Long Chinese wall. Chinese Great Wall

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.

Short story 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 the construction of the fourth wall of China began. 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, Great Wall Well, it turns out I’m not alone. 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 " Chinese Wall- a 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...

The visiting card of the Celestial Empire - the Great Wall of China - has been under the protection of UNESCO since 1987 as a historical heritage of the whole world. By decision of the public it is considered one of the new wonders of the world. There is no other defensive structure of this length on the planet.

Parameters and architecture of the “wonder of the world”

Contemporaries calculated the length of the grandiose Chinese fence. Taking into account areas that have not been preserved, it is 21,196 km. According to some studies, 4000 km have been preserved, others give the figure - 2450 km, if you connect the starting and ending points of the ancient wall with a straight line.

In some places its thickness and height reaches 5 m, in others it grows to 9–10 m. outside The wall is complemented by rectangles of 1.5-meter battlements. The widest section of the wall reaches 9 m, the highest from the ground surface is 7.92 m.

Real fortresses were built at the guard posts. On the most ancient sections of the wall, every 200 m of the fence there are towers made of brick or stones of the same style. They contain observation platforms and loopholes with rooms for storing weapons. The further from Beijing, the more often towers of other architectural styles are found.

Many of them have signal towers without interior spaces. From them, the watchmen lit a fire, signaling danger. For that time it was the most quick way warnings. According to legend, during the reign of the Tang family, women who were deprived of their legs were placed as watchmen on the towers so that they would not leave their post without permission.

"The longest cemetery in the world"

The beginning of the construction of the grandiose Chinese structure dates back to the 7th century BC, the end – to the 17th century. According to historians, at least 10 rulers of small Chinese provinces made efforts to build it. They fenced their possessions with high mounds of earth.

Qin Shi Huang united the lands of small principalities into a single empire, ending the two-hundred-year era of the Warring States. With the help of defensive fortifications, he decided to ensure reliable protection of the state from attacks by nomads, especially the Huns. He ruled China from 246–210 BC. In addition to defense, the wall fixed the borders of the state.

According to legend, the idea was born after a court soothsayer predicted the destruction of the country by nomads who would come from the north. Therefore, they initially planned to build a wall on the northern borders of the country, but then continued to build it in the west, turning China into an almost impregnable possession.

According to legend, the direction and place of construction of the wall was indicated to the emperor by a dragon. The border was laid in his footsteps. Some researchers claim that the view of the wall from above resembles a soaring dragon.

Qin Shi Huang appointed the most successful general Meng Tian to lead the work. By combining the existing earthworks, they were strengthened and completed by more than half a million slaves, peasants, prisoners of war and prisoners. The emperor was opposed to the teachings of Confucius, so he shackled all the Confucian scholars and sent them to construction sites.

One of the legends says that he ordered them to be walled up in the wall as a sacrifice to the spirits. But archaeologists have not found confirmation of the rituality of the single burials found in the towers. Another legend tells of a farmer's wife, Meng Jiang, who brought clothes to her husband, who was mobilized to work on a construction site. But he had died by then. No one could say where he was buried.

The woman lay down against the wall and cried for a long time until a stone fell out, revealing the remains of her husband. Meng Jiang brought them to her native province and buried them in the family cemetery. Perhaps the workers who participated in the construction were buried in the wall. That's why people called it the “wall of tears.”

Construction spanning two millennia

The wall was completed and rebuilt in parts, from various materials- earth, bricks, stones. Active construction was continued in 206–220 by the emperors of the Han clan. They were forced to strengthen China's defenses against the attacks of the Huns. The earthen ramparts were reinforced with stones to protect them from destruction by nomads. All rulers of China monitored the safety of defensive structures, except for the emperors of the Mongol Yuan family.

Most of the grandiose structures that have survived to this day were built by the Ming emperors who ruled China from 1368 to 1644. They were actively engaged in the construction of new fortifications and repair of defensive structures, because the new capital of the state, Beijing, was only 70 kilometers away, so high walls were a guarantee of its safety.

