The Great Wall, Beijing

History of the Great Wall:
No one can tell precisely when the building of the Great Wall was started but it is popularly believed that it originated as a military fortification against intrusion by tribes on the borders during the earlier Zhou Dynasty. Late in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476 BC), the ducal states extended the defence work and built "great" structures to prevent the attacks from other states. It was not until the Qin Dynasty that the separate walls, constructed by the states of Qin, Yan and Zhao kingdoms, were connected to form a defensive system on the northern border of the country by Emperor Qin Shi Huang (also called Qin Shi Huangdi by westerners or the First Emperor). After the emperor unified the country in 214 BC, he ordered the construction of the wall. It took about ten years to finish and the wall stretched from Linzhao (in the eastern part of today's Gansu Province) in the west to Liaodong (in today's Jilin Province) in the east. The wall not only served as a defence in the north but also symbolized the power of the emperor.

From the Qin Dynasty onwards, Xiongnu, an ancient tribe that lived in North China, frequently harassed the northern border of the country. During the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu (Han Wu Di), sent three expeditions to fight against the Xiongnu in 127 BC, 121 BC and 119 BC. The Xiongnu were driven into the far north of the Gobi. To maintain the safety of the Hexi Corridor (today's Gansu Province), the emperor ordered the extension of the Great Wall westward into the Hexi Corridor and Xinjiang region. The ruins of the beacon towers and debris of the Han Wall are still discernible in Dunhuang, Yumen and Yangguan. A recent report shows that ruins of the Han Wall have been discovered near Lopnur in China's Xinjiang region.

The present Great Wall in Beijing is mainly remains from the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). During this period, bricks and granite were used when the workers laid the foundation of the wall and sophisticated designs and passes were built in the places of strategic importance. To strengthen the military control of the northern frontiers, the Ming authorities divided the Great Wall into nine zones and placed each under the control of a Zhen (garrison headquarters). The Ming Wall starts from Yalujiang River (in today's Heilongjiang Province), via today's Liaoning, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia provinces, to Gansu. The total length reaches 12,700 li (over 5,000 kilometers). The Shanhaiguan Pass and the Jiayuguan Pass are two well-preserved passes at either end.

Today, the Wall has become a must-see for every visitor to China. Few can help saying 'Wow!' when they stand on top of a beacon tower and look at this giant dragon. For centuries, the wall served succeeding dynasties as an efficient military defence. However, it was only when a dynasty had weakened from within that invaders from the north were able to advance and conquer. Both the Mongols (Yuan Dynasty, 1271-1368) and the Manchurians (Qing Dynasty, 1644-1911) were able to take power because of weakness of the government and poverty of the people but never due to any possibility of weakness of the Wall.

Construction of the Great Wall :

The Great Wall is reputed as one of the seven construction wonders in the world not only for its long history, but its massive construction size, and its unique architectural style as well.

The construction of the Great Wall began between the 7th and 8th centuries B.C. when the warring states built defensive walls to ward off enemies from the north. It was only a regional project then. Until the Qin Dynasty, the separate walls were joint together and consequently it stretched from east to west for about 5000 thousand kilometers and served to keep nomadic tribes out. The Wall was further extended and strengthened in the succeeding dynasties. Especially during the Ming dynasty when the northern nomadic ethnic groups became very powerful, the Ming rulers had the Wall renovated 18 times. As a result, not the remains from the Qin dynasty were restored, but some 1000 kilometers were constructed to a full length of 6,700 kilometers.

The architectural style of the Great wall is a marvel in the history of construction in the world. Since the weaponry only consisted of swords and spears, lances and halberds, and bows and arrows in the ancient times, walls with passes, watchtowers, signal towers, together with moats became an important strategy. To ensure the safety of the dynasties, the feudal rulers strove to improve the construction of the Great Wall after it took shape in the Qin dynasty. In particular, the Ming dynasty saw the creation of a sophisticated defense system along the wall embracing garrison towns, garrison posts, passes, blockhouses, additional wall structures, watchtowers and beacon towers, each given a different status and designed mission. The system enabled the imperial court to stay in touch with military and administrative agencies at various levels, including those at the grassroots, and provided the frontier troops with facilities to carry out effective defense.

The Great wall we see today is mostly from the Ming dynasty. With an average height of 10 meters and a width of 5 meters, the wall runs up and down along the mountain ridges and valleys from east to west. It stands as a witness of the Chinese history, culture and development.

Protection of the Great Wall:

No one who has seen something of the Great Wall of China can deny that this wonder of ancient military fortification is a fantastic relic from the past that also bears witness to human endeavour. The Wall attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year from all parts of the world. The Great Wall is probably the most widely recognised and enduring symbol of China and it has been rightly said, "The man who doesn't visit the Wall has never been to China."

In its entirety, the Great Wall, or to give it its Chinese name Wan Li Chang Cheng, stretches over 10,000 li or 5,000 kilometres. Following a forty-five day long survey of 101 sections of the Wall in different provinces, the China Great Wall Academy reported on December 12, 2002 that this distance is now merely an historic record. The forces of nature and destruction at the hand of mankind are bringing about the gradual reduction of its extent with the result that less than 30% remains in good condition. The Academy has called for greater protection of this important relic.

