Zhaobi (light-covered wall)

Japanese: 照壁 - しょうへき（英語表記）zhào bì

Also called shadow wall, light wall, or wall wall. A separate, concealing wall built in front of or within the main gate of a Chinese palace, government office, or residence. One theory is that it was meant to ward off evil. Many are made of brick or earth, and in palaces and temples, some are decorated with colorful glaze on the walls to depict dragons and animals, such as the Nine Dragon Wall in Datong, Shanxi Province, and Beihai Park, Beijing. Its origins are ancient, and it is known that it was called "tree" or "pan" during the Western Zhou to Spring and Autumn Periods, and the oldest example was excavated at the site of an ancestral temple in the early Western Zhou period in Fengqiao, Qishan County, Shaanxi Province.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

影壁，照牆，牆壁ともいう。中国の宮殿，官署や住宅の大門の前面もしくは門内に設けられた目隠しの独立塀。一説に魔よけを意味するという。塼造（せんぞう）や土造のものが多く，宮殿や寺廟などでは壁面に多彩の琉璃で竜や動物をあらわした装飾的なものもあり，山西省大同や北京北海公園などの九竜壁が代表的な例。起源は古く，西周～春秋時代には〈樹〉または〈屛〉の名で呼ばれていたことが知られ，陝西省岐山県鳳雛の西周初期の宗廟址に最古の実例が発掘された。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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