The History of the Great Wall

The Great Wall has a history of over 2,000 years. It is one of the most famous ancient construction wonders in the world. It starts from east to west in the  northern part of China, just like a giant dragon crossing high mountain and valleys, deserts and grassland. For a long time in Chinese history, the Great Wall served as a military gigantic defensive project and kept out the invading troops of the northern nomadic tribes.

The Great Wall was first built in the 7 century BC. At that time, China was not unified, so there were several small states in China. The first section of wall that appeared in China was built by State Qi and State Chu. They built a high wall to surround their own territories. The high wall built by the two states was also known as the Qi wall and the Chu wall.

During the Warring States Period (475-221BC), there were seven powerful states (namely Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei and Qin). Following the example of State Qi and State Chu, the other five states all built sections of high walls around their own territories for self-protection. Of the seven states, Qin, Zhao and Yan were located in the north. They built high walls at the strategic points of the northern boundaries and fortresses along their northern frontiers as defensive projects. Actually these high walls were the primitive prototype of the present Great Wall and laid the foundation for it. In Chinese history, large-scale construction of the Great Wall was carried out in three dynasties, which are Qin, Han and Ming Dynasties.

Qin Great Wall
The high wall was first called as the Great Wall during the Qin dynasty. In 221 BC, State Qin defeated the other six kingdoms and unified China. After that Qin Emperor gave himself the title Qin Shihuang, meanning ” the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty”. After Qin Shihuang unified China, He decided to link up the separate sections of  high walls into the Great Wall, especially the high walls in the northern part of China built by Qin, Zhao, and Yan in order to ward off harassment by the Huns (an ancient nationality in northern China). The construction took 10 years to finish, and wak linked up into the Great Wal. When it was completeted, the total length of the Great Wall was over 7,000 kilometers long. It started from Lintao, Gansu Province in the west and ended in Liaodong,Liaoning Province in the east.

Han Great Wall

Large-scale construction of the Great Wall was carried out in the Han dynasty(206 BC-220AD). First, the Han Emperor built an Outer Great Wall,about 500 kilometers to the north of Qin Great Wall, and then they extended the Great Wall towards the west for another 5,000 kilometers long to the Lop Nur Lake in today’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The Han Great Wall was 10,000 kilometers in a total length, It started from the Liaodong Peninsula in the east, and ended at the foot of the Tianshan Mountain in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Ming Great Wall

The construction on the Great Wall was carried out last in the Ming Dynasty, In 1368, Ming General Xu Da conquered Beijing. The Yuan Emperor escaped to the northern desert, But later, the remaining forces of the Yuan Dynasty made counterattacks on Beijing frequently, So after Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming dynasty in 1368, he started the reconstruction of the Great Wall immediately and stationed troops along the Wall. During the Ming dynasty, 18 large-scale construction of the Great Wall were carried out. After that, the total length of the Ming Great Wall was more than 7,000 kilometers. It start from Yalu River in Liaoning Province in the east, to Jiayuguan Pass in Gansu Province in the west.

 

Today the most famous tourist section of Great wall is Badaling Great Wall. It is located 75 kilometers northwest of Beijing. THe name Bada means “convenient transportation to all directions”.

The Great Wall at Badaling is 7.8 meters high, 6.5 meters wide at its base, and 5.8 meters on the top, wide enough for five horses or ten soldiers walking abreast on the wall. The highest point at Badaling is about 1,000 meters above sea level.

The unique feature of Badaling Great Wall is : one side built with battlements and the parapet is on the other side. The side with the battlement is about 2meters high, and the parapet is one meter high. A square sized hole below the battlements was used for shooting arrows and also for keeping a watch over the enemy.

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Author: AmoyTrip.com--The History of the Great Wall
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