Screen Wall

near the Palace of Mental Cultivation, Forbidden City, Beijing (map)

Screen walls are situated behind the front gates of elite residences. They hide the interior of the compound from people passing in front of the gates, and are also related to the idea that bad spirit influences must travel in a straight line; any bad influences that managed to pass through the gate would, presumably, be deflected by the screen wall.

The center medallion portrays a pair of mandarin ducks in a lotus pond (closeup), symbolic generally of harmony in marriage and here, specifically, the harmony between emperor and empress.