This is probably one of the few buildings of humanity that has gathered so many interested scientists, researchers, historians, and ordinary tourists. People from all over the world come to gaze at the Great Wall of China. It is rightfully considered one of the most grandiose structures ever created by humanity. The main symbol of China, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
During the time that has elapsed from the time of construction to the present day, this structure has been rebuilt more than once, something was completely destroyed, considered unnecessary or superfluous, something was completed, adjusting it to today's needs. But, one way or another, this historical monument has survived to this day and is ready to welcome tourists.
By the way, few people know that Mao Zedong once wrote an expression near the entrance. According to him, a Chinese who has not seen this monument cannot be called a real Chinese.
Today the wall is considered a majestic monument, a national symbol, a landmark and a calling card of China. After all, this building witnessed many events in the history of the Chinese Empire.
This grandiose structure begins in the city of Shanhai-guan. From that place the wall stretches, passing half the country and ending in Central China. To some, its location resembles the movements of a snake, while the Chinese themselves associate it with the rise of a dragon. It is probably because of such associations that it has become a national symbol for the people of China.
The length of the Great Wall of China is 8851.8 kilometers. The width of the wall ranges from 5 to 8 meters, and the height in some places reached 10 meters.
The structure is so strong that one section, 750 kilometers long, was once turned into a real road. In some places near the wall, fortresses and fortifications were built, which has a historical and logical explanation.
The most popular sections of the wall among tourists are Simatai and Badaling.. There is nothing surprising in this, because they are located next to, 75 kilometers from the capital.
By the way, there is a widespread myth that the Great Wall is visible even from space. The astronauts say that this is not so - no one has ever seen a wall from space with the naked eye.
History of construction
Construction of the Great Wall of China began in the 3rd century BC. Historians have not even argued about who built the Chinese wall. This idea belonged to Emperor Qin Shi Huang. In history, he became famous as a cruel ruler thirsty for change. During his reign, he completely changed the life of his people. This was especially felt by the aristocrats and princes, from whom the emperor took away their privileges and subjugated them to himself.
Historians claim that the original purpose of building the Great Wall of China was to protect the emperor’s possessions from raids by nomadic tribes. But the researchers deny themselves, saying that the northern tribes of that time did not pose any particular danger to the emperor and his country. Therefore, it was pointless to defend against raids in this way. And on this basis, historians have deduced new version: the purpose of such a huge construction was to mark the boundaries of the Chinese Empire, which was supposed to prevent the merging of the Chinese with the nomads.
221 BC - 300 thousand people arrived on the northern border of the Chinese Empire. The “parade” was led by commander Meng Tian. These people were given the task of building a wall of stones and bricks in the place where the earthworks had been. It is worth noting that most of the wall was located in hard-to-reach places, which, of course, made the work of its builders difficult. To keep the construction under control, all people were distributed to 34 bases, around which settlements appeared over time.
The construction of the wall began with towers. There were 25 thousand of them then. It must be said that they were significantly different from each other, had different densities and sizes. But all such structures looked like real fortifications. Their average length totaled 12 meters.
The distance between the towers was measured by “arrow flights”, which were supposed to be equal to two. The defensive structures (towers) were interconnected by a wall whose height reached seven meters. By the way, the width of the wall was measured by a line of eight people.
There is a very interesting story, or rather legend, about how the border of the Great Wall was determined. The emperor decided to travel around his possessions on horseback. His route became the boundary of the wall. And the places for the towers were designated in areas where the ruler’s horse stumbled.
In doubt protective function The walls are also supported by the fact that during its construction the features of the terrain were taken into account. For example, in the north it separates uninhabitable mountain areas from fertile lands. Scientists have expressed their opinion on this matter. According to them, this structure was intended to separate the fertile south of the Chinese Empire from the nomadic north.
Wall of Bones
Until 213 BC, builders managed to complete most of the wall. Peasants were also brought in to help the soldiers. Most commoners could not work for a long time in such conditions and at such a shocking pace, and died from exhaustion. What was done with their bodies? They were walled up in the wall.
Since historians made this historical fact public, many statements have appeared on this topic. Some called the Great Wall of China "most long cemetery peace". Someone reproachfully said that the wall was built on human bones. And such thoughts are not without reason: About 400 thousand Chinese are immured in the wall. At that time, people considered this huge construction project a great disaster. These motifs can be found in ancient Chinese songs, fairy tales and legends.
