“There are roads that are not taken; there are armies that are not attacked; there are fortresses over which they do not fight; there are areas over which people do not fight; There are orders from the sovereign that are not carried out.”
"Art of War". Sun Tzu
In China, they will definitely tell you about the majestic monument stretching several thousand kilometers and about the founder of the Qin dynasty, thanks to whose command more than two thousand years ago the Great Empire was built in the Celestial Empire. Chinese Wall.
However, some modern scholars very much doubt that this symbol of the power of the Chinese empire existed before the mid-20th century. So what do they show tourists? - you say... And tourists are shown what was built by the Chinese communists in the second half of the last century.
According to the official historical version Great Wall, intended to protect the country from attacks by nomadic peoples, began to be built in the 3rd century BC. by the will of the legendary emperor Qin Shi Huang Di, the first ruler who united China into one state.
It is believed that the Great Wall, built mainly during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), has survived to this day, and in total there are three historical periods of active construction of the Great Wall: the Qin era in the 3rd century BC, the Han era in III century and Ming era.
Essentially, the name “Great Wall of China” combines at least three major projects in different historical eras, which, according to experts, total a total length of walls of at least 13 thousand km.
With the fall of the Ming and the establishment of the Manchu Qin dynasty (1644-1911) in China, construction work ceased. Thus, the wall, whose construction was completed in the mid-17th century, has largely been preserved.
It is clear that the construction of such a grandiose fortification structure required the Chinese state to mobilize enormous material and human resources to the limit of its capabilities.
Historians claim that at the same time up to a million people were employed in the construction of the Great Wall and the construction was accompanied by monstrous human casualties (according to other sources, three million builders were involved, that is, half of the male population of ancient China).
It is not clear, however, what the ultimate meaning was seen by the Chinese authorities in the construction of the Great Wall, since China did not have the necessary military forces, not only to defend, but at least to reliably control the wall along its entire length.
Probably due to this circumstance, nothing specific is known about the role of the Great Wall in the defense of China. Nevertheless, Chinese rulers These walls have been stubbornly built for two thousand years. Well, it must be that we are simply unable to understand the logic of the ancient Chinese.
However, many sinologists are aware of the weak persuasiveness of the rational motives proposed by researchers of the subject that must have prompted the ancient Chinese to create the Great Wall. And to explain the more than strange history of the unique structure, philosophical tirades are uttered with approximately the following content:
“The wall was supposed to serve as the extreme northern line of the possible expansion of the Chinese themselves; it was supposed to protect the subjects of the “Middle Empire” from transitioning to a semi-nomadic way of life, from merging with the barbarians. The wall was supposed to clearly fix the boundaries of Chinese civilization and contribute to the consolidation of a single empire, just made up of a number of conquered kingdoms.”
Scientists were simply amazed by the blatant absurdity of this fortification. The Great Wall cannot be called an ineffective defensive object, with any sane military point From a perspective it is blatantly absurd. As you can see, the wall runs along the ridges of hard-to-reach mountains and hills.
Why build a wall in the mountains, where not only nomads on horseback, but also a foot army are unlikely to reach?!.. Or were the strategists of the Celestial Empire afraid of an attack by tribes of wild climbers? Apparently, the threat of invasion by hordes of evil climbers really frightened the ancient Chinese authorities, since with the primitive construction technology available to them, the difficulties of constructing a defensive wall in the mountains increased incredibly.
And the crown of fantastic absurdity, if you look closely, you can see that the wall in some places where mountain ranges intersect branches, forming mockingly meaningless loops and forks.
It turns out that tourists are usually shown one of the sections of the Great Wall, located 60 km northwest of Beijing. This is the area of Mount Badaling, the length of the wall is 50 km. The wall is in excellent condition, which is not surprising - its reconstruction in this area was carried out in the 50s of the 20th century. In fact, the wall was built anew, although it is claimed that it was on old foundations.
The Chinese have nothing more to show; there are no other credible remains from the allegedly existing thousands of kilometers of the Great Wall.
Let's return to the question of why the Great Wall was built in the mountains. There are reasons here, except for those that may have recreated and extended, perhaps, the old fortifications of the pre-Manchu era that existed in the gorges and mountain defiles.
Building an ancient historical monument in the mountains has its advantages. It is difficult for an observer to ascertain whether the ruins of the Great Wall really extend for thousands of kilometers along mountain ranges, as he is told.
In addition, in the mountains it is impossible to determine how old the foundations of the wall are. Over several centuries, stone buildings on ordinary soil, carried by sedimentary rocks, inevitably sink several meters into the ground, and this is easy to check.
But on rocky ground this phenomenon is not observed, and a recent building can easily be passed off as very ancient. And besides, there is no large local population in the mountains, a potential inconvenient witness to the construction of a historical landmark.
It is unlikely that initially fragments of the Great Wall north of Beijing were built on a significant scale, even for China early XIX century this is a difficult task.
It seems that the few tens of kilometers of the Great Wall that are shown to tourists were, for the most part, first erected under the Great Helmsman Mao Zedong. Also a Chinese emperor of his kind, but still it cannot be said that he is very ancient
Here is one opinion: you can falsify something that exists in the original, for example, a banknote or a painting. There is an original and you can copy it, which is what forger artists and counterfeiters do. If a copy is made well, it can be difficult to identify a fake and prove that it is not the original. And in the case of the Chinese wall, it cannot be said that it is fake. Because there was no real wall in ancient times.
Therefore, the original product of modern creativity of hardworking Chinese builders there is nothing to compare with. Rather, it is a kind of quasi-historically based grandiose architectural creation. A product of the famous Chinese desire for order. Today it is a Great Tourist Attraction, worthy of being included in the Guinness Book of Records.
These are the questions I asked Valentin Sapuno in:
1 . Who, exactly, was the Wall supposed to protect from? The official version - from nomads, Huns, Vandals - is unconvincing. At the time of the creation of the Wall, China was the most powerful state in the region, and perhaps in the whole world. His army was well armed and trained. This can be judged very specifically - in the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuang, archaeologists unearthed a full-scale model of his army. Thousands of terracotta warriors in full equipment, with horses and carts, were supposed to accompany the emperor in the next world. The northern peoples of that time did not have serious armies; they lived mainly in the Neolithic period. They could not pose a danger to the Chinese army. One suspects that from a military point of view the Wall was of little use.
2. Why was a significant part of the wall built in the mountains? It passes along ridges, over cliffs and canyons, and meanders along inaccessible rocks. This is not how defensive structures are built. In the mountains and without protective walls troop movement is difficult. Even in our time in Afghanistan and Chechnya, modern mechanized troops do not move over mountain ridges, but only along gorges and passes. To stop troops in the mountains, small fortresses dominating the gorges are enough. To the north and south of the Great Wall lie plains. It would be more logical and many times cheaper to build a wall there, and the mountains would serve as an additional natural obstacle to the enemy.
