Great Wall History

The Great Wall (Chángchéng) is well-known for its magnificent appearance that shows the essence of wisdom and diligence of the ancient Chinese people. It was started in the Warring States Period and repaired later during other 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 larger scale. Now, the Great Wall has become one of the most famous tourist sites inside and outside China. Every year, the Great Wall has millions of foreign visitors and all of them admit that it's a real miracle. There is a famous Chinese saying that states, “If we fail to reach the Great Wall, we are not real men.”

Starting from Shanhaiguan in the east and ending at Jiayuguan in the west, the Great Wall has an approximate length of 6,700 kilometers. A recent survey released that the entire Great Wall takes up 8,851.8 kilometers. Made up of tiles, lime, stones, and bricks, composed of city gates, nemy 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 man-made object that can be seen from space.

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

Later in 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang, Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, conquered all the states and unified China. He ordered the building of a new wall to connect the old fortifications. Stones and earth were used to construct the wall. However, nowadays, very few sections of the wall built before or in Qin Dynasty remain today. Later, 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 intruders.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Ming failed to defeat the Manchurians and Mongolians and the Dynasty was in real danger. Then, 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 bricks and stones used together. As Mongolians continued to attack the territory considerable resources were devoted to repairing and reinforcing the walls. According to geographical data, the sections near Beijing are particularly strong. Due to years of running out and man-made destructions, many parts of The Great Wall have disappeared, including the sections of the Ming Great Wall. Although many parts of the wall have been reconstructed and preserved, some remote parts that are not easy to reach are still for repair.

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