Whatever it is, no matter what they say, but even the nickname “the longest cemetery in the world” e" will not be able to scare away tourists who want to touch ancient history, look at the greatest construction of the Chinese people.
The further fate of the wall
After waiting for the death of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, in 210 BC the people rebelled and overthrew the Qin dynasty. This made it possible to stop construction of the wall. A period of stagnation began in the fate of the Chinese Wall. Further history says that not all emperors undertook to complete the construction of the defensive structure. Many had high hopes for the troops, but neglected the wall as an opportunity to strengthen the borders of the empire.
When the Mongol Khan came to power, the wall was completely abandoned. Its restoration began only in the 15th century.
How to get to the Great Wall of China
To see this grandiose monument of the Chinese Empire, you can go in several ways:
- go on a tour
- get there by taxi
- take the train express
Please note that in addition to other costs, you will need to buy an entrance ticket to the wall, which costs 45 yuan.
Bus excursion tours
A guided tour is the easiest way. For those who don't speak Chinese or are afraid to travel alone, a group of tourists led by a guide is a great option.
Sightseeing buses await tourists to Yabaolu, Tiananmen and Qianmen. In addition, such information can be found at the reception of any hotel.
Prices for such pleasure are reasonable, from 100 to 500 (depending on the number of people in the group). But the price, most often, only includes travel to Badaling. You will have to buy your own entrance ticket and food. But after visiting the wall you will be taken to the tombs of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty.
The only disadvantage of this option is the limited nature of the tour. You cannot decide when and where to go, because you need to focus on other tourists. Therefore, if you want to spend the whole day on the Great Wall of China, then Bus tours- not for you. Although in most cases there is nothing to do there all day. 
Taxi ride
You can get to the historical monument by hiring a private car with a driver. There are more than enough people offering such services in Yabaolu. You can also order a car through the hotel, but it will be a little more expensive.
The cost of a taxi can fluctuate around 400-800 yuan. But do not forget that food and entry tickets again remain on your shoulders.
This method is much more convenient than the previous one, the driver will take you anywhere, because here only you are in command of the parade.
By train express to Badaling
Especially for the Chinese Olympics, an express train was built for those wishing to visit the section of the wall located in Badaling. The journey takes one and a half hours. The train departs from Beijing North Station, located at Xizhimen subway station - the intersection of the Circle Line. Directly from the metro station there are signs that say "Beijing Railway Station North".
The Wall Express departs from here - Xizhimen Station The cost of the trip will be minimal, and will cost no more than 20 yuan per person in both directions. Tickets are sold directly at the station. The train schedule is constantly changing, but the express train leaves every hour. The numbers of all trains departing for Badaling begin with S2. Please note that the station is not the final one and you need to get off together with the main crowd of passengers, you definitely can’t go wrong.
Of the minuses, it is worth noting that you will encounter huge queues, and you will have to stand while driving.
Before the trip, be sure to eat well and buy water, as everything on the wall is very expensive. At the same Xizhimen station there is a large shopping mall, there are many cafes and fast foods, for example, Burger King and McDonald's.
Don't forget to dress warmly, since the wall is located on a hill and there is often a strong, piercing wind blowing here.
SOME Russian researchers (President of the Academy of Basic Sciences A.A. Tyunyaev and his like-minded person, honorary doctor of the University of Brussels V.I. Semeiko) express doubts about the generally accepted version of the origin of the protective structure on the northern borders of the Qin Dynasty state. In November 2006, in one of his publications, Andrei Tyunyaev formulated his thoughts on this topic as follows: “As you know, to the north of the territory of modern China there was another, much more ancient civilization. This has been repeatedly confirmed by archaeological discoveries made, in particular, in Eastern Siberia. The impressive evidence of this civilization, comparable to Arkaim in the Urals, not only has not yet been studied and comprehended by world historical science, but has not even received proper assessment in Russia itself.”
As for the so-called “Chinese” wall, it is not entirely legitimate to talk about it as an achievement of ancient Chinese civilization. Here, to confirm our scientific correctness, it is enough to cite only one fact. THE LOOPS on a significant part of the wall ARE NOT DIRECTED TO THE NORTH, BUT TO THE SOUTH! And this is clearly visible not only in the most ancient, unreconstructed sections of the wall, but even in recent photographs and works of Chinese drawing.