3. Why does the wall, despite its fantastic length, have a relatively small height - from 3 to 8 meters, rarely up to 10? This is much lower than most European castles and Russian kremlins. A strong army, equipped with assault technology (ladders, mobile wooden towers), could, by choosing a vulnerable spot on a relatively flat piece of terrain, overcome the Wall and invade China. This is what happened in 1211, when China was easily conquered by the hordes of Genghis Khan.
4. Why is the Great Wall of China oriented on both sides? All fortifications have battlements and curbs on the walls on the side facing the enemy. They don’t put the teeth towards their own. This is pointless and would complicate the maintenance of soldiers on the walls and the supply of ammunition. In many places, the battlements and loopholes are oriented deep into their territory, and some towers are moved there, to the south. It turns out that the builders of the wall assumed the presence of the enemy on their side. Who were they going to fight in this case?
Let's start our discussion with an analysis of the personality of the author of the idea of the Wall - Emperor Qin Shihuang (259 - 210 BC).
His personality was extraordinary and in many ways typical of an autocrat. He combined brilliant organizational talent and statesmanship with pathological cruelty, suspicion and tyranny. At a very young age of 13, he became the prince of the state of Qin. It was here that the technology of ferrous metallurgy was first mastered. It was immediately applied to the needs of the army. Possessing more advanced weapons than their neighbors, equipped with bronze swords, the army of the Principality of Qin quickly conquered a significant part of the country. From 221 BC a successful warrior and politician became the head of a united Chinese state - an empire. From that time on, he began to bear the name Qin Shihuang (in another transcription - Shi Huangdi). Like any usurper, he had many enemies. The emperor surrounded himself with an army of bodyguards. Fearing assassins, he created the first magnetic weapon control in his palace. On the advice of experts, he ordered an arch made of magnetic iron ore to be placed at the entrance. If the person entering had an iron weapon hidden, magnetic forces would tear it out from under his clothes. The guards immediately kept up and began to find out why the person entering wanted to enter the palace armed. Fearing for his power and life, the emperor fell ill with persecution mania. He saw conspiracies everywhere. He chose the traditional method of prevention - mass terror. At the slightest suspicion of disloyalty, people were captured, tortured and executed. The squares of Chinese cities were constantly resounding with the cries of people who were cut into pieces, boiled alive in cauldrons, and fried in frying pans. Severe terror pushed many to flee the country.
Constant stress and poor lifestyle undermined the emperor’s health. A duodenal ulcer developed. After 40 years, symptoms of early aging appeared. Some wise men, or rather charlatans, told him a legend about a tree growing across the sea in the east. The fruits of the tree supposedly cure all diseases and prolong youth. The emperor ordered to immediately supply the expedition for the fabulous fruits. Several large junks reached the shores of modern Japan, founded a settlement there and decided to stay. They rightly decided that the mythical tree did not exist. If they return empty-handed, the cool emperor will swear a lot, and maybe come up with something worse. This settlement later became the beginning of the formation of the Japanese state.
Seeing that science was unable to restore health and youth, he brought down his anger on the scientists. The “historical”, or rather hysterical decree of the emperor read: “Burn all books and execute all scientists!” The emperor, under public pressure, nevertheless granted amnesty to some of the specialists and works related to military affairs and agriculture. However, most of the priceless manuscripts were burned, and 460 scientists, who constituted the then flower of the intellectual elite, ended their lives in cruel torture.
It was this emperor, as noted, who came up with the idea of the Great Wall. Construction works didn't start from scratch. There were already defensive structures in the north of the country. The idea was to combine them into a single fortification system. For what?
The simplest explanation is the most realistic
Let's resort to analogies. The Egyptian pyramids had no practical meaning. They demonstrated the greatness of the pharaohs and their power, the ability to force hundreds of thousands of people to do any action, even a meaningless one. There are more than enough such structures on Earth, with the sole purpose of exalting power.
Likewise, the Great Wall is a symbol of the power of Shi Huang and other Chinese emperors who picked up the baton of grandiose construction. It should be noted that, unlike many other similar monuments, the Wall is picturesque and beautiful in its own way, harmoniously combined with nature. Talented fortifiers who knew a lot about the Eastern understanding of beauty were involved in the work.
There was a second need for the Wall, a more prosaic one. Waves of imperial terror and the tyranny of feudal lords and officials forced peasants to flee en masse in search of a better life.
The main route was north, to Siberia. It was there that Chinese men dreamed of finding land and freedom. Interest in Siberia as an analogue of the Promised Land has long excited ordinary Chinese, and for a long time it has been common for this people to spread throughout the world.
Historical analogies suggest themselves. Why did Russian settlers go to Siberia? For a better life, for land and freedom. They fled from the tsar's wrath and lordly tyranny.
To stop uncontrolled migration to the north, which undermined the unlimited power of the emperor and nobles, the Great Wall was created. It would not have held a serious army. However, the Wall could block the path of peasants walking along mountain paths, burdened with simple belongings, wives and children. And if men further away, led by a sort of Chinese Ermak, went to break through, they were met by a rain of arrows from behind the battlements facing their own people. There are more than enough analogues of such sad events in history. Let's remember the Berlin Wall. Officially built against Western aggression, it aimed to stop the flight of the inhabitants of the GDR to where life was better, or at least it seemed so. For a similar purpose, in Stalin’s times they created the most fortified border in the world, which was nicknamed the “Iron Curtain,” over tens of thousands of kilometers. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the Great Wall of China has acquired a double meaning in the minds of the peoples of the world. On the one hand, it is a symbol of China. On the other hand, it is a symbol of Chinese isolation from the rest of the world.
There is even an assumption that the “Great Wall” is the creation not of the ancient Chinese, but of their northern neighbors.
Back in 2006, the President of the Academy of Basic Sciences, Andrei Aleksandrovich Tyunyaev, in his article “The Great Wall of China was built... not by the Chinese!”, made an assumption about the non-Chinese origin of the Great Wall. In fact, modern China has appropriated the achievement of another civilization. In modern Chinese historiography, the purpose of the wall was also changed: initially it protected the North from the South, and not the Chinese south from the “northern barbarians.” Researchers say that the loopholes of a significant part of the wall face south, not north. This can be seen in works of Chinese drawings, a number of photographs, and in the most ancient sections of the wall that have not been modernized for the needs of the tourism industry.
