with two yellow dragons flying on each side with tails pointing towards the center dragon. Their light-hearted expression clearly shows that they are enjoying themselves. The second pair of yellow dragons stands in elegance with their heads and tails pointing west and has a similar expression that of former ones. Wrestling in the sea is the third pair of dragons in purple and are ferocious while the fourth pair looked highly spiritual. These nine dragons are astoundingly life-like and clearly portray their ability to summon the wind and control the rain.The roof of Nine-Dragon Screen is covered with beautiful glazed tiles.There is a pond situated in front of the screen with a stone bridge. When the breeze tickles water, ripples form and at this moment you can see the reflection of dragons on the surface of water as if they are wrestling in the sea in full might and grandeur.
