The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall, symbolizing China's ancient civilization, is one of the world's most renowned projects. It is a distance of 75 kilometres northwest of Beijing. Its highest point at Badaling is some 800 metres above sea level.

Construction of the Wall first began during the period of the Warring States (476 - 221 BC). Formerly, walls were built at strategic points by different kingdoms to protect their northern territories. In 221 BC after the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty unified China, he decided to have the walls linked up and extended.

Historical records show that about 1 million people, one-fifth of China's population at the time, were involved in the project which took more than ten years. When it was finished we call it "Wan Li Chang Cheng" which means "Ten Thousand-Li-Long Wall". Now, nature has taken over most of the Great Wall.

The Great Wall which we are going to visit was rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty in the 16th century. It extends from Shanhaiguan Pass, a seaport along the coast of Bohai Bay, to Jiayuguan Pass in Gansu Province. Its total length is more than 6,700 kilometres.

There were many places of strategic importance along the Wall. Fortresses were constructed at strategic points. Beacon towers were built on both sides of the Wall at commanding points. Whenever the enemy was sighted, bonfires were lit on the towers to signal warning messages.
Before the Ming Dynasty, the Wall was built mainly of earth and rock. Under the Ming, it was rebuilt in most places with bricks and stones. For instance, the section at Badaling near Beijing was faced with slabsof rock and large bricks and filled with earth and stones. It is 6 to 7 metres high.

At regular intervals along the southern side of the Wall, there are gates with stone steps leading to the top of the Wall. The top surface of the wall is paved with three or four layers of large bricks. It is 4 to 5 metres wide, enough for five horsemen to ride abreast. Along the Wall, there are parapets and battlements built of bricks and turrets and watchtowers at regular intervals.

The Wall traverses mountains and gullies. It was extremely difficult to build along steep slopes under harsh conditions. Some of the slabs of rock were as long as two metres and weighed as much as one ton. All the rocks, bricks and lime had to be carried up the mountains at the cost of backbreaking labour. The earth and bricks were passed up from hand to hand or carried in baskets by donkeys and goats. The large slabs were moved up slopes by means of rolling rods and hoisting bars. According to rough calculation, the amount of bricks and rock used to build the Wall would have been enough to build a wall five metres high and one metre thick around the world.

The Badaling section is the best preserved part of the Wall. Several renovations have taken place since 1949. It is listed by the Chinese Government as one of the historical monuments to be preserved.

The Great Wall runs 629 kilometres in the Beijing area. More than 100 kilometres are well preserved and two other sections at Badaling and Mutianyu have already been renovated for tourists both at home and abroad.

The Great Wall is the great creation of ancient Chinese people. It was listed by the United Nation's Education, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as one of the World heritages in 1987.

The exquisite relief on the facades and side walls of the gateway is most impressive. On both sides of the facades are symmetrically carved crossed pestles of the Buddha's warrior attendants. Above the gateway are images of elephants, lions, serpents and other fabulous beasts.

Engraved on the walls under the arch are daturascrolls, images of Buddha and the four celestial guardians. Their vivid expressions are presented with exquisite workmanship. One shows a furious warrior with a snake wound round his arm. Such grandiose relief works, with several stones pieced together, are rarely seen in ancient Chinese carving. They are undoubtedly brilliant representation of the 13th century sculpture.

These four majestic guardians were said to have magic power against evil Emperors. When Ming Emperor Zhengde was passing through the gateway in his sedan-chair on a pleasure-seeking tour, the horses heading the royal procession were scared by the awe-inspiring images on the Wall and refused to move. At last, one of the court officials had to cover up the terrifying images with a smoke screen. In this way the terror-struck Emperor and his entourage escaped. On the walls of the gateway, there are carvings of Buddhist sutra in Sanskrit, Tibetan, Uygur, Mongolian and Han scripts. They are valuable to the study of Buddhism and ancient languages.

Qin Shihuang was the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty. Upon the death of his father, he ascended the throne at the age of thirteen. His father's powerful chancellor Lu Buwei served as co-regent until he was 21 years old. He soon forced the former regent into exile and started launching military campaigns to unify the country.

He spent ten years from 230 to 221 BC to wipe out all the six different states one after another and established the first centralized feudal state in the Chinese history. He proclaimed himself Qin Shihuang, the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, and all important officials of the central and local governments were to be appointed and dismissed by him.

During his reign, he worked out a uniform code of law and standardized currency, weight and measures and even the written language. He also had the different sections of the walls built by various warring states along their frontiers linked up and had the Great Wall built. All these measures were helpful to the consolidation of unification and promoted economic and cultural developments.