The Great Wall of China

Construction of the Great Wall started in the 7th century B.C. The vassal states under the Chou Dynasty in the northern parts of the country each built their own walls for defense purposes. After the state of Chin unified China in 221 B.C., it joined the walls to hold off the invaders from the Tsongnoo tribes in the north and extended them to more than 10,000 li or 5,000 kilometers. This is the origin of the name of the 10,000-li Great Wall.

The Great Wall was renovated from time to time after the Chin Dynasty. A major renovation started with the founding of the Ming Dynasty in 1368, and took 200 years to complete. The wall we see today is almost exactly the result of this effort. With a total length of over 6,000 kilometers, it extends to the Jiayu Pass in Gansu Province in the west and to the mouth of the Yalu River in Liaoning Province in the east.

The Badaling section of the Great Wall snaking along the mountains northwest of Beijing was built at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century. Being 7.8 meters high and 5.8 meters wide at the top on the average, it has battle forts at important points, including the corners.

Battle forts built on the summits of hills.

The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, 70 kilometers northeast of Beijing, is linked to the Gubeikou section on the east and the Badaling section on the west. It is one of the best sections of Great Wall. The Mutianyu section is crenellated for watching and shooting at the invading enemy. Some of the battle forts on the wall are as close as 50 meters apart.

Oldest Section of Great Wall Identified Nov. 2002 - Discovery

The first section of the Great Wall of China was constructed in the central portion of the country around 688 B.C., Chinese archaeologists announced at a recent academic conference in Henan Province.

If their claim holds true, the Great Wall is over 400 years older than previously thought. Before the announcement, the first official work on the wall generally was attributed to Emperor Shi Huangdi of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.).

At the conference, Xiao Luyang, director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Henan Academy of Social Sciences, said that the earliest portion of the wall measures 497.12 miles long. It zigzags in inverted "u" shapes across the present day counties of Lushan, Yexian, Fangcheng and Nanzhao in southwest Henan.

This section of the wall is in surprisingly good shape, considering its age and the fact that it was first constructed using only local stones, with no mortar or other adhesive.

It is part of the longest structure ever built, as the Great Wall - visible from space - extends over 4,500 miles across northern and north-central China. Constructed entirely by hand, with some sections in brick as well as stone, the Great Wall winds through mountainous regions and borders some desert areas. Towers break up the wall, and were believed to have once served as lookout posts. Xiao indicated that historical records link the earliest known portion of the wall to the Chu Kingdom (1100-223 B.C.). Dong Yaohui, president of the China Great Wall Society, was quoted in China's People's Daily paper as saying, "We can even call (the Chu people) the 'father of the Great Wall.' "

Prior to their association with the wall, the Chu were mostly known for producing one of China's most famous poets, Qu Yuan. During the Chu period, China was divided up into many small kingdoms that frequently waged wars with each other for territorial rights. The political environment may have led to the construction of the wall.

"Many historians now believe that the wall, or walls, were built to mark territories, similar to the way that forts were built here in the States," said Michael Nylan, professor of history at the University of California at Berkeley and an expert on early Chinese history and culture.

She explained that the wall is really more like a series of walls strung together. In addition to marking land ownership, they were used for relaying messages.

Because historical writings indicate that walls were being built early in China's history, Nylan believes it is only a matter of time before an even older section of the Great Wall is found or identified.

October 2002 - AP

The Great Wall of China just got a little bit greater.

A new 50-mile section of China's iconic structure has been discovered in northwestern China, centuries after being submerged by the sands that move across the arid area each year, the Chinese government said Wednesday.

The segment, on the southern slope of Helan Mountain in the Ningxia region, sits about 25 miles west of the regional capital of Yinchuan, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

That part of the wall was built in 1531 and gradually buried by moving sand, Xinhua said. When the section was repaired in 1540, three watchtowers were added at different parts of the section, which meanders from east to west, the agency said.

The 21-foot-high chunk of wall is 20 feet wide at its base and 11 feet wide at the top. It has seven drainage ditches and parapets at both flanks of the wall, Xinhua said.

The government said some parts were more fortified than others, being protected by stone segments that formed a "double-layered wall."