It is generally accepted that it began to be built back in the 3rd century BC. to protect the state of the Qin dynasty from the attacks of the “northern barbarians” - the nomadic Xiongnu people. In the 3rd century AD, during the Han Dynasty, construction of the wall was resumed and it was expanded westward.
Over time, the wall began to collapse, but during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), according to Chinese historians, the wall was restored and strengthened. Those parts of it that have survived to this day were built mainly in the 15th - 16th centuries.
During the three centuries of the Manchu Qing dynasty (from 1644), the defensive structure became dilapidated and almost everything was destroyed, since the new rulers of the Celestial Empire did not need protection from the north. Only in our time, in the mid-1980s, did restoration of sections of the wall begin as material evidence of the ancient origin of statehood in the lands of Northeast Asia.
Previously, the Chinese themselves made the discovery that ancient Chinese writing belonged to another people. There are already published works proving that these people were the Aryan Slavs.
In 2008, at the First International Congress “Pre-Cyrillic Slavic Literature and Pre-Christian Slavic Culture” in Leningrad state university named after A.S. Pushkin Tyunyaev made a report “China is the younger brother of Rus'”, during which he presented fragments of Neolithic ceramics from the territory
eastern part of North China. The signs depicted on the ceramics did not look like Chinese characters, but demonstrated almost complete coincidence with the Old Russian runica - up to 80 percent.
The researcher, based on the latest archaeological data, expresses the opinion that during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages the population of the western part of Northern China was Caucasian. Indeed, throughout Siberia, right up to China, mummies of Caucasians are being discovered. According to genetic data, this population had the Old Russian haplogroup R1a1.
This version is also supported by the mythology of the ancient Slavs, which tells about the movement of the ancient Rus in an eastern direction - they were led by Bogumir, Slavunya and their son Scythian. These events are reflected, in particular, in the Book of Veles, which, let us make a reservation, is not recognized by academic historians.
Tyunyaev and his supporters point out that the Great Wall of China was built similarly to European and Russian medieval walls, the main purpose of which was protection from firearms. The construction of such structures began no earlier than the 15th century, when cannons and other siege weapons appeared on the battlefields. Before the 15th century, the so-called northern nomads did not have artillery.
Pay attention from which side the sun is shining.
BASED ON these data, Tyunyaev expresses the opinion that the wall in eastern Asia was built as a defensive structure marking the border between two medieval states. It was erected after an agreement was reached on the delimitation of territories. And this, according to Tyunyaev, is confirmed by the map of that
time when the border between Russian Empire and the Qing Empire passed precisely along the wall.
We are talking about a map of the Qing Empire of the second half of the 17th-18th centuries, presented in the academic 10-volume “World History”. That map shows in detail a wall running exactly along the border between the Russian Empire and the empire of the Manchu dynasty (Qing Empire).
There are other translation options from the French phrase “Muraille de la Chine” - “wall from China”, “wall delimiting from China”. After all, in an apartment or in a house, we call the wall that separates us from our neighbors the neighbor’s wall, and the wall that separates us from the street the outer wall. We have the same thing when we name borders: Finnish border, Ukrainian border... In this case, the adjectives indicate only the geographical location of Russian borders.
It is noteworthy that in medieval Rus' there was a word “kita” - a knitting of poles that were used in the construction of fortifications. Thus, the name of the Moscow district Kitai-Gorod was given in the 16th century for the same reasons - the building consisted of a stone wall with 13 towers and 6 gates...
According to the opinion enshrined in the official version of history, the construction of the Great Wall of China began in 246 BC. under Emperor Shi Huangdi, its height was from 6 to 7 meters, the purpose of construction was protection from northern nomads.
Russian historian L.N. Gumilyov wrote: “The wall stretched for 4 thousand km. Its height reached 10 meters, and every 60-100 meters there were watchtowers.” He noted: “When the work was completed, it turned out that everyone armed forces There won't be enough China to mount an effective defense on the wall. In fact, if you place a small detachment on each tower, the enemy will destroy it before the neighbors have time to gather and send help. If large detachments are placed less frequently, gaps will be created through which the enemy can easily and unnoticed penetrate into the interior of the country. A fortress without defenders is not a fortress.”
Moreover, the towers of the loophole are located on the South side, as if the defenders were repelling attacks from the NORTH????
