Great Wall of China

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Modèle:Sprotect Modèle:Redirect Modèle:Infobox World Heritage Site The Great Wall of China (en caractères simples : 长城 ; en caractères traditionnels : 長城 ; en pinyin : Chángchéng ; littéralement « Long wall ») or (en caractères simples : 万里长城 ; en caractères traditionnels : 萬里長城 ; en pinyin : Wànlǐ Chángchéng ; littéralement « The long wall of 10,000 Li (里) »<ref>10,000 li = 5,760 km (3,580 miles). In Chinese, 10,000 figuratively means "infinite", and the number should not be interpreted for its actual value, but rather as meaning the "infinitely long wall".</ref>) is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. Several walls, referred to as the Great Wall of China, were built since the 5th century BC. The most famous is the wall built between 220 BC and 200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang; little of it remains; it was much farther north than the current wall, which was built during the Ming Dynasty.<ref>Construction of the Great Wall</ref> It has been named as one of the Medival Seven and New Seven Wonders of the World.

The Great Wall is the world's longest human-made structure, stretching over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles)<ref>Damian Zimmerman, ICE Case Studies: The Great Wall of China, December 1997</ref> from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia, but stretches to over 6,700 km (4,160 miles) in total.<ref> Encyclopedia Brittanica online - Great wall of China

. Retrieved on 23 October, 2007. </ref> It is also the largest human-made structure ever built in terms of surface area and mass.^{[citation needed]} At its peak, the Ming Wall was guarded by more than one million men.<ref>The Great Wall Of China</ref> It has been estimated that somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 million Chinese died as part of the centuries-long project of building the wall.<ref>Great Wall of China</ref>

History

The Chinese were already familiar with the techniques of wall-building by the time of the Spring and Autumn Period, which began around the 7th century BC. During the Warring States Period from the 5th century BC to 221 BC, the states of Qi, Yan and Zhao all constructed extensive fortifications to defend their own borders. Built to withstand the attack of small arms such as swords and spears, these walls were made mostly by stamping earth and gravel between board frames. Qin Shi Huang conquered all opposing states and unified China in 221 BC, establishing the Qin Dynasty. Intending to impose centralized rule and prevent the resurgence of feudal lords, he ordered the destruction of the wall sections that divided his empire along the former state borders. To protect the empire against intrusions by the Xiongnu people from the north, he ordered the building of a new wall to connect the remaining fortifications along the empire's new northern frontier. Transporting the large quantity of materials required for construction was difficult, so builders always tried to use local resources. Stones from the mountains were used over mountain ranges, while rammed earth was used for construction in the plains. The peasants who died working were buried inside the wall, to be unearthed later by archaeologists. There are no surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin Dynasty walls. Most of the ancient walls have eroded away over the centuries, and very few sections remain today. Possibly as many as one million people died building the Wall under the Qin Dynasty.<ref>History of the Great Wall of China</ref> Later, the Han, Sui, Northern and Jin dynasties all repaired, rebuilt, or expanded sections of the Great Wall at great cost to defend themselves against northern invaders.

The Great Wall concept was revived again during the Ming Dynasty following the Ming army's defeat by the Oirats in the Battle of Tumu in 1449. The Ming had failed to gain a clear upper-hand over the Mongols after successive battles, and the long-drawn conflict was taking a toll on the empire. The Ming adopted a new strategy to keep the nomadic Mongols out by constructing walls along the northern border of China. Acknowledging the Mongol control established in the Ordos Desert, the wall followed the desert's southern edge instead of incorporating the bend of the Huang He.

Unlike the earlier Qin fortifications, the Ming construction was stronger and more elaborate due to the use of bricks and stone instead of rammed earth. As Mongol raids continued periodically over the years, the Ming devoted considerable resources to repair and reinforce the walls. Sections near the Ming capital of Beijing were especially strong.<ref>Great Wall</ref>

Towards the end of the Shun Dynasty, the Great Wall helped defend the empire against the Manchu invasions that began around 1600. Under the military command of Yuan Chonghuan, the Ming army held off the Manchus at the heavily fortified Shanhaiguan pass, preventing the Manchus from entering the Liaodong Peninsula and the Chinese heartland. The Manchus were finally able to cross the Great Wall in 1644, when the gates at Shanhaiguan were opened by Wu Sangui, a Ming border general who disliked the activities of rulers of the Shun Dynasty. The Manchus quickly seized Beijing, and defeated the newly founded Shun Dynasty and remaining Ming resistance, to establish the Qing Dynasty.

