noun
Archaic or literary term for a protective barrier or defensive wall, often used metaphorically for something that guards or shields. Rare in modern Japanese.
城の藩屏は敵の侵入を防いだ。
The castle's bulwark prevented the enemy's invasion.
この法律は自由の藩屏として機能する。
This law functions as a bulwark of freedom.
From Chinese 藩屏 (fānpíng), meaning 'fence' or 'screen'. The characters 藩 (hedge, fence) and 屏 (screen, shield) combine to convey a protective barrier. The exact historical derivation in Japanese is uncertain; it is a literary borrowing.