Great Wall Of China

The History Of China Great Wall

The Great Wall (Chángchéng) is well-known for its magnificent appearance which presents the essence of the wisdom and diligence of the ancient Chinese people. It was started to be built in the Warring States Period and repaired and reinforced later on during many dynasties. The original purpose of the Great Wall was to protect the kingdoms from being attacked by Xiongnu in the Warring States Period. It was later constructed in the Qin Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty on a large scale. Now, the Great Wall has become one of the most famous tourist sites of interest inside and outside China. Every year, the Great Wall receives millions of foreign visitors coming from afar and all of them admit that it’s a real miracle. There is a famous Chinese saying that goes like this: If we fail to reach the Great Wall, we are not real men.

Starting mainly from Shanhaiguan in the east and ending at Jiayuguan in the west, the Great Wall has an approximate length of 6700 kilometers. A recent survey released that the entire Great Wall takes up 8,851.8 kilometers. Made up of tiles, lime, stones, and bricks, and so on, and composed of city gates, circumvallation, enemy towers, and signal beacon towers and so on, the Great Wall convolves on the ridges of mountains and deserts. It is said by astronauts that the Great Wall is one of the man-made objects that can be seen from space.

History of the Great Wall

During the metaphase of the Warring States Period from the 5th century B.C. to 221 B.C., the States of Qi, Yan and Zhao were constantly attacked by Xiongnu from the norhth. The three States couldn’t defeat Xiongnu, and so they decided to build fortifications to defend themselves. The Great Wall by then was built to withstand the attack of swords and spears. And these walls were mainly made by stamping earth and gravel.

Later in 221 B.C., Qin Shi Huang, Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, conquered all that states and unified China. He ordered to build a new wall to connect the old fortifications. Stones and rammed earth were used to construct the wall. But nowadays, very few sections of the wall built before or in Qin Dynasty remain today. Later on, the Han, Sui, Northern and Jin dynasties all rebuilt, reinforced, or extended sections of the Great Wall to defend themselves from being attacked by northern intrusions.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Ming failed to defeat the Manchurians and Mongolians and the Dynasty was in a real danger. The, the Emperor gave orders to construct walls along the northern border. The walls that were built in the Ming Dynasty were stronger thanks to the use of bricks and stones together. As Mongolians continued to attack the territory, considerable resources were devoted to repair and reinforce the walls. According to geographical data, the sections near Beijing are especially strong.

Due to years of running-out and man-made destructions, many parts of The Great Wall have become disappeared, including the sections of the Ming Great Wall. Although many parts of the wall are being reconstructed and preserved, some remote parts that are not easy to reach are still waiting to be repaired.