During the reign of the Manchu Qing family, defensive structures lost their relevance because the northern lands were under its control. To a grandiose building They stopped paying attention, the wall began to collapse. Its restoration began at the direction of Mao Zedong in the 50s of the twentieth century. But during the “cultural revolution” most of it was destroyed by opponents of ancient art.

Video on the topic

Construction of the first sections of this grandiose facility began during the Warring States period in the 3rd century BC. e. The Great Wall of China was supposed to protect the subjects of the Empire from nomadic tribes who often attacked settlements, developing in the center of China. Another function of this grandiose object was to clearly fix the boundaries of the Chinese state and contribute to the creation of a single empire, which before these events was composed of many conquered kingdoms.

Construction of the Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China was built quite quickly - within 10 years. This was largely due to the cruelty of Qin Shi Huang, who ruled at that time. Almost half a million people were involved in its construction, most of whom died at the foot of this site from hard work and exhaustion. These were mainly soldiers, slaves and landowners.

As a result of construction, the Great Wall of China stretched for 4000 km and watchtowers were installed on it every 200 meters. Two centuries later, the wall was expanded to the west, as well as deep into the desert, to protect trade caravans from nomads.

Over time, this structure lost its strategic purpose and the wall was no longer maintained, which contributed to its destruction. The Great Wall of China was given a second life by the rulers of the Ming Dynasty, who were in power from 1368 to 1644. It was during their time that grandiose events began again. construction works on the restoration and expansion of the Great.

As a result, it stretched from the Liaodong Gulf to the Gobi Desert. Its length became 8852 km, including all branches. The average height in those days reached 9 meters, and the width varied from 4 to 5 meters.

Current state of the Great Wall of China

Today, only about 8% of the Great Wall of China has retained its original appearance, which was given to it during the reign of the Ming Dynasty. Their height reaches 7-8 meters. Many sections have not been able to survive to this day, and most of the remaining wall is being destroyed due to weather conditions, acts of vandalism, the construction of various roads and other objects. Some areas are subject to active erosion due to improper management Agriculture in the 50-90s of the last century.

However, since 1984, a program has been launched to restore this important cultural and historical structure of the highest level. After all, the Great Wall of China is still an architectural monument and a place of mass pilgrimage for tourists from all over the world.

- an architectural monument in China over 8800 kilometers long.

History of the construction of the Great Wall of China

Construction of the Great Wall of China began in the 3rd century BC. e. during the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (Qin dynasty), during the period of the “Warring States” (475-221 BC). The wall was supposed to protect the subjects of the “Middle Empire” from transitioning to a semi-nomadic way of life, from merging with the barbarians and was supposed to clearly fix the boundaries of Chinese civilization, contribute to the consolidation of a single empire, just made up of a number of conquered kingdoms.

Throughout the history of the country, there were 3 Great Walls of China, the construction of which took more than 2000 years.

Previously, the Great Wall of China was an obstacle on the path of everyone who sought to get to China. Several special checkpoints were made in the Wall, which were closed at night and under no circumstances were to be opened. No exceptions were made even for the emperor. In order to get inside, the traveler had to obtain permission from higher authorities.

In 1644, after the conquest of China by the Manchus and the accession of a new dynasty, the Great Wall of China became unnecessary and was abandoned.

Current state of the Great Wall of China

During the three centuries of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), the wall almost collapsed due to erosion. The site near Beijing was maintained in relative safety - Badaling, since it served as the “gateway to the capital”. Based on everything, at the beginning of the century there were rumors that the wall would be demolished and a highway would be built in its place.

Along its entire length, fortresses, forts, and signal towers were torn down, and the wall and watchtowers were only slightly damaged by time. Nowadays, several areas are open to tourists; the unrestored area is of greatest interest. Symatai.

In 1962, the Great Wall of China was included in the list of Chinese national monuments, and in 1987 - in the list of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage.

In 1984, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, a program to restore the Great Wall of China began.

The wall is a symbol of China for both the Chinese and foreigners. At the entrance to the restored part of the Wall you can see an inscription made by Mao Tse Tung

If you haven't visited the Great Wall of China, you are not a real Chinese.

