GREAT WALL OF CHAINA

                GREAT WALL OF CHINA

INTRODUCTION:-

                      The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications running in general east to west through the entire northern part of China, which is made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, built originally in part to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire or its prototypical states against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces. Other purposes of the Great Wall have included allowing for border control practices, such as check points allowing for the various imperial governments of China to tariff goods transported along the Silk Road, to regulate or encourage trade as well as generally to control immigration and emigration.   

                         

Figure 1:-THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

 the defensive characteristics of the Great Wall were enhanced by the construction of watch towers, troop barracks, garrison stations, signaling capabilities through the means smoke or fire, and the fact that the path of the Great Wall also served as a transportation corridor. The Great Wall was built for defensive purposes, especially to stop attack from the north of China.   The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Lake in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. The most comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that all the walls measure 8,851.8 km (5,500.3 mi). This is made up of 6,259.6 km (3,889.5 mi) sections of actual wall, 359.7 km (223.5 mi) of trenches and 2,232.5 km (1,387.2 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.

Neil Armstrong (the Apollo astronaut) said that it could even be seen from space.

HISTORY OF THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA:-    The Great Wall of China was built over 2,000 years ago, by Qin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of China during the Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty (221 B.C - 206 B.C.). In Chinese the wall is called "Wan-Li Qang-Qeng" which means 10,000-Li Long Wall (10,000 Li = about 5,000 km).

  After subjugating and uniting China from seven Warring States, the emperor connected and extended four old fortification walls along the north of China that originated about 700 B.C. (over 2500 years ago).    

NOTABLE AREAS:-

          Some of the following sections are in Beijing municipality, which were renovated and which are regularly visited by modern tourists today.

1)     "North Pass" of Juyongguan pass, known as the Badaling. When used by the Chinese to protect their land, this section of the wall has had many guards to defend China’s capital Beijing. Made of stone and bricks from the hills, this portion of the Great Wall is 7.8 meters (26 ft) high and 5 meters (16 ft) wide. 

2)  "West Pass" of Jiayuguan (pass). This fort is near the western edges of the Great Wall.

3)    "Pass" of Shanhaiguan. This fort is near the eastern edges of the Great Wall.

4)  South East of Jinshanling, is the MutianyuGreat Wall which winds along lofty, cragged mountains from the southeast to the northwest for approximately 2.25 kilometers (about 1.3 miles). It is connected with Juyongguan Pass to the west and Gubeikou to the east.

                      

                            Figure 2:-An area of the sections of the Great Wall at Jinshanling

5) Another notable section lies near the eastern extremity of the wall, where the first pass of the Great Wall was built on the Shanhaiguan(known as the “Number One Pass Under Heaven”).

6) Jiaoshan Great Wall is 3 km north of Shanhaiguan , the site of the first mountain of the Great Wall.

7) Jiumenkou is  15 km northeast from Shanhaiguan, which is the only portion of the wall that was built as a bridge.