Great Wall of China
is the longest structure ever built. Its total length—including branches—is
about 4,500 miles (7,240 kilometers), and it was erected entirely by hand. The
wall crosses northern China between the east coast and north-central China.
Over the centuries, various rulers built walls to protect their northern
border against invaders. Some of the walls stood on or near the site of the
Great Wall. Most of what is now called the Great Wall dates from the Ming
dynasty (1368-1644). The eastern end of the surviving Ming wall is at
Shahaiguan, a town near Qinhuangdao on the coast of the Bo Gulf. In the west,
the wall ends in the Lop Nur region of the Xinjiang province. But during some
periods, the wall reached as far east as Dandong and as far west as Dunhuang,
near Anxi.
Description. Parts of the Great Wall have crumbled
through the years. However, much of it remains, and some sections have been
restored. The main part of the wall is about 2,500 miles (4,020 kilometers)
long. Additional branches make up the rest of its length.
One of the
highest sections of the Great Wall, on Mount Badaling, near Beijing, rises to
about 35 feet (11 meters) high. This section is about 25 feet (7.6 meters) wide
at its base and nearly 20 feet (6 meters) at the top. Watchtowers stand about
100 to 200 yards (91 to 180 meters) apart along the wall. The towers, about 40
feet (12 meters) high, once served as lookout posts.
In the east, the
wall winds through the mountainous Mongolian Border Uplands. This part of the
wall has a foundation of granite blocks. It has sides of stone or brick, and the
inside of the wall is filled with earth. The top is paved with bricks set in
mortar. The bricks form a road that was used by the workers who built the wall
and by the soldiers who defended it.
Farther west, the Great Wall runs
through hilly areas and along the borders of deserts. Stone and brick were
scarce in these hilly and desert areas, and so the workers used earth to build
this section of the wall. They moistened the earth and pounded it to make it
solid.
History. Written records indicate that the Chinese built
walls along their borders as early as the 600's B.C. Emperor Shi Huangdi of the
Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.) is traditionally regarded as the first ruler to
conceive of, and build, a Great Wall. Most of the Qin wall was north of the
present-day wall. Shi Huangdi had the wall built by connecting new walls with
older ones. Building continued during later dynasties, including the Han
(202 B.C.-A.D. 220) and the Sui (581-618).
By the time the
Ming dynasty began in 1368, much of the wall had fallen into ruin. In response
to the growing threat of a Mongol invasion, the Ming government began building a
major wall in the late 1400's. This wall included most of what remains today.
Like earlier ones, it protected China from minor attacks but provided little
defense against a major invasion.
Through the centuries, much of the
Great Wall again collapsed. However, the Chinese Communists have done
restoration work since 1949, when they began to rule the nation. The wall no
longer serves the purpose of defense, but it attracts many visitors. Tourists
from around the world come to see the wall. Historians study writing and objects
found in fortifications and tombs along the structure. Scientists study
earthquakes by examining parts of the wall that have been affected by these
earth movements.
______________ Contributor: • Kai-wing Chow, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History and East Asian
Languages and Cultures, University of Illinois.
How to cite this article: To cite this article in a footnote,
World Book recommends the following format:
Kai-wing Chow, "Great
Wall of China," World Book Online Americas Edition,