On our visit to Yulin, we found that the desertification of the area is very serious. Although the government has had a forestation programme in place over the past two decades, sands drifting in the winds from Mao Wu Su Desert to the north continue to wreak havoc, especially in springtime. Much of the ruined Wall has been buried by sand and the only clue to its whereabouts is the scattered beacon towers. Photographs taken of the recent excavations of the Western Gate of Chang Le Bu indicate clearly how this once grand fortress had been completely lost under the sand.

The Yulin stretch of Wall lies along the route of the Yulin-Shenmu Road. Local people have described how much of the Wall here was destroyed when the road was constructed. We came across a number of beacon towers as we travelled along this road and their position confirms that the highway has been constructed on the line of the grand old fortification. Recent reports show that this is not an isolated case. In Ningxia, Shanxi, and Gansu Provinces as well as in Inner Mongolia thousands of miles of the tamped earth wall have been quarried. The rich soil from the ramparts has been used as fertilizer, while in some areas bricks have been taken for road construction as well as reservoir and house building. Some parts have been dynamited and the stone sold off. This means that traces of the wall are hard to find in some areas."A peasant building the stockyard with bricks taken from the wall" This begs the question "Is it right that the new should be built from the old?"

In a small village near Chang Le Bu we came across a peasant who was busily building a stockyard of bricks taken from the Wall. Nearby, it was plain to see tracks where material had been hacked from the surface of the Wall. Although there are regulations forbidding the construction of new buildings within 150 metres of the Wall, it appears that this official announcement has failed to reach every corner of the city.

"Hoeing tracks on the wall body"On its arrival in Dong Jia Kou, a small village in Funning County, Hebei Province, the research group found a section of the wall was being restored. It had been whitewashed and the whole section appeared like a lime wall. This kind of restoration is more akin to defacing rather than protecting. In another location, the Report states that "new" sections have been built on the original site of the Wall. This had been done with bricks and stone, whereas the according to historical record the original Wall was of tamped earth. It is as a consequence of this kind of thing that it becomes difficult for archaeologists to trace the actual ruins.

Swarms of tourists from all over the world have come to see this ancient Chinese wonder with the result that it has become trendy to walk along the Wall. The current problem is to strike a balance between the need to protect our cultural heritage and the economic benefit it engenders through the tourism it brings to the country. So many questions remain to be answered with regard to preservation and the development of tourism. Clearly, steps have to be taken to preserve the Wall in a manner that does not detract from its cultural importance while keeping it in good condition for the benefit of future generations.

Culture of the Great Wall :

In the north of China, there lies a 6,700-kilometer-long (4,161-mile-long) ancient wall. Now well-known as the Great Wall of China, it starts at the Jiayuguan Pass of Gansu Province in the west and ends at the Shanhaiguan Pass of Hebei Province in the east. As one of the Eight Wonders in the world, the Great Wall of China has become the symbol of the Chinese nation and its culture.

Lots of beautiful legends and stories about the Great Wall took place following along the construction, and since that time these stories have spread around the country. Those that happened during construction are abundant, such as Meng Jiangnu's story and the legend of the Jiayuguan Pass. Meng Jiangnu's story is the most famous and widely spread of all the legends about the Great Wall. The story happened during the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC). It tells of how Meng Jiangnu's bitter weeping made a section of the Great Wall collapse. Meng Jiangnu's husband Fan Qiliang was caught by federal officials and sent to build the Great Wall. Meng Jiangnu heard nothing from him after his departure, so she set out to look for him.

Unfortunately, by the time she reached the great wall, she discovered that her husband had already died. Hearing the bad news, she cried her heart out. Her howl caused the collapse of a part of the Great Wall. This story indicates that the Great Wall is the production of tens of thousands of Chinese commoners.

Another legend about the Jiayuguan Pass tells of a workman named Yi Kaizhan in the Ming Dynasty (1368BC-1644BC) who was proficient in arithmetic. He calculated that it would need 99,999 bricks to build the Jiayuguan Pass. The supervisor did not believe him and said if they miscalculated by even one brick, then all the workmen would be punished to do hard work for three years. After the completion of the project, one brick was left behind the Xiwong city gate. The supervisor was happy at the sight of the brick and ready to punish them. However Yi Kaizhan said with deliberation that the brick was put there by a supernatural being to fix the wall. A tiny move would cause the collapse of the wall. Therefore the brick was kept there and never moved. It can still be found there today on the tower of the Jiayuguan Pass.

In addition to the above-mentioned stories about the construction of the Great Wall, there are also plenty of stories about current scenic spots. A famous one is the legend of the Beacon Tower. This story happened during the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC-711 BC). King You had a queen named Bao Si, who was very pretty. King You liked her very much, however Bao Si never smiled. An official gave a suggestion that setting the beacon tower on fire would frighten the King's subjects, and might make the queen smile. King You liked the idea. The subjects were fooled and Bao Si smiled at the sight of the chaos. Later enemies invaded Western Zhou, King You set the beacon tower on fire to ask for help. No subjects came to help because they had been fooled once before. Thus, King Zhou was killed by the enemy and Western Zhou came to an end.