The Great Wall, from its starting point in the northwestern province of Gansu to Shanhaiguan Pass on the shores of Bohai Bay along China's east coast, is believed to span up to 3,700 miles through the north, which dynastic China's emperors considered most vulnerable to attack.

A series of dynasties built the Great Wall over the course of centuries to protect China from outside invasions. But the Ningxia region in particular long has been China's front line and a place deemed worthy of special fortification.

The freshly uncovered portion is near Great Wall sections built in what was known as the Period of the Warring States (475 B.C.-221 B.C.) and the following Qin, Han, Sui and Ming dynasties, the Chinese government said. Wall sections in that area were built with materials including sand, mud, stone and crudely fashioned bricks.

The surfacing of a new portion of the Great Wall is not unheard of.

In August, archaeologists said they uncovered 2,000-year-old sections of the wall in the desert northwest including two fortified castles dating to the Han dynasty, which lasted from 206 B.C. to A.D. 220.

The wall's modern sections around the Chinese capital date from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Some parts have been restored since the Communist Party took power in 1949, and several including the most popular, Badaling, just north of Beijing draw hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

In recent months, Chinese and foreigners alike have underscored the importance of preserving the decaying sections of the Great Wall and preventing stronger sections from being worn down by tourists and careless visitors.

February 22, 2001 - China News

The Great Wall of China is 500 kilometers longer than the earlier recorded length, according to archeological findings released in Urumqi recently.

The new findings show that the Great Wall extends to the Lop Nur region in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, instead of previously acknowledged Jiayu Pass in Gansu Province.

Lop Nur now is a desolate desert region where China had established nuclear test facilities.

Mu Shunying, a research fellow with the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, discovered during a field survey conducted in 1998 an earthen wall stretching from western Yumen Pass in Gansu Province to the northern edge of Lop Nur.

Luo Zhewen, president of the China Society of Cultural Heritage, said, "There is no doubt this is part of the Great Wall as it consists of the city wall and beacon towers, forming a complete defense system."

The wall is identical to the sections at Jiayu Pass and Yumen Pass in terms of architectural style and function. However, this newly found section was made with yellow sandy stone and jarrah branches found locally, he added.

Luo, 77, is China's top Great Wall expert.

Mu said it's obvious that the new find is a man-made wall built for the purpose of defense, as its shape and size resemble the other sections of the wall. Moreover, a large number of arrowheads have been found near the new site that indicates battles took place nearby, Mu said. Great Wall Extends to Xinjiang, 500 km Longer. The Great Wall is a military installation built some 2,000 years ago. It has been renovated by numerous dynasties in the years following the Qin Dynasty, when Emperor Qin Shihuang ordered to link up separated wall sections.

With the addition of the new section found in Xinjiang, the total length of the Great Wall would be 7,200 kilometers. The Great Wall was listed as a World Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1987.

According to historical records, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) mobilized 600,000 laborers to build a wall from Dunhuang to Yanze, the present site of Lop Nur. The massive construction project is illustrated in frescos at the Dunhuang Grottoes.

During a recent tour to Lop Nur, a Xinhua reporter saw the new section of wall, which undulates westward at heights ranging from one to three meters, with some portions completely missing. The lower part of some of this section is covered by reeds, jarrah and other kinds of plants that live in arid areas.

The portion of the Great Wall in eastern China was made of brick, while most parts of the wall in western China were made of yellow sandy soil and jarrah branches.

Luo said the Great Wall in Xinjiang was built to protect merchants traveling on the ancient Silk Road.

Wang Binghua, a researcher of the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, said the Great Wall in Xinjiang runs parallel to the Silk Road.

An official with the State Administration of Cultural Heritage said the state will further investigate this valuable historical site and take measures to protect it.

Experts believe the newly discovered segment of wall is not likely to be the end of the Great Wall, as beacon towers continue to appear along the Kongque River, pass through Wulei, the site of the prefecture government of the western region during the Han Dynasty, and extend to Kashi in southwestern Xinjiang. Eleven beacon towers have been seen at the bank of the Kongque River.

The Lop Nur River, which supplied water for Lou Lan, a busy commercial city on the ancient Silk Road, has dried up and civilization there moved elsewhere in China. The government of the Han Dynasty ruled the kingdom of Lou Lan. Troops of the Han Dynasty were stationed in Lou Lan.