Grey brick small roof tile horse head wall, corridor hanging grille window

The horse head wall, also known as the wind fire Wall, the fire-proof wall, is an important feature of the Huizhou architecture (Huizhou architecture) which is one of the Han traditional residence architecture. Specifically, it refers to the wall sill above the roof of the two gables, that is, the top part of the wall of the gable. Because it looks like a horse's head, it is called the "horse head wall."

In the villages where the traditional ethnic groups live in the south of the Yangtze River, the density of residential buildings is large. When a fire occurs, the fire is easy to spread along the house. On the top of the two gables of the house, there is a horse-head wall that rises above the roof, which can function as a fire source separation in the event of a fire in an adjacent house. Over time, it turns into a unique style.

The horse head wall is the traditional residential building in Jiangnan, China. The roof is divided into two sides by the middle horizontal ridge. The left and right gables are flush with the roof or higher than the roof. When the horse head wall is used, the gables on both sides are higher. The roof, which follows the slope of the roof, is horizontally stepped, unlike the gables seen in general. The upper is an isosceles triangle and the rectangle below. Horse head wall top is covered by Chinese grey roof tiles. It is an important feature of the traditional residential buildings in Jiangnan.