Andrey Tyunyaev proposes to compare two towers - from the Chinese Wall and from the Novgorod Kremlin. The shape of the towers is the same: a rectangle, slightly narrowed at the top. From the wall there is an entrance leading into both towers, covered with a round arch made of the same brick as the wall with the tower. Each of the towers has two upper “working” floors. On the first floor of both towers there are round-arched windows. The number of windows on the first floor of both towers is 3 on one side and 4 on the other. The height of the windows is approximately the same - about 130-160 centimeters.
What does a comparison of surviving towers say? Chinese city Beijing with medieval towers of Europe? The fortress walls of the Spanish city of Avila and Beijing are very similar to each other, especially in the fact that the towers are located very often and have practically no architectural adaptations for military needs. The Beijing towers have only an upper deck with loopholes, and are laid out at the same height as the rest of the wall.
Neither the Spanish nor the Beijing towers show such a high similarity with the defensive towers of the Chinese Wall, as do the towers of Russian kremlins and fortress walls. And this is something for historians to think about.
The Great Wall of China is also called " Long wall". Its length is 10 thousand li, or more than 20 thousand kilometers, and to reach its height, a dozen people must stand on each other's shoulders... It is compared to a writhing dragon, stretching from the Yellow Sea to the Tibetan Mountains. There is no other place on earth one similar structure.
Temple of Heaven: Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing
Construction of the Great Wall of China begins
According to the official version, construction began during the Warring States period (475-221 BC), under Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, in order to protect the state from the attacks of the Xiongnu nomads, and lasted ten years. About two million people built the wall, which then amounted to a fifth of the total population of China. Among them were people of various classes - slaves, peasants, soldiers... The construction was supervised by the commander Meng Tian.
Legend has it that the emperor himself rode on a magical white horse, plotting the route for the future structure. And where his horse stumbled, then a watchtower was erected... But this is just a legend. But the story about the dispute between the Master and the official looks much more plausible.
The fact is that the construction of such a huge building required talented builders. There were plenty of them among the Chinese. But one was especially distinguished by his intelligence and ingenuity. He was so skilled in his craft that he could accurately calculate how many bricks were needed for such a construction...
The imperial official, however, doubted the Master's ability and set a condition. If, they say, the Master makes a mistake by only one brick, he himself will install this brick on the tower in honor of the craftsman. And if the mistake amounts to two bricks, then let him blame his arrogance - severe punishment will follow...
A lot of stones and bricks were used for the construction. After all, in addition to the wall, watchtowers and gate towers also rose. There were about 25 thousand of them along the entire route. So, on one of these towers, which is located near the famous ancient Silk Road, you can see a brick, which, unlike the others, noticeably protrudes from the masonry. They say this is the same one that the Official promised to lay in honor of the skilled Master. Consequently, he escaped the promised punishment.
The Great Wall of China is the longest cemetery in the world
But even without any punishment, so many people died during the construction of the Wall that this place began to be called “the longest cemetery in the world.” The entire construction route was covered with the bones of the dead.
In total, experts say, there are about half a million of them. The reason was poor working conditions. According to legend, she tried to save one of these unfortunate people loving wife
. She hurried to him with warm clothes for the winter. Having learned on the spot about the death of her husband, Meng - that was the woman’s name - began to cry bitterly, and from the profuse tears her part of the wall collapsed. And then the emperor himself intervened. Either he was afraid that the whole Wall would crawl from the woman’s tears, or he liked the widow, beautiful in her sadness, - in a word, he ordered to take her to his palace.
And she seemed to agree at first, but it turned out only in order to be able to bury her husband with dignity. And then faithful Meng committed suicide by throwing herself into a stormy stream... And how many more such deaths have happened? However, is there a record of victims when great state affairs are accomplished...
And there was no doubt that such a “fence” was an object of great national importance. According to historians, the wall not only protected the great “Celestial Middle Empire” from nomads, but rather guarded the Chinese themselves so that they would not flee from their dear fatherland... They say that the greatest Chinese traveler Xuanzang had to climb over the wall, stealthily, in the middle of the night, under a hail of arrows from the border guards...
The colossal defensive structures known today as the “Great Wall of China” were built by those who, thousands of years ago, possessed technologies that we have not yet developed. And these were clearly not Chinese... In China, there is another material evidence of the presence in this country of a highly developed civilization, to which the Chinese have no relation. Unlike the Chinese pyramids, this evidence is well known to everyone. This is the so-called.