According to Tyunyaev, the last sections of the Great Wall were built similarly to Russian and European medieval fortifications, the main task of which was protection from the impact of guns. The construction of such fortifications began no earlier than the 15th century, when cannons became widespread on the battlefields. In addition, the wall marked the border between China and Russia. At that period of history, the border between Russia and China passed along the “Chinese” wall.” On the 18th-century map of Asia produced by the Royal Academy in Amsterdam, two geographical formations are marked in this region: Tartarie was located in the north, and China was in the south, the northern border of which ran approximately along the 40th parallel, that is, exactly along the Great Wall. On this Dutch map, the Great Wall is indicated by a thick line and labeled "Muraille de la Chine". From French this phrase is translated as “Chinese wall”, but can also be translated as “wall from China”, or “wall delimiting from China”. In addition, other maps confirm the political significance of the Great Wall: on the 1754 map “Carte de l’Asie” the wall also runs along the border between China and Great Tartary (Tartaria). The academic 10-volume World History contains a map of the Qing Empire of the second half of the 17th - 18th centuries, which shows in detail the Great Wall, which runs exactly along the border between Russia and China.
The following is the evidence:
ARCHITECTURAL wall style, now located on the territory of China, is imprinted with the peculiarities of the construction “handprints” of its creators. Elements of the wall and towers, similar to fragments of the wall, in the Middle Ages can only be found in the architecture of ancient Russian defensive structures of the central regions of Russia - “northern architecture”.
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.
There are loopholes on the top (second) floor. They are made in the form of rectangular narrow grooves approximately 35–45 cm wide. The number of such loopholes in the Chinese tower is 3 deep and 4 wide, and in the Novgorod one - 4 deep and 5 wide. On the top floor of the “Chinese” tower there are square holes along its very edge. There are similar holes in the Novgorod tower, and the ends of the rafters sticking out of them, on which the wooden roof is supported.
The situation is the same in comparing the Chinese tower and the tower of the Tula Kremlin. The Chinese and Tula towers have the same number of loopholes in width - there are 4 of them. And the same number of arched openings - 4 each. On the upper floor between the large loopholes there are small ones - in the Chinese and in the Tula towers. The shape of the towers is still the same. The Tula tower, like the Chinese one, uses white stone. The vaults are made in the same way: at the Tula one there are gates, at the “Chinese” one there are entrances.
For comparison, you can also use the Russian towers of the Nikolsky Gate (Smolensk) and the northern fortress wall of the Nikitsky Monastery (Pereslavl-Zalessky, 16th century), as well as the tower in Suzdal (mid-17th century). Conclusion: the design features of the towers of the Chinese Wall reveal almost exact analogies among the towers of Russian Kremlins.
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.
And here is the reasoning of Sergei Vladimirovich Leksutov:
The chronicles say that the wall took two thousand years to build. In terms of defense, construction is absolutely pointless. Is it that while the wall was being built in one place, in other places nomads walked around China unhindered for two thousand years? But the chain of fortresses and ramparts can be built and improved within two thousand years. Fortresses are needed to defend garrisons from superior enemy forces, as well as to house mobile cavalry detachments in order to immediately go in pursuit of a detachment of robbers who have crossed the border.
I thought for a long time, who and why built this senseless cyclopean structure in China? There is simply no one except Mao Zedong! With his characteristic wisdom, he found an excellent means of adapting to work tens of millions of healthy men who had previously fought for thirty years and knew nothing but how to fight. It is unthinkable to imagine what kind of chaos would begin in China if so many soldiers were demobilized at the same time!
And the fact that the Chinese themselves believe that the wall has stood for two thousand years is explained very simply. A battalion of demobilizers comes to an open field, the commander explains to them: “Here, in this very place, the Great Wall of China stood, but the evil barbarians destroyed it, we have to restore it.” And millions of people sincerely believed that they did not build, but only restored the Great Wall of China. In fact, the wall is made of smooth, clearly sawn blocks. Is it that in Europe they didn’t know how to cut stone, but in China they were able to? In addition, they sawed soft stone, and it was better to build fortresses from granite or basalt, or from something no less hard. But they learned to cut granites and basalts only in the twentieth century. Along its entire length of four and a half thousand kilometers, the wall is made of monotonous blocks of the same size, but over two thousand years the methods of stone processing inevitably had to change. And construction methods have changed over the centuries.
This researcher believes that the Great Wall of China was built to protect the Ala Shan and Ordos deserts from sandstorms. He noticed that on the map compiled at the beginning of the twentieth century by the Russian traveler P. Kozlov, one can see how the Wall runs along the border of shifting sands, and in some places it has significant branches. But it was near the deserts that researchers and archaeologists discovered several parallel walls. Galanin explains this phenomenon very simply: when one wall was covered with sand, another was built. The researcher does not deny the military purpose of the Wall in its eastern part, but the western part of the Wall, in his opinion, served the function of protecting agricultural areas from natural disasters.
Soldiers of the invisible front
Perhaps the answers lie in the beliefs of the inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom themselves? It is difficult for us, people of our time, to believe that our ancestors would erect barriers to repel the aggression of imaginary enemies, for example, ethereal otherworldly entities with evil intentions. But the whole point is that our distant predecessors considered evil spirits to be completely real beings.
Residents of China (both today and in the past) are convinced that the world around them is inhabited by thousands of demonic creatures that are dangerous to humans. One of the names of the wall sounds like “the place where 10 thousand spirits live.”
Another interesting fact: the Great Wall of China does not stretch in a straight line, but in a winding one. And the features of the relief have nothing to do with it. If you look closely, you will find that even in flat areas it “winds” around. What was the logic of the ancient builders?
The ancients believed that all these creatures could move only in a straight line and were unable to avoid obstacles along the way. Perhaps the Great Wall of China was built to block their path?
Meanwhile, it is known that Emperor Qin Shihuang Di constantly conferred with astrologers and consulted with fortunetellers during construction. According to legend, the soothsayers told him that a terrible sacrifice could bring glory to the ruler and provide reliable defense to the state - the bodies of the unfortunate people buried in the wall who died during the construction of the structure. Who knows, perhaps these nameless builders are still standing eternally guarding the borders of the Celestial Empire...
Let's look at the photo of the wall:
Masterok,
livejournal
The Great Wall of China is one of the oldest architectural monuments in China and a symbol of the power of Chinese civilization. It stretches from the Liaodong Gulf northeast of Beijing through Northern China to the Gobi Desert. There are several opinions about its exact length, but what can be said for sure is that it stretches for a distance of more than two thousand kilometers, and if we take into account the other ramparts extending from it, the total is 6000-6500 km.
