The Screen Wall of Lingyin Temple is a large yellow screen with black tiles located at the fork of Lingyin and Tianzhu, opposite to the front gate. It is a heritage from the Qing Dynasty in a style of Chinese traditional architecture.
The screen is a unique yellow colour seen throughout Lingyin Temple, with four large Chinese characters on it: “Zhi Chi Xi Tian”. “Zhi”, a measure of length used in the West Zhou Dynasty, is approximately in the length of eight cun. Zhi Chi Xi Tian roughly means the western pure land of ultimate bliss is so close from where this screen is located. In other words, entering Lingyin Temple means coming into the western pure land of ultimate bliss.
Screen wall is particular in Chinese traditional architecture, which is generally a wall inside or outside the front gate. It is usually built by bricks with three parts: a top, a body and a base course. There are sometimes brick carvings as ornaments in the middle of the body. The wall can screen the house against the wind and obstruct the view, with a decorative effect as well.
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