Great Wall of China
The Ancient Great Wall of China
The ancient Chinese were always under threat and constant attacks from other parts of Asia. These invaders were mostly nomadic tribes from the northern areas of ancient China such as Mongolia and Manchuria. The first emperor to ever defeat and therefore unify all the warring feudal lords of ancient China was Emperor Shi Huang Di. Considered in history books as China’s first emperor, he ordered the building of the Wall that begun more than 2000 years ago. He wanted all the smaller walls that had been built earlier to be joined together to form one Great Wall.
He was likewise the first emperor to set up China’s first centralized administrative system. He also introduced a working postal system to make the governance of a vast empire easier. Letters and instructions of the royal palace were carried through this far-flung postal system by a series of horse-riding carriers. Emperor Shi Huang Di’s lasting achievement besides the Great Wall was the adoption of a single system of writing so that people from different tribes and dialects can finally understand each other. This Chinese writing of using individually-different and unique characters is still being used today. It is officially known as Mandarin and is the most difficult language to learn.
An estimated total of close to 3 million Chinese died during construction works. It took about 3 centuries to complete. The workers used stones and packed earth to construct the wall. It was mostly dangerous construction work and even more perilous to maintain because of incessant attacks from barbarians. It required a million armed soldiers to guard all its ramparts against intermittent attacks and was a great drain to the imperial treasury.
Genghis Khan invaded China sometime in the 13th century and after breaking through the Great Wall, the Yuan dynasty was established by his grandson. The Mongols ruled China from 1271 – 1368 A.D. During the subsequent Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Great Wall was made larger to stretch for 6,400 kilometers and over a 200 year period the whole wall was repaired. The watch-towers and cannons were added too.
Much of the Wall’s stones were carted away by villagers to build their own houses. Some parts of the Great Wall of China have been repaired and are perennial popular tourist attractions. If you mention the Great Wall, people understand that you meant China with its glorious and ancient past. Chinese culture is also the oldest continuously existing civilization in the world.