The Great Wall has a height of 6 to 10 meters and a width of 5.5 to 6.5 meters. On different areas Watchtowers, casemates and signal towers were built along the walls, and fortresses were built along the main mountain passes.
The Great Wall was built as many separate elements at different times. Each province built its own wall and gradually they were united into a single whole. In those days, protective structures were simply necessary and were built everywhere. In total, more than 50,000 kilometers of defensive walls have been built in China over the past 2,000 years.
The foundation was usually made of rock blocks. The sizes of some reached 4 meters. Walls and towers were built on top. All this was held together with a lime mortar of extraordinary strength. Unfortunately, the recipe for this mixture is lost today. It must be said that the Great Wall of China really became an insurmountable obstacle on the path of many conquerors. The Xiong, or Guns, Khitans, Churdzhens - their crazy attacks more than once crashed against the gloomy gray stones of the Great Wall. Even without armed troops, it posed a serious obstacle to the nomads. They had to somehow drag the horses across it, and even cross it themselves. All this created certain difficulties. They were especially felt by small detachments that did not have the ability to carry a large number of boards with them and build bulky platforms. The height of the shaft was only 6 meters. It would seem not much, but in order to get close to him it was necessary to climb almost a sheer mountain at the beginning of three hundred meters, with heavy weapons, under a hail of arrows and stones. Even hundreds of years later, Genghis Khan’s superior army, which immediately swept away everything in its path, with great difficulty overcame this formidable obstacle after two years of a grueling siege.
The first sections of the wall were built in the 7th century BC. e., at a time when China was still divided into many small states. Various princes and feudal rulers marked the boundaries of their possessions with these walls. Further construction The Great Wall began in the 220s BC by order of the ruler Qin Shi Huang and was intended to protect the northwestern border of the country from raids by nomadic peoples. The construction of the Great Wall lasted hundreds of years and only stopped after the establishment of the Qing Dynasty.
When building the wall, several conditions had to be met at once. For example, each of the wall towers certainly had to be in the visibility zone of two neighboring ones. Messages between them were transmitted using smoke, drumming or fire (in the dark). The width of the wall, 5.5 meters, was also specially calculated. In those days, this allowed five infantrymen to march in a row or five cavalrymen to ride side by side. Today its height is on average nine meters, and the height of the watchtowers is twelve.
The wall was supposed to become the northernmost point of the planned expansion of the Chinese, as well as protect the subjects of the “Celestial Empire” from being drawn into a semi-nomadic lifestyle and assimilation with the barbarians. It was planned to clearly define the boundaries of the great Chinese civilization and to promote the unification of the empire into a single whole, since China was just beginning to form from many conquered states.
Observation towers were built along the entire Great Wall in uniform areas and could be up to 40 feet high. They were used to monitor the territory, as well as fortresses and garrisons for troops. They contained supplies of necessary food and water. In case of danger, a signal was given from the tower, torches, special beacons or simply flags were lit. The western section of the Great Wall, with a long chain of observation towers, served to protect the caravans that moved along the Silk Road, a famous trade route.
To get inside the state, it was necessary to go through its checkpoints, which were closed at night and under no circumstances opened until the morning. They say that even the Emperor of China himself once had to wait for dawn to get into his state.
During the reign of the Qin dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC), after the unification of various Chinese territories into one, the first emperor of the Celestial Empire, Qin Shi Huang, connected the walls of the three northern states - Qin, Zhao (Zhao) and Yan (Yan). These combined sections formed the first "Wan Li Chang Cheng" - a 10 thousand li long Wall. Li is an ancient Chinese unit of length equal to half a kilometer.
During the Han Dynasty (206 - 220 BC), the structure was expanded westward to Dunhuang. They built many watchtowers to protect trade caravans from attacks by warring nomads. Almost all sections of the Great Wall that have survived to this day were built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). During this period, they built mainly from bricks and blocks, thanks to which the structure became stronger and more reliable. During this time, the Wall ran from east to west from Shanhaiguan on the shores of the Yellow Sea to the Yumenguan outpost on the border of Gansu provinces and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
The Qing Dynasty of Manchuria (1644-1911) broke the resistance of the Wall defenders due to the betrayal of Wu Sangui. During this period, the structure was treated with great disdain. During the three centuries that the Qing remained in power, the Great Wall was practically destroyed under the influence of time. Only a small section of it, passing near Beijing - Badaling - was preserved in order - it was used as a “gate to the capital”. Nowadays, this section of the wall is the most popular among tourists - it was the very first open to the public back in 1957, and also served as the finishing point of the cycling race at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
The last battle at the wall took place in 1938 during the Sino-Japanese War. There are many bullet marks left in the wall from those times. The highest point of the Great Wall of China is at an altitude of 1534 meters, near Beijing, while the lowest point is at sea level near Lao Long Tu. The average height of the wall is 7 meters, and the width in some places reaches 8 meters, but in general it ranges from 5 to 7 meters.
In 1984, on the initiative of Deng Xiaoping, a program to restore the Chinese Wall was organized, and financial assistance from Chinese and foreign companies was attracted. A collection was also held among individuals; anyone could donate any amount.
Nowadays, a 60-kilometer section of the wall in the Shanxi region in northwestern China is undergoing active erosion. The main reason This is due to the country's intensive farming practices, which have seen groundwater gradually dry up since the 1950s and the region become the epicenter of extremely violent sandstorms. More than 40 kilometers of the wall have already been destroyed, and only 10 kilometers are still in place, but the height of the wall has partially decreased from five to two meters
During its construction, the Great Wall of China was nicknamed the most long cemetery on the planet, since a large number of people died at construction sites. According to rough estimates, the construction of the wall cost the lives of more than one million people.
The wall was built three times over a period of 2,700 years. Prisoners of war, prisoners and peasants were herded into construction, who were torn from their families and sent to the northern regions. Approximately two million people died during the construction of the wall, and their remains were walled up at its base. Therefore, people still often call the Great Wall of China the Chinese “Wailing Wall”.
According to Chinese legend, the husband of a girl named Meng Jiangnu was sent to build the Great Wall immediately after the wedding. The young wife spent three years waiting, and her husband never returned home. To bring him warm clothes, she set off on a long and dangerous journey to the wall. Having reached the Shanhaiguan outpost, Meng Jiangnu learned that her husband had died from overwork and was buried under the wall. The young woman sobbed bitterly, and then there was a sudden collapse large plot walls, revealing the corpse of her beloved husband. The Chinese people have immortalized in legends the memory of the hard work of the wall's builders.
