Great WallChina

The Great WallChina (長城pinyin: Cháng Chéng, literal meaning: "Long City (Fortress)")an ancient Chinese fortification, builtprotectEmpireChina since3rd century BC againstraids'barbarians' from MongoliaManchuria. The main purpose ofWall was notprevent people from crossing but ratherprevent them from bringing their horses.

Blue skybrown earth withGreat Wall

Tablecontents

1 History 2 Structure 3 Recognition 4 See also 5 External links

History

The Wall was built duringreignThe First Emperor,main leader ofshort-lived Qin dynasty. The Wall was not built out ofblue, but created byjoiningseveral local walls built byWarring States. It has been renovatedextended by several later dynasties, getting mostits current shape duringMing Dynasty. The Wall stretches overformidable 6,400 km, fromboundaryKorea onYalu River (Yalu Jiang) toGobi desert.

There have been four major discrete constructionsrenovations:

1. 208 BC (the Qin Dynasty)
2. 1st century BC (the Han Dynasty)
3. 1138 - 1198 (the Five DynastiesTen Kingdoms Period)
4. 1368 (the Ming Dynasty)

The Ming Dynasty Great Wall starts oneastern end at Shanhai Pass (山海关 shan1 hai3 guan1), Qinghuangdao,Hebei Province nextBohai Gulf. Spanning nine provinces100 counties,ends onwestern end at Jiayu Pass (嘉峪关 jia1 yu4 guan1) locatednorthwest Gansu Province. Jiayu Pass was intendedgreet travelers alongSilk Road. Even though The Great Wall ends at Jiayu Pass, therewatchtowers (烽火台 feng1 huo3 tai2) extending beyond Jiayu Pass alongSilk Road. These towers communicated by smokesignal invasion.

The Manchus crossedWall by convincingcrucial general Wu SanguiopengatesShahai PassallowManchuscross. Afterconquered China,Wall wasno strategic value aspeople whoWall was intendedkeep out were rulingcountry.

The government ordered peoplework onwall,workers were under constant dangerbeing attacked by brigades. Because many people died while buildingwall, itoften called"longest cemetery on Earth".

'First Gate Under Heaven', under repairs. Shanhaiguan "First Gate Under Heaven" under repairsOctober 2003. Shanhai Pass, Hebei

Structure

Significant passes (關口) include:

• Shanhai Pass (山海關)
• Jiuyong Pass (居庸關)
• Niangzi Pass (娘子關)

The Wallin disrepair, serving asplaygroundsome villages andsourcestonesrebuild housesroads. Sections ofWallalso pronegraffiti. Parts have been bulldozed becauseWallinwayconstruction projects. The China Great Wall Society workspreserveWall. Through June 2003,Chinese government still had no laws writtenprotectWall.

Recognition

The Wallsometimes consideredbe one ofSeven Wonders ofWorld, butwas actually unknownancient Greece when"wonders ofworld" were listed.

The Wall was madeUNESCO World Heritage Site1987.

Therean untrue urban legend thatGreat Wall isonly man made object that can be seen from space or frommoon. The Great Wall cannot be seen frommoon. It can be seen from low earth orbit, but so can many other man made structures.

See also

• Listwalls

External links

• Satellite image Great WallChina at NASA's Earth Observatory
• Great WallChina
• PicturesGreat WallChina