Great Wall of China
September 16th 2007 02:44
Thousands of tourists at the Great Wall of China on July 7, 2007 were unaware that the structure they were marveling at was just selected as one of 7 'new' world wonders during a celebrity-studded ceremony held at Lisbon's Stadium of Light in Portugal. According to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report from Lisbon, "the televised event was not broadcast (in China), leaving thousands of tourists at the Great Wall unaware of the new designation."
Both a barrier and a gateway to the wealth and enigma of the Chinese Empire, the Great Wall of China is a man-made work on such a gigantic scale that it has been called the 'Eighth Wonder of the World.' Many people from around the world, in fact, noted that the recent accolade received from the said event in Lisbon was long overdue. This is because more superlatives have been heaped upon the Great Wall of China than on any other structure in the world: "The greatest construction project ever undertaken by man," "the longest bastion," and "the world's biggest graveyard."
Historical records and facts are clear: the wall stretches for some 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) across China, following a twisting, curving path that has been likened to the body of a dragon. It was constructed over a period of 2,100 years by millions of soldiers and laborers, and it cost the lives of untold thousands.
Records outline the origins and development of the Great Wall of China in the following series of historical events and periods:
- The origins of the wall date back to at least the fifth century BC. This period of Chinese history, referred to as that of the Warring States, followed the disintegration of the once unified kingdom of Zhou. To protect themselves against one another, the fractured states built defensive walls.
- In 221 BC, the Qin ruler, Shi Huangdi, subdued the Warring States and proclaimed himself first Qin emperor of China. In an 11-year reign, he ordered the consolidation and extension of all the existing walls to secure the empire's northern boundary. An army of 300,000 soldiers and up to a million pressganged laborers and prisoners set to work, tearing down and then rebuilding some of the old walls, and strengthening existing works. In contrast to the earlier walls, which had consisted largely of defensive ditches with banks of earth made by pounding the soil into wooden 'forms', a variety of materials and construction methods was employed in the fabrication of Shi Huangdi's wall. The wall was never intended as a defensive fortification in its own right: it relied always on manned garrisons to deter invaders.
- After the death of Shi Huangdi, the emperors of the Han dynasty (206 BC - AD 220) continued to maintain and lengthen the wall.
- The final major phase of construction was undertaken by the emperors of the Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), who, having repelled the Mongols first from Beijing and then from the rest of the country, sought to strengthen China's northern defenses.
Records also indicate that at the height of the Ming dynasty, the wall stretched from Shanhaiguan on the Bohai Gulf east of Beijing to Jiayuguan in the central Asian province of Gansu: the westernmost limit was Yumenguan, 130 miles (200 kilometers) farther west, in the pre-Qin era.
Today, those sections around the village of Badaling, some 40 miles (65 kilometers) from Beijing, are the best preserved. Elsewhere the condition of the wall varies from good to dilapidated - the latter particularly in the far west. Chinese authorities say that its current state of repair depends partly on the initial choice of materials, some of which have not endured, and partly on the extent to which the wall has been plundered by farmers for their own uses. Yet its power as a symbol is undiminished. To the Chinese, it is a potent reminder of the nation's greatness, longevity, and indestructibility. To the rest of the world it is a stunning monument that stands as a testimony to human strength, ingenuity, and endurance.
Hu Yang, an official at the Badaling Great Wall near Beijing, was quoted by the AFP-Lisbon report as having commented, thus: "There was no special activity to welcome this (the selection of the Great Wall of China as one of the 7 'new' world wonders) ... all the same it is a great honor for all of China."
Both a barrier and a gateway to the wealth and enigma of the Chinese Empire, the Great Wall of China is a man-made work on such a gigantic scale that it has been called the 'Eighth Wonder of the World.' Many people from around the world, in fact, noted that the recent accolade received from the said event in Lisbon was long overdue. This is because more superlatives have been heaped upon the Great Wall of China than on any other structure in the world: "The greatest construction project ever undertaken by man," "the longest bastion," and "the world's biggest graveyard."
Historical records and facts are clear: the wall stretches for some 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) across China, following a twisting, curving path that has been likened to the body of a dragon. It was constructed over a period of 2,100 years by millions of soldiers and laborers, and it cost the lives of untold thousands.
Records outline the origins and development of the Great Wall of China in the following series of historical events and periods:
- The origins of the wall date back to at least the fifth century BC. This period of Chinese history, referred to as that of the Warring States, followed the disintegration of the once unified kingdom of Zhou. To protect themselves against one another, the fractured states built defensive walls.
- In 221 BC, the Qin ruler, Shi Huangdi, subdued the Warring States and proclaimed himself first Qin emperor of China. In an 11-year reign, he ordered the consolidation and extension of all the existing walls to secure the empire's northern boundary. An army of 300,000 soldiers and up to a million pressganged laborers and prisoners set to work, tearing down and then rebuilding some of the old walls, and strengthening existing works. In contrast to the earlier walls, which had consisted largely of defensive ditches with banks of earth made by pounding the soil into wooden 'forms', a variety of materials and construction methods was employed in the fabrication of Shi Huangdi's wall. The wall was never intended as a defensive fortification in its own right: it relied always on manned garrisons to deter invaders.
- After the death of Shi Huangdi, the emperors of the Han dynasty (206 BC - AD 220) continued to maintain and lengthen the wall.
- The final major phase of construction was undertaken by the emperors of the Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), who, having repelled the Mongols first from Beijing and then from the rest of the country, sought to strengthen China's northern defenses.
Records also indicate that at the height of the Ming dynasty, the wall stretched from Shanhaiguan on the Bohai Gulf east of Beijing to Jiayuguan in the central Asian province of Gansu: the westernmost limit was Yumenguan, 130 miles (200 kilometers) farther west, in the pre-Qin era.
Today, those sections around the village of Badaling, some 40 miles (65 kilometers) from Beijing, are the best preserved. Elsewhere the condition of the wall varies from good to dilapidated - the latter particularly in the far west. Chinese authorities say that its current state of repair depends partly on the initial choice of materials, some of which have not endured, and partly on the extent to which the wall has been plundered by farmers for their own uses. Yet its power as a symbol is undiminished. To the Chinese, it is a potent reminder of the nation's greatness, longevity, and indestructibility. To the rest of the world it is a stunning monument that stands as a testimony to human strength, ingenuity, and endurance.
Hu Yang, an official at the Badaling Great Wall near Beijing, was quoted by the AFP-Lisbon report as having commented, thus: "There was no special activity to welcome this (the selection of the Great Wall of China as one of the 7 'new' world wonders) ... all the same it is a great honor for all of China."
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