There was a whole tradition of burying those who died during the construction of the wall. Family members of the deceased carried the coffin, on which was a cage with a white rooster. The crowing of a rooster was supposed to keep the dead man's spirit awake until the procession recounted the Great Wall. IN otherwise, the spirit will forever wander along the wall
During the Ming Dynasty, more than one million soldiers were called upon to defend the country's borders against enemies on the Great Wall. As for the builders, they were recruited from the same defenders in peacetime, peasants, simply the unemployed and criminals. There was a special punishment for all those convicted and there was only one verdict - to build a wall!
The Chinese invented a wheelbarrow especially for this construction project and used it throughout the construction of the Great Wall. Some particularly dangerous parts of the Great Wall were surrounded by protective ditches, which were either filled with water or left as ditches.
The wall is a symbol of China. Mao Tse Tung's inscription at the entrance to the restored part reads: "If you have not visited the Great Wall of China, you are not a real Chinese." It is a misconception that only tourists visit the Wall. There are more Chinese people there than travelers. And it is understandable; visiting the Great Wall of China is the duty of every self-respecting Chinese.
The Great Wall was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987 as one of China's greatest historical sites. In addition, this is one of the most visited attractions in the world - about 40 million tourists come here every year.
The most popular places to see the Great Wall of China
Shanghaiguan Outpost
Shanghaiguan Outpost is located northeast of Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province. It is called the First Outpost of the Great Wall. The outpost has four gates: East, South, West and North. But when talking about the “First Outpost of the Celestial Empire,” they mean the Eastern Gate of the Shanghai Guan Outpost. The view of the eastern facade of the outpost is very impressive; at the top, under the very roof, there is a banner with the hieroglyphs “The First Outpost of the Celestial Empire.” An additional semicircular fortress wall was erected in front of the Eastern Gate; in addition, compacted earthen embankments were made at the base of the wall for greater strength; there is a ditch filled with water around the outpost. On the territory of the outpost there are barracks where troops were stationed and a signal tower. In short, the Shanghaiguan outpost is an example of a well-fortified defensive structure of the Ming era.
Zhangjiakou
On the Great Wall route near the village of Xuanfu, Hebei Province, there is a strategically important mountain pass - Zhangjiakou. Here in 1429, under the Ming Emperor Xuande, a small fortress outpost was built. Under Emperor Chenghua (1480), the outpost was expanded, and as a result of work undertaken by Emperor Jiaqing (1529), the outpost was rebuilt into a powerful fortress. At that time it was called Zhangjiakou Outpost. In 1574, under Emperor Wanli, all buildings were rebuilt with bricks. Zhangjiakou is an important passage on the way from Northern China to Inner Mongolia. Due to its exceptionally important strategic importance (the "Northern Gate of the Chinese Capital"), Zhangjiakou Outpost was repeatedly a point of dispute between the warring parties.
Langyakou Outpost
Langyakou Outpost is located at the junction of Longxiutai Village (Lingqiu County, Shanxi Province) and Langyakou Village (Yilaiyuan County, Hebei Province). It was built in the Ming era. The outpost received the name "Lanyakou" (Wolf's Teeth) because it is located on a rugged, jagged mountain peak (altitude 1700 meters). The outpost was built in a saddle separating two powerful mountain peaks. On both sides of the outpost stretches a brick-lined, well-preserved fortress wall. The arched gate through which the route went from south to north has also been preserved.
Huangyaguan Outpost
Huangyaguan Outpost is located at the top of Chongshanling Peak, in the northern part of Jixian County near Tianjin. Based on the name of the county, the outpost is called "Northern Ji Outpost". The beginning of construction of the adjacent section of the wall dates back to 557, when the kingdom of Northern Qi was in these places. During the Ming period, the old wall was restored and lined with brick. In the east, the boundary of the Ji Wall section is a steep cliff in the mountain range, and in the west, a steeply rising mountain ridge. At this point the wall crosses the river. The outpost was well equipped with everything necessary for long-term defense: observation combat and signal towers, barracks for personnel, etc. were built in the surrounding area. Moreover, the difficult terrain made the local section of the wall difficult to reach the enemy. Unlike other sections of the Great Wall, highly artistic architectural structures were built on this site: the Fenghuang Tower, the Northern Gazebo, a grove of stone steles has been preserved, there is a museum, and “a city in the spirit of the eight trigrams - bagua.”
Badaling Outpost
Badaling Outpost is located north of Jiuyunguan Pass, 60 km. from Beijing. The beginning of construction of this section of the Great Wall dates back to the 18th year of the reign of the Ming Emperor Hongzhi (1505). A tourist who climbs to the highest point of Badaling has a beautiful view of the watchtowers and signal platforms rising along the wall to the north and south. The average height of the wall is 7.8 meters. The foundation of the wall is laid out with oblong blocks of granite; the width of the wall allows five horses or 10 pedestrians to pass in a row. WITH outside The walls have been built with ledges reinforcing the wall, every 500 meters there is a watch tower and premises for accommodating personnel, storing weapons and performing guard duty.
Mutianyu Outpost
The Mutianyu outpost is located in Sanduhe Township, Huaiju County, 75 km away. northeast of Beijing. This site was built under the Ming emperors Longqing and Wanli. Here the route of the wall bends sharply, taking a direction to the northeast. The relief of the local mountains is majestic and formidable, replete with steep slopes and cliffs. On the southeastern edge of the site, at an altitude of 600 meters, there is a place where three branches of the wall converge. The Corner Tower rises here, nearby there is the Jiankou observation tower, behind it is a peak 1044 meters high, which is said to be inaccessible even to a soaring eagle.
Symatai
The Symatai section of the Great Wall is perhaps the only place where the wall has not been repaired and has retained its original appearance. It is located in the town of Gubeikou, which is northeast of Miyun County near Beijing. The length of the Symatai section is 19 km. The eastern part of the site, where the remains of 14 observation towers have been preserved at a distance of a kilometer, still amazes with its formidable inaccessibility. The stepped wall and the “Fairy Tower” stand out especially.
Wei Wall
During the era of the Warring States, the ruler of the kingdom of Wei undertook the construction of a fortress wall to block the path of the troops of the western kingdom of Qin, which by that time had strengthened and began to undertake campaigns against its neighbors. This section of the wall retained the name Wei. In the south, this section of the wall begins in the town of Chaoyuandong on the western bank of the Changjian River, not far from the northern spur of Mount Huashan (the city of Huayinish, Shaanxi Province). Further, the wall goes to the north; its route can be traced along the remains of the wall in the villages of Hongyan and Chennan. The best preserved Wei Wall is at a site in the village of Chennan.
