Hello, friends!
I am here with a new post this is about very interesting topic which is "Great wall of China" such greatest monument of humans and especially Chinese nation. This wall is very beautiful and favourite place of tourists.The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications which were made of stone earth wood and other materials generally built along an east to west line across the historical northern border of China to protect the Chinese states and Chinese empires against the invasions of the several nomadic groups of the Steppe of Eurasian.
Many walls were being built in the 7th century BC these in 7th century chinese empire made bigger and stronger wall which is today known as the name of Great Wall Especially famous is the wall built in 220 BC by Qin Huang the first Emperor of China. The Great Wall has been re built maintained and enhanced over various dynasties the majority of the existing wall is from the Ming.
A part from defense other purposes of the Great Wall have composed of border controls allowing the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road regulation. Furthermore the defensive characteristics of the Great Wall were enhanced by the construction of observing towers troop garrison stations signaling capabilities through the means of smoke and the fact that the path of the Great Wall also served as a transportation corridor.
The Great Wall stretches from Dandong in the east to Lop Lake in the west along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. A great archaeological survey using advanced technologies has concluded that the Ming walls measure 8,850 km .This is made up of 6,259 km sections of actual wall 359 km of trenches and 2,232 km of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers of China.
Another archaeological survey found that the entire wall with all of its branches measure out to be 21,196 km. Today the Great Wall is generally recognized as one of the most impressive architectural feats in the history of human beings .The collection of fortifications known as the Great Wall of China has historically had a number of different names in the Chinese and English.In Chinese language histories the term Long Wall appears in Sima Qians Records of the Grand Historian.
The Chinese were already familiar with the techniques of wall building by the time of the Spring period in 5th centuries BC.During this time and the subsequent Warring States period the states of Qin, Yan and Zhongshan 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.
King Zheng of Qin conquered the last of his opponents and unified China as the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty. Intending to impose centralized rule and prevent the resurgence of feudal lords he ordered the destruction of the sections of the walls that divided his empire among the former states. To position the empire against the Xiongnu people from the north however he ordered the building of new walls to connect the remaining fortifications along the northern frontier empires.
The Great Wall concept was revived again under the Ming in the 14th century and following the Ming army defeat by the Oirats in the Battle of Tumu. The Ming had failed to gain a clear upper hand over the Mongolian tribes 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 tribes out by constructing walls along the northern border of China.
Acknowledging the Mongol control established in the Ordos Desert the wall followed the desert southern edge instead of incorporating the bend of the Yellow River.Unlike the earlier fortifications the Ming construction was stronger and more elaborate due to the use of bricks and stone instead of rammed earth. Up to twenty-five thousands watchtowers are estimated to have been constructed on the wall. As Mongol raids continued periodically over the years
None of the Europeans who visited Yuan China such as Marco Polo Giovanni ,Carpine, William of Rubruck, Giovanni Marignolli and Odoric mentioned the Great Wall.The North African traveler Ibn Battuta also visited China during the Yuan dynasty possibly before he had arrived in China.He wrote that the wall is 60days travel from Zeitun.
He associated it with the legend of the wall mentioned in the Qur'an which Dhul-Qarnayn [commonly associated with Alexander the Great]