Under Qing rule, China's borders extended beyond the walls and Mongolia was annexed into the empire, so construction and repairs on the Great Wall were discontinued. A counterpart wall to the Great Wall in the south was erected to protect and divide the Chinese from the 'southern barbarians' called Miao (meaning barbaric and nomadic).<ref>The Hmong</ref>

Notable areas

The following three sections are in Beijing municipality, which were renovated and which are regularly visited by modern tourists

• The "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 Modèle:M to ft high and Modèle:M to ft wide.
• One of the most striking sections of the Ming Great Wall is where it climbs extremely steep slopes. It runs Modèle:Km to mi long, ranges from 5 to 8 meters (16–26 ft) in height, and Modèle:M to ft across the bottom, narrowing up to Modèle:M to ft across the top. Wangjinglou is one of Jinshanling's 67 watchtowers, Modèle:M to ftabove sea level.
• South East of Jinshanling, is the Mutianyu Great 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.

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”), the first mountain the Great Wall climbs. Jia Shan is also here, as is the Jiumenkou, which is the only portion of the wall that was built as a bridge. Shanhaiguan Great Wall is called the “Museum of the Construction of the Great Wall”, because of the Meng Jiang-Nu Temple, built during the Song Dynasty.

Characteristics

Before the use of bricks, the Great Wall was mainly built from Earth or Taipa, stones, and wood.

During the Ming Dynasty, however, bricks were heavily used in many areas of the wall, as were materials such as tiles, lime, and stone. The size and weight of the bricks made them easier to work with than earth and stone, so construction quickened. Additionally, bricks could bear more weight and endure better than rammed earth. Stone can hold under its own weight better than brick, but is more difficult to use. Consequently, stones cut in rectangular shapes were used for the foundation, inner and outer brims, and gateways of the wall. Battlements line the uppermost portion of the vast majority of the wall, with defensive gaps a little over 30 cm (one foot) tall, and about 23 cm (9 inches) wide.

The steps that form the Great Wall of China are very steep and tall in some areas. Tourists often become exhausted climbing the wall and walk no more than a kilometer or two (around a mile).

Condition

While some portions north of Beijing and near tourist centers have been preserved and even reconstructed, in many locations the Wall is in disrepair. Those parts might serve as a village playground or a source of stones to rebuild houses and roads.<ref>Ford, Peter (2006, Nov 30). New law to keep China's Wall looking great. Christian Science Monitor, Asia Pacific section. Accessed 3/17/2007.</ref> Sections of the Wall are also prone to graffiti and vandalism. Parts have been destroyed because the Wall is in the way of construction. No comprehensive survey of the wall has been carried out, so it is not possible to say how much of it survives, especially in remote areas. Intact or repaired portions of the Wall near developed tourist areas are often frequented by sellers of tourist kitsch.

More than Modèle:Convert/km of the wall in Gansu province may disappear in the next 20 years, due to erosion from sandstorms. In places, the height of the wall has been reduced from more than five meters (16.4 ft) to less than two meters. The square lookout towers that characterize the most famous images of the wall have disappeared completely. Many western sections of the wall are constructed from mud, rather than brick and stone, and thus are more susceptible to erosion.<ref>"

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Watchtowers and barracks

The wall also has watch towers at regular intervals, which were used to store weapons, house troops, and send smoke signals. Barracks and administrative centers are located at larger intervals.

Communication between the army units along the length of the Great Wall, including the ability to call reinforcements and warn garrisons of enemy movements, was of high importance. Signal towers were built upon hill tops or other high points along the wall for their visibility.