Precipitous area
IN historical documents This section of the Great Wall is called the "Western Section of the Wall". It is located 8 km. north of the Jiayuguan outpost in Gansu Province. Built during the Ming period. Here the wall, following the curves of the mountainous terrain, descends steeply into a crevice, and in the crevice the wall was built so that it was impossible to climb onto it. In the crevice, the wall runs virtually straight, and does not meander, like neighboring sections, along a winding ridge. For this she was nicknamed "precipitous". In 1988, a section of the steep wall was restored and in 1989 it was opened to tourists. Climbing up the watchtower for the signal fire, you can see the panorama on both sides of the wall.
Steppe section of the wall
This section of the wall starts from the Jinchuan Gorge, which is located east of the county town of Shandan Prov. Gansu. The length of the gorge is 35 km. On a rocky cliff at a height of 5 meters from the bottom of the gorge, the hieroglyphs “Jinchuan Citadel” are carved. To the north of the exit from the gorge runs the Great Wall. Here it enters the steppe region, where the height of the wall is 4-5 meters. Length steppe area 30 km. The parapet that supported the wall on both sides has been preserved.
Yangguan Outpost
75 km. southwest of the city of Dunhuang are the ruins of the ancient outpost of the Great Wall - Yangguan. In the old days, the wall on the Yanguan-Yumenguan highway had a length of 70 km. There were observation and sentry-signal towers, now destroyed. Judging by the piles of stones and earthen ramparts near the Yanguan outpost, there were more than a dozen sentinel and signal towers. Of these, the largest and best preserved is the signal tower on the top of Mount Dundong, north of Yangguan Outpost.
Jiayuguan Outpost
Jiayuguan Outpost was the western end of the Great Wall during the Ming period. Of all the outposts along the Great Wall route, Jiayuguan Outpost is the best preserved and also one of the largest. The outpost got its name from the name of the Jiayu Gorge, which stretches between the Qilianshan Mountains and the Black Ridge and is 15 km long. The Jiayuguan outpost was built right in the middle of the gorge on its western slope. Its construction dates back to 1372 (the 5th year of the reign of the Ming Emperor Hongwu). The fortification ensemble includes an internal wall, an additional wall located in a semicircle in front of the main gate, an earthen rampart on both sides of the wall, external adobe walls and a ditch dug in front of the wall.
On three sides of the outpost - eastern, southern and northern - there are strengthening adobe supports, called “external walls”. The Western and Eastern gates of the inner (core) wall have outer semicircles of additional walls that connect to the frame of the inner wall. Of particular interest is the corner section of the wall at the junction of the watchtower, which is north of the Guanghuamen Gate, and eastern section walls.
The first foundation tower of the Great Wall
At the southern end of the Great Wall of the Ming period, 7.5 km from the Jiayuguan outpost, there is a giant mortgage tower - a symbol of the beginning of the Great Wall. This tower was erected by military daotai Li Han in 1539-1540 (18th-19th reign of the Ming Emperor Jiaqing). This tower is also called Taolaihe after the name of the Taolaihe River flowing here. From the tower there is a majestic view of the ridge of the Great Wall stretching into the Gobi.
Based on materials: tonkosti.ru, legendtour.ru, lifeglobe.net
The Great Wall of China - to this day, this architectural structure amazes with its powerful grandeur and deservedly takes the place of the largest and oldest architectural monument on the entire planet. The structure stretches across Chinese territory for 8851.8 km. One of the spans of the structure runs very close to Beijing. Most likely, each of us has heard about this miracle of architectural thought, but not everyone knows what history the wall went through during its construction. The construction of the Great Wall of China can shock any historian with its scale. Today our travel website invites you to immerse yourself in the history of the construction of the Wall, as well as learn new Interesting Facts, which largely influenced the progress of work and the current appearance of the structure.
Most likely, you will not be able to even correctly imagine how much time and resources were spent on creating such a huge architectural object. And how many people suffered and died during the construction of the Wall - these are simply huge numbers. Nowhere else in the world is there a structure that, in terms of its length, can compete with the Great Chinese wall.
History of construction
The study of the Great Wall of China will not be complete if we do not delve into the history of the creation of this powerful structure. They began to build the Wall in the distant years of the 3rd century BC. During those turbulent times, the country was ruled by Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who was a descendant of the Qin dynasty. The period of his reign was the years of the Warring States (475 - 221 BC).
For the state, this period of history was very dangerous, since the nomadic Xiongnu people regularly carried out their raids. Of course, their participants were not the only ones who did not mind making easy money. Then it was decided to build a huge fence that would enclose the state and reliably protect it. More than a fifth of the population of all China was called upon to build the wall. In those years it was about one million people.
Great Wall had one of its main tasks to protect the subjects of the “Celestial Empire” from the fact that they would be involved in a nomadic lifestyle. This could also guarantee the absence of assimilation with the barbarians. At that time, China had just begun its formation into one state from the many small ones it had conquered. It was critical to mark and defend their territories and possessions. The wall was supposed to be the help that would help unite and maintain the empire as one. The boundaries of the wall on the map can be indicated by the following diagram:
The year is 206 BC. The Han Dynasty comes to power, and it was during this period that the Wall conquered new numbers in terms of length. To the west it increases to Dunhuang. A large number of armed watchtowers are erected on the structure to protect trade caravans from attacks by nomads. Of course, not all sections of the Great Wall have survived to this day, but most of those sections that still appear to us today belonged to the Ming Dynasty, which ruled from 1368 to 1644. It is during this period that the structure becomes the most durable, since it is already built from bricks and concrete blocks. During this period, the wall runs from east to west from the territory of Shanhaiguan on the shores of the Yellow Sea all the way to the lands of Yumenguan, which are located on the border with Gansu province.
In 1644, the Qing dynasty from Manchuria comes to power. Representatives of this dynasty had conflicting opinions about the necessity of the existence of this structure. During the Qing period, the Great Wall was destroyed to a greater extent than during the reign of other dynasties. This factor was also influenced by time. Small area from Beijing to Badaling was used as a gate that opened the entrance to the capital. This area is the best preserved. Today, this particular section of the structure is the most popular among tourists from all over the world. it has been open to the public since 1957. An interesting fact is that this section also served as the finishing line for cyclists who took part in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. In 1899, the United States wrote that the remaining section of the wall would be completely dismantled, and a highway would be built in its place. The Wall was visited by the President of the United States of America, Richard Nixon.
The Great Wall today
Yes, at a certain period of the last century, it was indeed decided to dismantle the Wall, but after rethinking the situation a little, the government decided, on the contrary, to reconstruct the wall and leave it as a heritage Chinese history.In 1984, the architect Deng Xiaoping organized a collection of funds that were needed to carry out work to return the wall to its former grandeur. Funds were attracted from both Chinese and foreign investors. Funds for restoration were collected even from ordinary private individuals, so everyone could make their contribution to the history of restoration of the unique architectural heritage.
