The Great Wall of China Facts
How long is the Great Wall of China?
This question seems easy, but it is indeed a very complicated question. As many dynasties in Chinese history built, rebuilt or extended the Great Wall. The latgreat wall of chinaest construction took place in Ming Dynasty and the length built was over 6,000 kilometres. This is the one often referred to when we talk about the Great Wall. However, if including all the walls built in different dynasties around China, the total length will exceed 50,000 kilometres.
The Great Wall is not just a wall. Other defensive works such as forts, passes and beacon towers were built along the Wall to house auxiliary soldiers, store grain and weapons, and transmit military information. As a product of the clashes between agricultural and nomadic economies, the Great Wall provided protection to the economic development and cultural progress, safeguarded the trading routes such as the Silk Road, and secured transmission of information and transportation. Today the world has completely changed. No wall can withhold the progress that modern science has brought about in our life. The Great Wall has lost its former function. But does this mean that anyone has the right to use the Wall's stones to build their own houses? It happened to Hadrian's Wall, it is still happening to our Great Wall. How to promote the national awareness of the archaeological value of the Great Wall? That is a challenge we are facing. And for that purpose, everyone is welcome to join us to better understand the Great Wall, and to better protect the precious remains for generations to come.
Who, when and why built the Great Wall of China?
Actually, China is not the only country in history that built wall along its boundary. Athens, the Roman Empire, Denmark and Korea all did so at certain Built the Great Walltime in the past. The Hadrian's Wall in northern England, built "to separate the Romans from the barbarians", extended 117 kilometres from Wallsend-on-Tyne in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west. All the walls were built for the purpose of military defence, and the Great Wall of China was no exception. Yet the Great Wall is unique. It was first built in the 7th century B.C. when China was still divided into many small states. After the unification of China in 221 B.C., the first emperor of Qin Dynasty (you must have heard of his teracotta army) linked the walls of the three states in the north and formed the first "Wan Li Chang Cheng" (ten thousand li Great Wall, li is a Chinese length unit, 2 li = 1 km). Since then, the Great Wall was rebuilt, modified or extended throughout Chinese history for over 2,000 years. Most of the Great Wall we see today was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). In some areas, two walls built in two different dynasties can be seen running side by side. Based on the technology available at different dynasties, the Great Wall was usually built with local materials, mostly earth and stones. Natural terrain such as mountain ridges was often taken advantage of to form part of the wall. West Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - 25 A.D.), for example, used sand and crushed stones filled with layers of reeds or tamarisk twigs to build the wall in grasslands and desert areas that are subject to strong wind erosion.