History: The Great Wall of China

Wall building in China began long before the great wall itself was built. Discoveries of village walls and other tamped-earth walls have been discovered through China. Archeological findings have suggested that the Shang state began that building of a network of walls around their cities. Other states also followed suit, walling off many of their cities. Many peasant populations lived in the areas that surrounded the walled cities. However the beginning of the Qin dynasty these city walls were destroyed in the attempt to weaken the states that had recently been warring. The First Emperor then began a wall building project of his own

The Qin Wall

This wall was a new border defense and was called the ten-thousand li long wall’, which equates to about 546 yards. After the Qin emperor had conquered his rivals from among the Chinese feudal states he turned his view toward the roaming nomads of the north. After driving these nomads out of China the Emperor sent Meng Tian, his general, along with 300,000 men to begin working on a fortification to keep these nomads out.

Rather than beginning work on an entirely new wall Tian began to repair and connect the Warring States walls. This work went on for nearly ten years and was a complex undertaking. The ever changing terrain and the huge distance between their much needed supplies made this a very difficult task. Successive dynasty also put in their efforts to repair, rebuild or expand the wall. Although very little of this first wall remains, it was the beginning of the tradition that would provide the world with one of its seven wonders.

The Ming Wall

The wall standing on China’s border is not the same one built during the Qin dynasty but one built during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644 CE). The wall built during the Qin dynasty came to be viewed as a symbol of the cruelty of the First Emperor toward his people. Stories are told about men who died while building the wall and were then buried within the wall itself. To avoid association with that wall the Ming called their walls border walls’ instead of the Qin term “long walls”. They worked on the walls for the same reason that previous dynasties had, to block the destructive nomadic tribes from the north.

The Ming’s wall construction was much more complex than the Qin wall. The advent of bricks and stones made the wall much sturdier than the previous packed earth walls. The Mongol raids continued over the years and in response the Ming continued to provide serious amounts of time and supplies to the construction and repair of the wall. Under the Qing dynasty China’s borders expanded beyond the wall and so the construction of the wall ceased.

The Great Wall Today

In modern times only some parts of the wall have been preserved, other parts are in disrepair. Some parts of the wall have even been covered in graffiti and other vandalisms and several sections have been removed because they are in the way of modern construction. Nature is also playing a role, eroding huge sections of the wall that are not expressly preserved for use as tourist attractions.