Let's stop for a second now and think about the next sentence for a moment. The length of the Great Wall of China is 8 thousand 851 kilometers and 800 meters! Think about this number! It’s simply incredible how such a huge thing could be built by human hands.
In China they use very active, and sometimes even aggressive, methods to Agriculture. For this reason, since the 1950s, the waters that provided the bowels of the earth began to dry up in the country. As a result, the entire region became the site of very gusty and strong sand storms. It is because of these factors that today a more than 60-kilometer section of the Wall in northwestern China is subject to severe erosion and active destruction. 40 kilometers of the site have already been destroyed, and only 10 kilometers still remain in place. However, the effects of the elements and natural factors also changed the height of the wall in some sections. Where previously the wall reached 5 meters, now it does not exceed 2 meters.
In 1987, the Wall was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has rightfully taken its place in the category of China's greatest historical attractions. By the way, today this area is one of the most visited in the world. More than 40 million tourists choose this particular point on the map as the main destination of their travels.
Of course, such a significant architectural structure could not help but leave its traces throughout the history of the state and the planet as a whole. There are many legends and superstitions around the Wall to this day. For example, there is a version that the wall was built in one piece in just one approach. However, if you turn to the facts, then it immediately becomes clear that this is just a myth. In fact, the wall was not just built in one go - it was even built different dynasties. In addition, the work involved the construction of individual sections of a certain length. The length of the section was determined by various factors, taking into account the relief, weather conditions and other factors. They built it as reliably as possible to secure and protect China from the north.
All dynasties that built the wall created their own specific area, which eventually merged with the previous one by the next dynasty. All this happened at different times, which were sometimes separated by decades. During the turbulent times during which the wall was built, such defensive structures were an objective necessity; they were built everywhere. If we combine all the defensive structures of China over the past 2000 years into one statistic, then we get a figure in the region of 50 thousand kilometers.
The wall, as I described above, had interrupted sections in many places. As a result, in 1211 and 1223, Genghis Khan and his Mongol invaders took advantage of this, who eventually took possession of the entire northern part countries. Until 1368, the Mongols were the rulers of China, but they were driven out by fasting by representatives of the Ming dynasty.
Within the framework of this paragraph, let us dispel another common myth. No matter what anyone says, the Great Wall of China is not visible from space. This assumption or just fiction was born in 1893. At that time, the magazine The Centuries was published in America, and the following fact was mentioned there. Later in 1932, noumen Robert Ripley stated that the Wall was visible from space, namely from the Moon. This fact was funny, considering that there were still many decades left before the first landing of man on Ken. Today, space has already been explored to some extent, and our cosmonauts and satellites can provide high-quality photos from orbit. Look for yourself, it’s quite difficult to notice the wall from space.
You can also hear about the wall that the mortar used to hold the bricks together was based on powder based on the bones of the dead workers of this construction site. And the remains of the bodies were buried right inside the wall. Thus, the structure supposedly became stronger. But in fact, none of this happened, the wall was built using standard methods for those times, and ordinary rice flour was used to make the fastening solution.
For obvious reasons, this miracle was not included in the 7 ancient wonders of the world, but the Great Wall of China is quite rightly included in the list of 7 new wonders of the world. Another legend says that a large fire dragon paved the way for workers, indicating where to build a wall. The builders subsequently followed his tracks
There is also a legend that tells us about a large dragon, which with its flames showed the way for the builders. As a result, the workers followed in his footsteps, and the fire of their dragon's mouth cleared the way for them. The most interesting thing about this story is that it really is true. We managed to find a photo of this dragon and even find out which zoo it ended up in:
Okay, let’s admit that this is simply one of the mythical legends that has no common sense or logical basis. And the photo shows just a drawing of a mythical creature - a dragon.
But what there is no doubt about is that today the Great Wall of China deservedly takes its place of honor in the list of “7 New Wonders of the World”.
Most famous legend Associated with the Chinese Wall is the tale of the girl Meng Jing Nu, who was simply a farmer's wife. She was involved in the construction of the Wall. The wife, who was struck by grief, came to the wall at night and cried over it until the reading cracked and showed the girl the bones of her lover. As a result, the girl was able to bury them.
Here in the area there was a certain custom of burying people who died during construction. Family members of the one who died here carried the coffin, topped with a white rooster. The crowing of the rooster was supposed to keep the spirit of the deceased awake. This was to continue until the procession with the coffin crossed the Wall. There were legends that if the ritual was not completed, or completed with violations, then the spirit would forever remain here and wander along the wall.
During the period when the wall was being built, there was only one punishment for all prisoners in the state and all the unemployed. Send everyone to build the Great Wall! This period especially required the protection of external borders, so it was necessary to resort to drastic measures.
This construction gave the heritage of the Chinese people many useful inventions. So, it was here and for construction purposes that the same wheelbarrow was invented, which is used everywhere on construction sites today. Areas that were vulnerable during the construction of the Wall were surrounded by a ditch, which was filled with water, or simply remained as an abyss. Among other things, the people of China also used advanced weapons for defense. These were hammers, spears, crossbows, and axes. But the main advantage of the Chinese was their main invention - gunpowder.
Everywhere along the wall, observation platforms were erected at equal intervals, which served to monitor the area and protect trade caravans. if danger was approaching, the watchman on the top would light a torch or drop the flag, after which the troops would be put on alert. The observation towers also served as storage for provisions and ammunition. The famous trade route, the Silk Road, ran along the wall. He was also guarded from the top of the wall.
The wall has seen many bloody battles, and it has seen its last battle. This happened in 1938 during the Sino-Japanese War. The wall still bears many scars from bullets from those battles.
The Great Wall of China may not be the tallest structure, but its height at its maximum point reaches 1534 meters. This place is located near Beijing. But the lowest point dropped to sea level near the shores of Laolongtu. Based on average values, the height of the wall is 7 meters, and the width in the most spacious areas is 8 meters. But on average it is more often from 5 to 7 meters.
Today, the Chinese government is spending billions of US dollars to strengthen and maintain the Great Wall. Today, for the country, the mighty Wall is not just a structure. It is a symbol of cultural pride, a symbol of a struggle that lasted several centuries, and an indicator of the greatness of an entire people.
- 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 UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.
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 have not 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 approximately 40 million tourists every year.
- The wall is not continuous - it was built at different times from several separate segments and later connected 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;
There is no other structure in the world that would arouse as much interest among scientists, tourists, builders and astronauts as the Great Wall of China. Its construction gave rise to many rumors and legends, took the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and cost a lot of money. In the story about this grandiose building, we will try to reveal the secrets, solve the riddles and briefly answer many questions about it: who built it and why, from whom it protected the Chinese, where is the most popular part of the structure, is it visible from space.
