萧墙 (xiāoqiáng): screen wall facing the entrance…

Meanings

1 screen wall facing the entrance of a traditional Chinese residence
2 (figurative) the inside / inner circle (source of internal trouble)

Characters

萧

xiāo

(literary) solemn / a kind of mugwort

墙

qiáng

wall

Examples

祸起萧墙，外敌反而不足为虑。

Huò qǐ xiāoqiáng, wàidí fǎn'ér bùzú wéi lǜ.

Trouble arises from within; the external enemy is the lesser worry.

古宅门内有一道精美的萧墙。

Gǔ zhái mén nèi yǒu yí dào jīngměi de xiāoqiáng.

Inside the gate of the old residence stood an exquisite screen wall.

Tips

history

From 《论语·季氏》: 吾恐季孙之忧，不在颛臾，而在萧墙之内也 — Confucius warned that the real danger came not from a foreign state but from within the lord's own household. The set phrase 祸起萧墙 (huò qǐ xiāoqiáng, 'disaster rises from the screen wall') comes from this passage.