Task;Final task
Topic: Great wall of China

                                                                    CONTEXT

Ø Introduction

Ø What is the Great Wall of China

Ø History

·        Early Beginnings:

·        Qin Dynasty: the "First" Great Wall:

·        Han Dynasty: the Great Wall is extended:

·        Northern and Southern Dynasties: More Walls Added to the Great Wall:

Ø Ming Dynasty: The Wall's Importance Reaches a New Height:

Ø The Great Wall of Chinas Map

Ø Interesting facts of The Great Wall of China  

Ø Reference

        

INTRODUCTION.                                                                                                                   

                The Great Wall is one of the country's most enduring symbols but the history of the Great Wall of China is more convoluted than most people realize. The history of the great wall has fascinated people from all parts of the globe. The monument consider one of the marvels of the ancient world extending over rugged terrain along Chinas northern border. Constructed over many dynasties. The defensive barrier may have started early as the spring and Autumn Period that lasted from 770 BC to 476 BC.

WHAT IS THE GREAT WALL?

              It is commonly thought that the Great Wall is one long wall that runs along the mountains north of Beijing. In fact, the Great Wall winds its way across China covering over 5,500 miles (8,850km) and is made up of a number of interconnecting walls spanning China that different dynasties and warlords constructed over the years. The Great Wall that we think of is the Ming wall, constructed after 1368 but the "Great Wall" refers to the many sections of wall that were built over 2,000 years.

                           

                                                                       Fig 1

HISTORY.

The history of the Great Wall is said to start from the spring and Autumn Periods when seven powerful states appeared at the same time. In order to defend themselves, they all built walls and stationed troops on the borders. At that time, the total length of the wall had already reached 3,107 miles, belonging to different states.

Early Beginnings:

In c656 B.C., the Chu State wall, called "The Rectangle Wall" was built to protect the Chus from strong neighbours to the north. This part of the wall resides in modern-day Henan province. This early wall actually connected small cities along the border of the Chu state.

Other states continued the practice of building walls on their borders to protect themselves from unwanted intruders until about 221 B.C when during the Qin Dynasty, the Great Wall, as we know it now, began to take its shape.

Qin Dynasty: the "First" Great Wall:

Qin Shi Huang unified China into a centralized feudal state. To protect his newly established state, Qin decided a large defence barricade was needed. He sent one million soldiers and labourers to work on the project that would last nine years. The new wall utilized existing walls built since the Chu State wall. The new, Great Wall, spanned northern China starting in modern-day Inner Mongolia. Little of this wall remains and was located much further north than the present-day (Ming era) wall.

Han Dynasty: the Great Wall is extended:

During the subsequent Han Dynasty, 206 B.C. to A.D. 24), China saw battle with the Huns and the wall was extended using an existing network of older walls another 10,000 kilo meters (6,213 miles) into western China, modern Gansu province. This period was the most intense building period and the longest stretch of wall ever built.

Northern and Southern Dynasties: More Walls Added to the Great Wall:

During this period, from A.D. 386-581, four dynasties built and added to the Great Wall. The Northern Wei (386-534) added about 1,000 kilo meters (621 miles) of wall in Shanxi province. The Eastern Wei (534-550) only added an additional 75 kilo meters (47 miles). The Northern Qi (550-577) dynasty saw the longest extension of the wall since Qin and Han times, about 1,500 kilometres’ (932 miles). And the Northern Zhou (557-581) dynastic ruler Emperor Jingdi renovated the Great Wall in 579.

Ming Dynasty: The Wall's Importance Reaches a New Height:

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Great Wall became an important line of defence again. Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang began renovations at the outset of his reign. He assigned his son Zhu Di and one of his generals to repair the existing wall and build forts and watchtowers. The Great Wall for the Ming was ultimately a way to keep raiding Mongols from the north from invading and ransacking Beijing. For the next 200 years the wall was fortified ultimately covering 7,300 kilo meters (4,536 mile) (www.chinahighlights.com)

                   

        THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA MAP

           

                                                             Fig 2

Interesting Facts of the Great Wall of China

1.    Contrary to common belief, the Great Wall of China cannot be seen from space without aid.

2.    As early as the Qin Dynasty (221-207BC) when building the Great Wall, glutinous rice flour was used in making the binding material to bind the bricks.

3.    The labour force to build the Great Wall includes soldiers, forcibly recruited peasants, convicts and war prisoners.

4.    Although the official number of the length of the Great Wall is 8851.8 kilo meters (5500 miles), the length of all the Great Wall built over thousands of years is estimated at 21,196.18 kilo meters (13,170 miles). The circumference of the Equator is 40,075 kilometres (24,901 miles).

5.    There is a popular legend about Meng Jiangnv whose husband died building the wall. Her weeping was so bitter that a section of the wall collapsed, revealing her husband's bones so she could bury them.

6.    Gubeikou section of the Great Wall, with bullet holes still can be seen in the wall, was the venue where the last battle fought at the Great Wall.

7.    During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), many bricks of the Great Wall were taken away to use in building homes, farms or reservoirs.

8.    The north-western sections (e.g. in Gansu and Ningxia provinces) of the Great Wall are likely to disappear in 20 years, due to demolishment by nature and human.

9.    Jiankou section of the Great Wall, known for being steep and winding, enjoys the most frequent appearance on picture books and post cards of the Great Wall.

10. The most famous section of the Great Wall-Badaling, had been visited by over 300 heads of state and VIPs from around the world, the first of which was Soviet statesman Klim Voroshilov in 1957.

 Summary.
A defensive wall in northern China, extending over a total distance of 6700 km (4200 miles) from the Jiayuguan Pass in Gansu province to Shanhaiguan on the Yellow Sea north of Beijing. Its origin dates from c.210 bc when the country was unified under one ruler (Qin Shi Huang), and the northern walls of existing rival states were linked to form a continuous protection against nomad invaders. It was rebuilt in medieval times largely against the Mongols, and the present wall dates from the Ming Dynasty (1368–1544). Although principally a defensive wall it served also as a means of communication, and is said to be the only man-made feature that would be visible from a space orbit.            

References

Neumann, s., n.d. china travel expert. s.l.:s.n.

Harvey, Jr., Paul. More of Paul Harvey's the Rest of the Story. Pages 136-138. New York: William Morrow & Co., 1980.

Harvey, Jr., Paul. Good Housekeeping. Serialization of More of Paul Harvey's the Rest of the Story.

Klein, Alexander, editor. The Fabulous Rogues. New York: Ballantine, 1960.