The great Wall of China Let's see what orthodox historians say about this largest architectural monument, which Lately
has become a major tourist attraction in China. The wall is located in the north of the country, stretching from the sea coast and going deep into the Mongolian steppes, and according to various estimates, its length, including branches, is from 6 to 13,000 km. The thickness of the wall is several meters (on average 5 meters), the height is 6-10 meters. It is alleged that the wall included 25 thousand towers. The construction of the wall today looks like this. They supposedly started building the wall in the 3rd century BC during the reign of the dynasty Qin, to defend against raids by nomads from the north and clearly define the border of Chinese civilization. The construction was initiated by the famous “collector of Chinese lands” Emperor Qin Shi-Huang Di. He gathered about half a million people for construction, which, considering the total population of 20 million, is a very impressive figure. Then the wall was a structure made mainly of earth - a huge earthen rampart.
During the reign of the dynasty Han(206 BC - 220 AD) the wall was expanded to the west, strengthened with stone and a line of watchtowers was built that went deep into the desert. Under the dynasty Min(1368-1644) the wall continued to be built. As a result, it stretched from east to west from the Bohai Gulf in the Yellow Sea to the western border of the modern province of Gansu, entering the territory of the Gobi Desert. It is believed that this wall was built by the efforts of a million Chinese from bricks and stone blocks, which is why these sections of the wall have been preserved to this day in the form in which a modern tourist is already accustomed to seeing it. The Ming Dynasty was replaced by the Manchu Dynasty Qing(1644-1911), which was not involved in the construction of the wall. She limited herself to maintaining in relative order small area near Beijing, which served as the "gateway to the capital."
In 1899, American newspapers started a rumor that the wall would soon be demolished and a highway would be built in its place. However, no one was going to demolish anything. Moreover, in 1984, a program to restore the wall was launched on the initiative of Deng Xiaoping and under the leadership of Mao Zedong, which is still being carried out today, and is financed from Chinese and foreign companies, as well as individuals. It is not reported how much Mao drove to restore the wall. Several areas were repaired, and in some places they were completely rebuilt. So we can assume that in 1984 construction began on the fourth Chinese wall. Usually, tourists are shown one of the sections of the wall, located 60 km northwest of Beijing. This is the area of Mount Badaling, the length of the wall is 50 km.
The wall makes the greatest impression not in the Beijing region, where it was built on not very high mountains, but in remote mountainous areas. There, by the way, you can clearly see that the wall, as a defensive structure, was made very thoughtfully. Firstly, five people in a row could move along the wall itself, so it was also a good road, which is extremely important when it is necessary to transport troops. Under the cover of the battlements, the guards could secretly approach the area where the enemies were planning to attack. The signal towers were located in such a way that each of them was within sight of the other two. Some important messages were transmitted either by drumming, or by smoke, or by the fire of fires. Thus, the news of an enemy invasion from the farthest borders could be transmitted to the center per day!
During the restoration process the walls were opened Interesting Facts. For example, its stone blocks were held together with adhesive rice porridge with an admixture of slaked lime. Or what the loopholes on its fortresses looked towards China; what's wrong north side the height of the wall is small, much less than on the south, and there are stairs there. The latest facts, for obvious reasons, are not advertised and are not commented on in any way by official science - neither Chinese nor world. Moreover, when reconstructing towers, they try to build loopholes in the opposite direction, although this is not possible everywhere. These photos show the south side of the wall - the sun is shining at midday.
However, this is where the strangeness comes from Chinese wall don't end. Wikipedia has a complete map of the wall, showing in different colors the wall that we are told everyone built Chinese dynasty. As we see, there is more than one great wall. Northern China is often and densely dotted with the “Great Walls of China”, which extend into the territory of modern Mongolia and even Russia. Light was shed on these oddities A.A. Tyunyaev in his work “The Chinese Wall - the great barrier from the Chinese”:
“Tracing the stages of construction of the “Chinese” wall, based on the data of Chinese scientists, is extremely interesting. It is clear from them that the Chinese scientists who call the wall “Chinese” are not very concerned about the fact that the Chinese people themselves did not take any part in its construction: every time another section of the wall was built, the Chinese state was far from the construction sites.