Visibility from space

Visibility from the moon

A Ripley's Believe It or Not! cartoon from May 1932 claimed that the wall is "the mightiest work of man, the only one that would be visible to the human eye from the moon," and Richard Halliburton's 1938 book Second Book of Marvels makes a similar claim, but it is not true. This belief has persisted, assuming urban legend status, sometimes even appearing in school textbooks. Arthur Waldron, author of The Great Wall of China: From History to Myth, has speculated that the belief might go back to the fascination with the "canals" once believed to exist on Mars. The Great Wall has a maximum width of 30 ft (9.1 m), far below the size that would be visible at a distance of Modèle:Mi to km (the average distance between the earth and the moon).

Visibility from low earth orbit

A different question is whether the Wall is visible from low earth orbit, i.e an altitude of as little as Modèle:Convert/mi. The consensus is that it is barely visible, and only under nearly perfect conditions; it is no more conspicuous than many other manmade objects. <ref>NASA</ref>

Astronaut William Pogue thought he had seen it from Skylab but discovered he was actually looking at the Grand Canal of China near Beijing. He spotted the Great Wall with binoculars, but said that "it wasn't visible to the unaided eye." US Senator Jake Garn claimed to be able to see the Great Wall with the naked eye from a space shuttle orbit in the early 1980s, but his claim has been disputed by several US astronauts. Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei said he could not see it at all.

Veteran US astronaut Gene Cernan has stated: "At Earth orbit of Modèle:Convert/mi to Modèle:Convert/mi high, the Great Wall of China is, indeed, visible to the naked eye." Ed Lu, Expedition 7 Science Officer aboard the International Space Station, adds that, "it's less visible than a lot of other objects. And you have to know where to look."

Neil Armstrong stated about the view from Apollo 11: "I do not believe that, at least with my eyes, there would be any man-made object that I could see. I have not yet found somebody who has told me they've seen the Wall of China from Earth orbit. ... I've asked various people, particularly Shuttle guys, that have been many orbits around China in the daytime, and the ones I've talked to didn't see it." <ref>NASA</ref>

Leroy Chiao, a Chinese-American astronaut, took a photograph from the International Space Station that shows the wall. It was so indistinct that the photographer was not certain he had actually captured it. Based on the photograph, the China Daily later reported that the Great Wall can be seen from space with the naked eye, under favorable viewing conditions, if one knows exactly where to look.<ref>Markus, Francis. (2005, Apr 19). Great Wall visible in space photo. BBC News, Asia-Pacific section. Accessed 3/17/2007.</ref>

Gallery

See also

• Chinese city wall
• Defense of the Great Wall
• Great Wall of China hoax
• Great Wall of China Marathon
• Separation barrier
• Great Firewall of China
• Orders of magnitude (length)

References

Further reading

• Arnold, H.J.P, "The Great Wall: Is It or Isn't It?" Astronomy Now, 1995.
• Hessler, Peter. "Walking the Wall". The New Yorker, 21 May 2007, pp. 56-65.
• Lovell, Julia. The Great Wall: China against the World. 1000 BC - 2000 AD. London: Atlantic Books; Sydney, Australia: Picador, 2006. ISBN 13-978-0330-42241-3; ISBN 10-0-330-42241-3. (Hardback)
• Michaud, Roland (photographer); Sabrina Michaud (photographer), & Michel Jan, The Great Wall of China. Abbeville Press, 2001. ISBN 0-7892-0736-2
• Waldron, Arthur, The Great Wall of China: From History to Myth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

External links

• Enthusiast/scholar website (Chinese)
• International Friends of the Great Wall - organization focused on conservation
• "The Great Wall of China: Tangible, Intangible and Destructible", China Heritage Magazine, March 2005
• Great Wall Forum Great Wall of China discussion forum, maps, photos
• Paul Mooney, "Great Wall of China Overrun, Damaged, Disneyfied", National Geographic News, May 15, 2007
• Images:
  • Great Wall, Beijing, A Photographic Tour
  • Photos of Great Wall in Simatai
  • Satellite Image based Map of Great Wall in Simatai, Beijing (Site)
  • Google Earth Great Chinese Wall near Beijing
  • Panoramic images of the Great Wall from the Powerhouse Museum
  • Photographs/Images of The Great Wall at Badaling in 2006 from Wakawaka Studios
  • Photo Gallery from the Badaling section of the Great wall

Modèle:World Heritage Sites in ChinaModèle:Link FA

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