The history of the Great Wall is said to start from the Spring and Autumn Periods when seven powerful states appeared at the same time. In order to defend themselves, they all built walls and stationed troops on the borders. At that time, the total length of the wall had already reached 3,107 miles, belonging to different states.
In 221 BC, the Emperor Qin absorbed the other six states and set up the first unified kingdom in Chinese history. In order to strengthen his newly born authority and defend the Huns in the north, he ordered connecting the walls once built by the other states as well as adding some sections of his own. Thus was formed the long Qin's Great Wall which started from the east of today's Liaoning Province and ended at Lintao, Gansu Province.
In the Western Han Dynasty, the Huns became more powerful. The Han court started to build more walls on a larger scale in order to consolidate the frontier. In the west, the wall along the Hexi corridor, Yumenguan Pass, and Yangguan Pass was built. In the north, Yanmenguan Pass and Niangziguan Pass in Shanxi were set up. Many more sections of the wall extended to Yinshan Mountain and half of the ancient Silk Road was along the Han's wall.
The Northern Wei, Northern Qi and Northern Zhou Dynasties all built their own sections but on a smaller scale than the walls in the Han Dynasty. The powerful Tang Dynasty saw peace between the northern tribes and central China most of the time, so few Great Wall sections were built in this period.
The Ming Dynasty is the peak of wall building in Chinese history. The Ming suffered a lot by disturbances from minority tribes such as the Dadan, Tufan and Nuzhen. The Ming court from its first emperor to the last ceaselessly built walls in the north. The main line started from Jiuliancheng near the Yalu River in the east to the Jiayuguan Pass in the west and measured over 4,600 miles. Besides adding many more miles of its own, the Ming emperors ordered enlargement of the walls of previous dynasties into double-line or multi-line walls. For example, out of Yanmenguan Pass were added three big stone walls and 23 small stone walls. Eleven Garrisons were distributed along the main line of the wall. The countless walls, fortresses, and watch towers made the country strongly fortified. In the early Qing Dynasty, some sections of the walls were repaired and several sections were extended. This great engineering work stopped in the middle of the Qing Dynasty.
Owing to its long history, natural disasters and human activities, many sections of the Great Wall are severely damaged and disappearing. Being a world-famous engineering project and witness to the rise and fall of Chinese history, the Great Wall, needs us to take immediate action to protect it!
Great Wall of Different Dynasties:
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Travelers' Voices on Great Wall History
1.
Nov. 12,2009 20:37 Reply
Mr.blak(USA) said:
OKOK DOES THE GREAT WALL HAVE ANY EXCAPE ROUTES
Nov. 16,2009 21:06
Ms.SLEEPYHAMSTER replied:
No, there was not such a excape route as you mentioned. What kind of escape do you mean?
2.
Nov. 13,2009 18:18 Reply
Ms.lulu(usa) said:
what's the history about the great wall of china????????
Nov. 13,2009 19:43
Mr.lin replied:
The China Great Wall was built from the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476 BC) to Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
3.
Nov. 9,2009 17:25 Reply
Mrs.Ashley(USA) said:
My family well my dad, grandpa,and grandma were born in CHINA it is very cool and they haved walked on the GREAT WALL OF CHINA!!!!!!Also they have told me a lot of the GREAT WALL OF THE CHINA it was a long time for the people that were builing it.
Nov. 12,2009 09:56
Mrs.miracle(us) replied:
how long did it take them 2 walk it
4.
Oct. 27,2009 07:58 Reply
Ms.Mad Woman(m'sia) said:
wat will happen if we look at the back of us when we are on the great wall of china??
Oct. 28,2009 01:20
Mr.Angel replied:
Watch your steps or you'll fall!
5.
Oct. 27,2009 23:11 Reply
Mrs.mumysuz(cambodia) said:
why was the great wall of china built
Oct. 28,2009 01:01
Mr.Robin replied:
It was built to protect the people in central land from being invaded by northern nomadic tribes in ancient times.
6.
Oct. 26,2009 01:45 Reply
Mr.poop(america) said:
how many people were involved in building it?
Oct. 26,2009 19:03
Ms.M.C(America) replied:
Tens of thousands of workers were involved in building the Great wall. The army provided many laborers. Soldiers became construction workers and generals became architects and engineers. Peasants were required to work on the wall. They worked for months at a time for little or no pay. Criminals served their sentences doing hard labor on teh wall
Oct. 27,2009 21:49
Ms.jessica(america) replied:
basicly all the slaves would be put to build the great wall
7.
Oct. 15,2009 12:31 Reply
Ms.lulu(u.s.) said:
what is the great wall of china made up of? was i t built all at once?
Oct. 15,2009 21:32
Mr.Adam replied:
The construction of Great Wall is not a one-for-all job. It lasted for more than 2,000 years from about 700B.C.
Oct. 26,2009 19:06
Ms.M.C(America) replied:
It has sides of stone or brick, and the insides of the wall is filled with earth. The top is paved with bricks set in mortar. The bricks form a road that was used by teh workers who built the wall and by the soliders who defended it. In the east, the wall winds through the mountainous Mongolian Border Uplands. this part of teh wall has a foundation of granite blocks.
8.
Oct. 25,2009 08:02 Reply
Ms.Nodame(Japan) said:
How was this wall made? I mean the procedure.
Oct. 25,2009 20:10
Mr.siva replied:
Well, you can refer to the Great Wall construction in this page:
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/construction/
Oct. 26,2009 19:00
Ms.M.C (America) replied:
toward the end of the Ming dynasty much building was done in the eastern mountains to protect teh capital city, Peking. Builders began using bricks and blocks of stone instead of pounded earth. Walls built of stone and brick didn't erode in wind and rain. they didn't need constant repair as earth walls did. Stone and brick walls were strong and durable, but they were more complicated to build. Progress was slow. Stone had to be dug from quarries, cut into blocks, and transported to the wall. Bricks were made from mud and then baked in kils. workers with special skills - stonemasons and brickmakers - were needed to handle the new materials.
9.
Oct. 23,2009 10:34 Reply
Mr.bannana(ohio) said:
the purpose of building yhe wall
Oct. 24,2009 21:32
Mr.lala replied:
It's to protect the people living in central land from being invaded by the northern nomadic tribes.
10.
Oct. 23,2009 16:12 Reply
Mr.Jessica from HILLSIDE(somewere ova the rainbow) said:
I got 11 now i need help with 13. What is the restriction on the construction of new buildings near the great wall. and 15. Why did king you "get burned" by setting the Beacon tower on fire?
Oct. 24,2009 21:14
Mr.Lin replied:
1. The new buildings should be built keeping a certain distance from the Great Wall. And this distance varies by the situation of the Great Wall.
2.King You did not get burned. He was killed by other nomadic tribes.