So, the first and main part of the wall was built in the period from 445 BC. to 222 BC It runs along 41-42° north latitude and at the same time along some sections of the river. Yellow River. At this time, naturally, there were no Mongol-Tatars. Moreover, the first unification of peoples within China took place only in 221 BC. under the kingdom of Qin. And before that there was the Zhanguo period (5-3 centuries BC), in which eight states existed on Chinese territory. Only in the middle of the 4th century. BC. The Qin began to fight against other kingdoms, and by 221 BC. conquered some of them.
The figure shows that the western and northern border of the Qin state by 221 BC. began to coincide with that section of the “Chinese” wall that began to be built in 445 BC and it was built exactly in 222 BC
Thus, we see that this section of the “Chinese” wall was built not by the Chinese of the Qin state, but northern neighbors, but precisely from the Chinese spreading to the north. In just 5 years - from 221 to 206. BC. - a wall was built along the entire border of the Qin state, which stopped the spread of its subjects to the north and west. In addition, at the same time, 100-200 km west and north of the first, a second line of defense against Qin was built - the second “Chinese” wall of this period.
The next construction period covers the time from 206 BC to 220 AD During this period, sections of the wall were built, located 500 km to the west and 100 km to the north of the previous ones... During the period from 618 to 907 China was ruled by the Tang dynasty, which did not mark itself with victories over its northern neighbors.
In the next period, from 960 to 1279 The Song Empire established itself in China. At this time, China lost dominance over its vassals in the west, in the northeast (on the Korean Peninsula) and in the south - in northern Vietnam. The Song Empire lost a significant part of the territories of the Chinese proper in the north and northwest, which went to the Khitan state of Liao (part of the modern provinces of Hebei and Shanxi), the Tangut kingdom of Xi-Xia (part of the territories of the modern province of Shaanxi, the entire territory of the modern province of Gansu and Ningxia-Hui autonomous region).
In 1125, the border between the non-Chinese Jurchen kingdom and China ran along the river. Huaihe is 500-700 km south of where the wall was built. And in 1141, a peace treaty was signed, according to which the Chinese Song Empire recognized itself as a vassal of the non-Chinese state of Jin, pledging to pay it a large tribute.
However, while China itself huddled south of the river. Hunahe, 2100-2500 km north of its borders, another section of the “Chinese” wall was erected. This part of the wall built from 1066 to 1234, passes through Russian territory north of the village of Borzya next to the river. Argun. At the same time, 1500-2000 km north of China, another section of the wall was built, located along the Greater Khingan...
The next section of the wall was built between 1366 and 1644. It runs along the 40th parallel from Andong (40°), just north of Beijing (40°), through Yinchuan (39°) to Dunhuang and Anxi (40°) in the west. This section of the wall is the last, the southernmost and the deepest penetrating into the territory of China... At the time of the construction of this section of the wall, the entire Amur region belonged to Russian territories. By the middle of the 17th century, Russian fortresses (Albazinsky, Kumarsky, etc.), peasant settlements and arable lands already existed on both banks of the Amur. In 1656, the Daurian (later Albazinsky) voivodeship was formed, which included the valley of the Upper and Middle Amur on both banks... The “Chinese” wall, built by the Russians by 1644, ran exactly along the border of Russia with Qing China. In the 1650s, Qing China invaded Russian lands to a depth of 1,500 km, which was secured by the Aigun (1858) and Beijing (1860) treaties...”
Today the Chinese Wall is located inside China. However, there was a time when the wall meant country border. This fact is confirmed by what has come down to us vintage maps. For example, a map of China by the famous medieval cartographer Abraham Ortelius from his geographical atlas of the world Theatrum Orbis Terrarum 1602 On the map, north is on the right. It clearly shows that China is separated from the northern country - Tartaria by a wall. On the map of 1754 "Le Carte de l'Asie" it is also clearly visible that the border of China with Great Tartaria runs along the wall. And even a map from 1880 shows the wall as China's border with its northern neighbor. It is noteworthy that part of the wall extends quite far into the territory of China’s western neighbor - Chinese Tartaria...
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The Great Wall of China is one of the oldest structures that has survived to this day. Its construction lasted for many centuries, accompanied by exorbitant human losses and gigantic material costs. Today, this legendary architectural monument, which some even call the eighth wonder of the world, attracts travelers from all over the planet.
Which Chinese ruler was the first to build the Wall?