The total length of the Great Wall of China is 8 thousand 851 kilometers and 800 meters.
The average height of the wall is about 7 meters, and the width in some places reaches 9 meters.
It is one of the most visited attractions in the world, attracting around 40 million tourists every year.
The wall is not continuous - it is built in different times from several separate segments and later combined into one whole.
The attraction is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest structure ever built by man.
The Great Wall of China is the longest cemetery on the planet, as more than a million people died during its construction.
The fact that the Great Wall of China is visible from space is a myth; it is barely visible even from Earth’s orbit, since its maximum width does not exceed 10 meters, and the color of the stone merges with the color of the rocky rock around it.
The highest point of the wall is 1534 meters (near Beijing), and the lowest point is at sea level near Laolongtu.
The last battle at the wall was in 1938 during the Sino-Japanese War.

How to get to the Great Wall of China from Beijing?

The easiest and most popular way to see the Great Wall is to get to it from Beijing; here are the sections:

Badaling(60 km from Beijing)
Mutianyu(95 km north of Beijing)
Symatai(120 km northeast of Beijing)
Jinshanling(125 km northeast of Beijing)

It’s easier and closer to get to the Badaling section:

by tourist bus from Tiananmen Square;
by taxi (~500 yuan);
by bus 919 from Deshengmen stop (Jishuitan metro station);
by local train to Badaling from Beijing North Station;

This . Indeed, this building is stunning in its scale. In Chinese it is called 万里长城 Wanli Changcheng which literally means « Long wall[length] ten thousand li". Li is an ancient measure of length; its value varied in different periods, but on average it was about 500 m. “Ten thousand” also does not need to be taken literally - in the hieroglyph 万 in addition to its direct meaning“ten thousand” (a four-digit number system is adopted in China) also has the meaning “very many”, “all”.

Some numbers

The Great Wall of China begins in Shanhaiguan County 山海关 (Hebei Province), on the seashore and further stretches to the west, where it ends at the Jiayuguan Outpost 嘉峪关 on the border of Gansu Province and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In fact, the Great Wall is a collection of large quantity walls built at different times.

She resembles a huge one that protects from the north from barbarian invasions. According to the findings of archaeologists, the total length of the Wall is 8,851.8 km, of which the artificial wall itself is 6,259.6 km, trenches are 359.7 km and natural defensive barriers such as mountains and rivers are 2,232.5 km. The height of the wall is 6-7 m, thickness - 4-5 m, so that a cart could pass along it. Many areas are so steep that stairs are built there. In addition, several previously unknown sections of the Wall have recently been discovered.

History of the construction of the Great Wall of China

The beginning of the construction of the Wall is usually associated with the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty - Qin Shihuang 秦始皇 (259-210 BC). However, the very idea of building defensive walls arose much earlier, during the Spring and Autumn period ( Chun-qiu春秋时代, 771-476 BC). During the Warring States period ( Zhan-guo战国时代, 475-221 BC) between the kingdoms of Qin, Wei, Zhao, Qi, Yan and Zhongshan, fortifications were erected to protect the borders - moats and walls. The walls were built from blocks of specially compacted earth and could withstand attacks from weapons such as swords and spears.

Having come to power, Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered to demolish all the fortifications between the former kingdoms, and, on the contrary, strengthen them in the north in order to protect themselves from the attacks of the Xiongnu. According to historians, about a million people took part in the construction of the wall during the Qin era - a fifth of the entire population of the Celestial Empire at that time. Very few Qin buildings have survived to this day. During the Han era (206 BC-220 AD), construction continued and a section was built to Dunhuang, and further west - watchtowers to protect caravans moving along the Great Silk Road. Construction continued during the Six Dynasties (220-589).

During the reign of the Tang (618-907), Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1271-1368) dynasties, construction was practically non-existent, and was resumed only during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). These areas are the best preserved. During the Qing era (1644-1911), the wall gradually began to collapse. In 1899, American reporters spread a rumor that the wall would be destroyed and a highway would be built in its place.

The Great Wall of China and other walls that existed in China

It was never possible to storm the wall, it was so impregnable. Only as a result of betrayal did she open her passages...

The Great Wall of China near Nankou, photograph 1900

Soon after the formation of the People's Republic of China (1949), restoration of the wall began. In 1957, the first section closest to the site opened to tourists.