The Great Wall of China (simplified Chinese:
长城; traditional Chinese:
長城; pinyin:
Ch·ngchÈng; literally "long city/fortress") or (simplified Chinese:
万里长城; traditional Chinese:
萬里長城; pinyin:
Wýnlǐ Ch·ngchÈng; literally "The long wall of 10,000
Li (里)"[1])
is a series of stone and earthen
fortifications in northern
China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th
century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern
borders of the
Chinese Empire from
Xiongnu attacks during various
successive dynasties. Since the 5th century BC, several
walls have been built that were referred to as the Great
Wall. One of the most famous is the wall built between
220ñ206 BC by the first
Emperor of China,
Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains; the majority
of the existing wall were built during the
Ming Dynasty.
The Great Wall stretches from
Shanhaiguan in the east to
Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly
delineates the southern edge of
Inner Mongolia. The most comprehensive archaeological
survey, using advanced technologies, has recently concluded
that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches,
stretches for 8,851.8 km (5,500.3 mi). This is made up of
6,259.6 km (3,889.5 mi) of sections of actual wall, 359.7 km
(223.5 mi) of trenches and 2,232.5 km (1,387.2 mi) of
natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.[2][3][4]
History
Map of the whole wall
constructions
The Chinese were already familiar with
the techniques of
wall-building by the time of the
Spring and Autumn Period, which began around the 8th
century BC. During the
Warring States Period from the 5th century BC to 221 BC,
the states of
Qi,
Yan and
Zhao all constructed extensive fortifications to defend
their own borders. Built to withstand the attack of small
arms such as swords and spears, these walls were made mostly
by stamping earth and gravel between board frames.
Qin Shi Huang conquered all opposing states and unified
China in 221 BC, establishing the
Qin Dynasty. Intending to impose centralized rule and
prevent the resurgence of feudal lords, he ordered the
destruction of the wall sections that divided his empire
along the former state borders. To protect the empire
against intrusions by the
Xiongnu people from the north, he ordered the building
of a new wall to connect the remaining fortifications along
the empire's new northern frontier. Transporting the large
quantity of materials required for construction was
difficult, so builders always tried to use local resources.
Stones from the mountains were used over mountain ranges,
while
rammed earth was used for construction in the plains.
There are no surviving historical records indicating the
exact length and course of the Qin Dynasty walls. Most of
the ancient walls have eroded away over the centuries, and
very few sections remain today. Later, the
Han,
Sui,
Northern and
Jin dynasties all repaired, rebuilt, or expanded
sections of the Great Wall at great cost to defend
themselves against northern invaders.
The Great Wall concept was revived again
during the
Ming Dynasty following the Ming army's defeat by the
Oirats in the
Battle of Tumu in 1449. The Ming had failed to gain a
clear upper-hand over the
Manchurian and
Mongolian tribes after successive battles, and the
long-drawn conflict was taking a toll on the empire. The
Ming adopted a new strategy to keep the
nomadic tribes out by constructing walls along the
northern border of China. Acknowledging the Mongol control
established in the
Ordos Desert, the wall followed the desert's southern
edge instead of incorporating the bend of the
Huang He.
Photograph of the Great Wall
in 1907
Unlike the earlier Qin fortifications,
the Ming construction was stronger and more elaborate due to
the use of
bricks and stone instead of rammed earth. As
Mongol raids continued periodically over the years, the
Ming devoted considerable resources to repair and reinforce
the walls. Sections near the Ming capital of
Beijing were especially strong.[citation
needed]
During the 1440sñ1460s, the Ming also
built a so-called "Liaodong Wall". Similar in function to
the Great Wall (whose extension, in a sense, it was), but
more basic in construction, the Liaodong Wall enclosed the
agricultural heartland of the
Liaodong province, protecting it against potential
incursions by Jurched-Mongol Oriyanghan from the northwest
and the
Jianzhou Jurchens from the north. While stones and tiles
were used in some parts of the Liaodong Wall, most of it was
in fact simply an earth dike with moats on both sides.[5]
Towards the end of the Ming Dynasty, the
Great Wall helped defend the empire against the
Manchu invasions that began around 1600. Under the
military command of
Yuan Chonghuan, the Ming army held off the Manchus at
the heavily fortified
Shanhaiguan pass, preventing the Manchus from entering
the Chinese heartland. The Manchus were finally able to
cross the Great Wall in 1644, when the gates at Shanhaiguan
were opened by
Wu Sangui, a Ming border general who disliked the
activities of rulers of the
Shun Dynasty. The Manchus quickly seized Beijing, and
defeated the newly founded Shun Dynasty and remaining Ming
resistance, to establish the
Qing Dynasty.
In 2009, an additional 290 kilometres
(180 miles) of previously undetected portions of the wall,
built during the Ming Dynasty, were discovered. The newly
discovered sections range from the Hushan mountains in the
northern
Liaoning province to
Jiayuguan in western
Gansu province. The sections had been submerged over
time by sandstorms that moved across the arid region.[6]
Under Qing rule, China's borders extended
beyond the walls and
Mongolia was annexed into the empire, so construction
and repairs on the Great Wall were discontinued.