The beginning of the construction of the Wall is associated with the name of the legendary emperor Qin Shi Huang. He did many important things for the development of Chinese civilization. In the 3rd century BC. e. Qin Shi Huang was able to unite several kingdoms that were warring among themselves into a single entity. After unification, he ordered the construction of a high Wall on the northern borders of the empire (more specifically, this happened in 215 BC). In this case, the direct management of the construction process was to be carried out by the commander Meng Tian.
Construction lasted about ten years and was fraught with many difficulties. A serious problem was the lack of any infrastructure: there were no roads for transporting construction materials, and there was also not enough water and food for the people involved in the work. The number of those who were involved in construction during the time of Qin Shi Huang reached, according to researchers, two million. Soldiers, slaves, and then peasants were transported en masse for this construction.
The working conditions (and it was mostly forced labor) were extremely cruel, so many builders died right here. We have reached legends about embedded corpses, that supposedly powder from the bones of the dead was used to strengthen the structure, but this is not confirmed by facts and research.
The construction of the Wall, despite the difficulties, was carried out at a high pace
A popular version is that the Wall was intended to prevent raids by tribes that lived in the lands to the north. There is some truth in this. Indeed, at this time the Chinese principalities were attacked by aggressive Xiongnu tribes and other nomads. But they did not pose a serious threat and could not cope with the militarily and culturally advanced Chinese. And further historical events showed that the Wall is, in principle, not very good way stop the nomads. Many centuries after the death of Qin Shi Huang, when the Mongols came to China, it did not become an insurmountable obstacle for them. The Mongols found (or made themselves) several gaps in the Wall and simply walked through them.
The main purpose of the Wall was probably to limit further expansion of the empire. This seems not entirely logical, but only at first glance. The new emperor needed to preserve his territory and at the same time prevent a mass exodus of his subjects to the north. There the Chinese could mix with the nomads and adopt their nomadic way of life. And this could ultimately lead to a new fragmentation of the country. That is, the Wall was intended to consolidate the empire within its existing borders and contribute to its consolidation.
Of course, the Wall could be used at any time to move troops and cargo. And the system of signal towers on and near the Wall ensured fast communication. Advancing enemies could be seen in advance from afar and quickly, by lighting a fire, notifying others about this.
The wall during other dynasties
During the reign of the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), the Wall was extended westward to the oasis city of Dunhuang. Additionally, a special network of watchtowers was created, stretching even deeper into the Gobi Desert. These towers were designed to protect traders from nomadic robbers. During the Han Empire, about 10,000 kilometers of the Wall were restored and built from scratch - this is twice as much as was built under Qin Shi Huangji.
During the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD), women, rather than men, began to be used as sentries on the Wall, whose duties included monitoring the surrounding area and, if necessary, sounding an alarm. It was believed that women are more attentive and take the responsibilities assigned to them more responsibly.
Representatives of the ruling Jin dynasty (1115–1234 AD) made a lot of efforts to improve the Wall in the 12th century - they periodically mobilized for construction work tens and hundreds of thousands of people.
Sections of the Great Wall of China that have survived to this day in acceptable condition were built primarily during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). In this era, blocks of stone and bricks were used for construction, which made the structure even stronger than before. And, as research shows, ancient masters prepared mortar from limestone with the addition of rice flour. Largely thanks to this unusual composition, many sections of the Wall have not collapsed to this day.
During the Ming Dynasty, the Wall was seriously updated and modernized - this helped many of its sections survive to this day.
The appearance of the Wall also changed: its upper part was equipped with a parapet with battlements. In those areas where the foundation was already flimsy, it was reinforced with stone blocks. It is interesting that at the beginning of the twentieth century, the people of China considered Wan-Li to be the main creator of the Wall.
Over the centuries of the Ming dynasty, the structure stretched from the Shanhaiguan outpost on the coast of the Bohai Bay (here one section of the fortifications even goes a little into the water) to the Yumenguan outpost, located on the border of the modern Xinjiang region.
After the accession of the Manchu Qing dynasty in 1644, which managed to unite the North and South of China under its control, the issue of the safety of the wall faded into the background. It lost its significance as a defensive structure and seemed useless to the new rulers and many of their subjects. Representatives of the Qing dynasty treated the Wall with some disdain, in particular due to the fact that they themselves easily overcame it in 1644 and entered Beijing, thanks to the betrayal of General Wu Sangai. In general, none of them had plans to build the Wall further or restore any sections.
During the reign of the Qing dynasty Great Wall practically collapsed, as it was not properly looked after. Only a small section of it near Beijing - Badaling - was preserved in decent condition. This section was used as a kind of front “metropolitan gate”.
