Great Wall

 

 

 

Ancient Chinese started building fortifications as early as the eighth century BC to help in their military efforts against the nomads to the north. The first emperor of the Qin dynasty (221-206BCE) connected the existing walls into a single system, known as the Great Wall. The Great Wall was periodically rebuilt, with most of the current wall dating to the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). The Great Wall extends about 7,300 kilometers (4,500 miles) from the Shanhai Pass on the east coast to the Jiayu Pass in modern Gansu province.

Below is a map showing the Great Wall's starting point at the Shanhai Pass in the east and its ending point at the Jiayu Pass in the west.

The path of the Great Wall, from Jiayu Pass to Shanhai Pass

To the left is a picture of Shanhai Pass (which means "the pass where the mountains meet the sea"). It is the easternmost point of the Great Wall.

Which do you think proved more difficult, the Wall's construction and maintenance or the stationing of troops along it?

Shanhai Pass     

SOURCE: Zhongguo dili congshu bianji weiyuanhui, Zhongguo zonghe dituji (Beijing: Zhongguo ditu chubanshe, 1990),  p. 160.
SOME THOUGHTS: Peasants could be conscripted during the winter to build and maintain the Great Wall, whereas stationing troops along the Wall required permanent garrisons of professional soldiers.

Below are two pictures of the Great Wall, one  showing a section in decay and the other one undergoing renovation to encourage tourism.

How effective do you think this kind of fortification would have been in pre-modern times?

What do you imagine would have been the most efficient means of communication along the Great Wall in times of war?

 

SOURCE: Left, Beijing, Glimpse of History (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1994), p. 97. Right, China Reconstructs 34.3 (March, 1985), p. 12.    

                                                        

ANSWER: The wall proved quite effective when maintained and garrisoned; however, at different times throughout history, it was breached because of treachery, disrepair, lack of troops, and tactical blunders. The relatively short distance between towers allowed communication through such means as beacons and runners.

The picture to the left shows the Jiayu Pass in Gansu province, the westernmost point of the Great Wall. 

The high mountains in the background mark the Tibetan Plateau.

Jiayu Pass    

SOURCE: Zhongguo meishu quanji bianji weiyuanhui, Zhongguo meishu quanji, jianzhu yishubian (Beijing: Zhongguo jianzhu gongye chubanshe, 1987), p. 163.