Reasons for the construction of the Great Wall of China
During the Warring States period (from the 5th to the 2nd centuries BC), large Chinese kingdoms absorbed smaller ones through wars of conquest. This is how the future unified state began to take shape. But while it was fragmented, individual kingdoms were subject to raids by the ancient nomadic Xiongnu people, who came to China from the north. Each kingdom built protective fences on separate sections of its borders. But the material used was ordinary earth, so the defensive fortifications were eventually erased from the face of the earth and have not survived to our times. 
Emperor Qin Shi Huang (3rd century BC), who became the head of the first united kingdom of Qin, began the construction of a defensive wall in the north of his domain, for which new walls and watchtowers were erected, combining them with existing ones. The purpose of the buildings being erected was not only to protect the population from raids, but also to mark the borders of the new state.
How many years and how was the wall built?
A fifth of the country's total population was involved in the construction of the Great Wall of China, which is approximately a million people over 10 years of main construction. As work force used peasants, soldiers, slaves and all criminals sent here as punishment. 
Taking into account the experience of previous builders, they began to lay not compacted earth at the base of the walls, but stone blocks, sprinkling them with soil. Subsequent rulers of China from the Han and Ming dynasties also expanded the line of defense. The materials used were stone blocks and bricks, fastened with rice glue with the addition of slaked lime. It is those sections of the wall that were built during the Ming Dynasty in the 14th–17th centuries that are quite well preserved. 
The construction process was accompanied by many difficulties associated with food and difficult working conditions. At the same time, it was necessary to feed and water more than 300 thousand people. This was not always possible in a timely manner, so human casualties amounted to tens, even hundreds of thousands. There is a legend that during construction, all the dead and dead builders were placed in the foundation of the structure, since their bones served as a good bond for the stones. People even call the building “the longest cemetery in the world.” But modern scientists and archaeologists refute the version of mass graves; most likely, most of the bodies of the dead were given to relatives. 
It is impossible to answer the question of how many years it took to build the Great Wall of China. Extensive construction took place over 10 years, and about 20 centuries passed from the very beginning to the last completion.
Dimensions of the Great Wall of China
According to the latest calculations of the size of the wall, its length is 8.85 thousand km, while the length with branches in kilometers and meters was calculated in all sections scattered throughout China. Presumable total length buildings, including sections that have not been preserved, from start to finish would today amount to 21.19 thousand km. 
Since the location of the wall goes mainly through mountainous territory, passing both along mountain ridges and along the bottom of gorges, its width and height could not be maintained in uniform figures. The width of the walls (thickness) is in the range of 5-9 m, while at the base it is about 1 m wider than at the top, and the average height is about 7-7.5 m, sometimes up to 10 m, the outer wall is supplemented rectangular battlements up to 1.5 m high. Brick or stone towers with loopholes directed in different directions, with weapons warehouses, observation platforms and guard rooms were built along the entire length. 
During the construction of the Great Wall of China, according to the plan, the towers were built in the same style and at the same distance from each other - 200 m, equal to the flight range of an arrow. But when connecting old areas with new ones, towers of another type sometimes cut into the harmonious pattern of walls and towers. architectural solution. At a distance of 10 km from each other, the towers are complemented by signal towers (high towers without internal contents), from which sentinels watched the surroundings and, in case of danger, were supposed to give a signal to the next tower with the fire of a lit fire. 
Is the wall visible from space?
When listing interesting facts about this building, everyone often mentions that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure that can be seen from space. Let's try to figure out if this is really so. 
Assumptions that one of the main attractions of China should be visible from the moon were outlined several centuries ago. But not a single astronaut reported in his flight reports that he saw it with the naked eye. It is believed that the human eye from such a distance is able to distinguish objects with a diameter of more than 10 km, and not 5-9 m. 
It is also impossible to see it from Earth orbit without special equipment. Sometimes objects in space photographs taken without magnification are mistaken for the outline of a wall, but when magnified they turn out to be rivers, mountain ranges or the Grand Canal. But through binoculars in good weather you can see the wall if you know where to look. Enlarged satellite photographs allow you to see the entire length of the fence, distinguishing towers and turns. 
Was a wall necessary?
The Chinese themselves did not believe that they needed the wall. After all, for many centuries it took strong men to the construction site, most of the state’s income went to its construction and maintenance. History has shown that it did not provide special protection for the country: the nomadic Xiongnu and Tatar-Mongols easily crossed the barrier line in destroyed areas or along special passages. In addition, many sentinels allowed attacking troops to pass in the hope of being saved or receiving a reward, so they did not send signals to neighboring towers. 
In our years, the Great Wall of China has been made into a symbol of the perseverance of the Chinese people, and a calling card of the country has been created from it. Everyone who has visited China strives to go on an excursion to an accessible area of the attraction. 
Current condition and tourist attractiveness
Most of the fence today needs complete or partial restoration. The condition is especially deplorable in the northwestern area in Minqin County, where powerful sandstorms destroy and cover the stonework. People themselves cause great damage to the building by dismantling its components to build their houses. Some areas were once demolished by order of the authorities to make way for the construction of roads or villages. Modern vandal artists paint the wall with their graffiti. 
Realizing the attractiveness of the Great Wall of China for tourists, the authorities of large cities are restoring parts of the wall located close to them and laying excursion routes to them. Thus, near Beijing there are the Mutianyu and Badaling areas, which have become almost the main attractions in the capital region. 
The first section is located 75 km from Beijing, near the city of Huairou. In the Mutianyu section, a 2.25 km long section with 22 watchtowers has been restored. The site, located on the crest of the ridge, is distinguished by the very close construction of the towers to each other. At the foot of the ridge there is a village where private and excursion transport stops. You can get to the top of the ridge on foot or by cable car. 
The Badaling section is closest to the capital; they are separated by 65 km. How to get here? You can arrive by excursion or regular bus, taxi, private car or express train. The length of the accessible and restored section is 3.74 km, the height is about 8.5 m. You can see everything interesting in the vicinity of Badaling while walking along the ridge of the wall or from the cable car cabin. By the way, the name “Badalin” translates as “giving access in all directions.” During Olympic Games In 2008, the finish line of a group road cycling race was located near Badaling. Every year in May, a marathon is held where participants must run 3,800 degrees of ups and downs while running along the crest of a wall. 
The Great Wall of China was not included in the list of "Seven Wonders of the World", but the modern public included it in the list of "New Wonders of the World". In 1987, UNESCO took the wall under its protection as a World Heritage Site.