The wall in the 20th century
It was only under Mao Zedong that serious attention was again paid to the Wall. Once, back in the thirties of the 20th century, Mao Zedong said that anyone who has not been to the Wall cannot consider himself a good fellow (or, in another translation, a good Chinese). These words subsequently became a very popular saying among the people.
But large-scale work to restore the Wall began only after 1949. True, during the years of the “cultural revolution” these works were interrupted - on the contrary, the so-called Red Guards (members of school and student communist detachments) dismantled some sections of the Wall and made pigsties and other “more useful” ones, in their opinion, from the building materials thus obtained. objects.
In the seventies, the Cultural Revolution ended, and soon Deng Xiaoping became the next leader of the PRC. With his support, a program to restore the Wall was launched in 1984 - it was financed by large companies and ordinary people. And three years later, the Great Wall of China was included in the UNESCO list as a world heritage site.
Not so long ago, there was a widespread myth that the Wall could actually be seen from low-Earth orbit. However, real evidence from astronauts refutes this. For example, the famous American astronaut Neil Armstrong said in one of his interviews that, in principle, he does not believe that it is possible to see at least any artificial structure from orbit. And he added that he doesn’t know a single guy who would admit that he could see with his own eyes, without special devices, the Great Wall of China.
Features and dimensions of the Wall
If we count together the branches created in different periods Chinese history, then the length of the Wall will be more than 21,000 kilometers. Initially, this object resembled a network or a complex of walls, which often did not even have a connection with each other. Later they were united, strengthened, demolished and rebuilt if there was such a need. As for the height of this grandiose building, then it varies from 6 to 10 meters.
On outside On the walls you can see simple rectangular battlements - this is another feature of this design.
It is worth saying a few words about the towers of this magnificent Wall. There are several types of them, they differ in architectural parameters. The most common are rectangular two-story towers. And at the top of such towers there are necessarily loopholes.
Interestingly, some towers were erected by Chinese craftsmen even before the construction of the Wall itself. Such towers are often smaller in width than the main structure, and their locations appear to be chosen at random. The towers that were erected along with the Wall are almost always located two hundred meters from each other (this is a distance that an arrow fired from a bow cannot overcome).
As for signal towers, they were installed approximately every ten kilometers. This allowed a person on one tower to see a fire lit on another, neighboring tower.
In addition, 12 large gates were created for entry or entry into the Wall - over time, full-fledged outposts grew up around them.
Of course, the existing landscape did not always facilitate the easy and quick construction of the Wall: in certain places it runs along a mountain range, skirting ridges and spurs, rising to heights and descending into deep gorges. This, by the way, demonstrates the uniqueness and originality of the structure being described - the Wall is very harmoniously integrated into the environment.
The wall today
Now the most popular section of the Wall among tourists is the already mentioned Badaling, located not far (about seventy kilometers) from Beijing. It is better preserved than other areas. It became accessible to tourists in 1957, and since then excursions have been constantly held here. Today you can get to Badaling directly from Beijing by bus or express train - it won't take much time.
At the 2008 Olympics, the Badaling Gate served as the finish line for cyclists. And every year in China a marathon is organized for runners, the route of which passes through one of the sections of the legendary Wall.
Throughout the long history of the Wall's construction, things have happened. For example, builders sometimes rioted because they did not want or did not want to work anymore. In addition, often the guards themselves let the enemy pass the Wall - out of fear for their lives or for a bribe. That is, in many cases it was indeed an ineffective protective barrier.
Today in China, the Wall, despite all the failures, difficulties and failures that arose during its construction, is considered a symbol of the perseverance and hard work of its ancestors. Although among ordinary modern Chinese there will also be those who belong to this building with genuine respect, and those who would not hesitate to throw rubbish near this landmark. It was noted that Chinese residents go on excursions to the Wall just as willingly as foreigners.
Unfortunately, time and the vagaries of nature work against this architectural structure. For example, in 2012, the media reported that heavy rains in Hebei completely washed away a 36-meter section of the Wall.
Experts estimate that a significant segment of the Great Wall of China (literally thousands of kilometers) will be destroyed before 2040. First of all, this threatens sections of the Wall in Gansu Province - their condition is very dilapidated.
Discovery Channel documentary “Breaking History. The great Wall of China"
