An Epic Journey in the Land of Dragons – The Great Wall of China

On the land of China, there is a majestic building, which is like a giant dragon entrenched between mountains and rivers, spanning thousands of years of history, witnessing the glory and vicissitudes of China, becoming the link between ancient and modern times, carrying countless stories and legends . This majestic building, the Great Wall of China, is known as a treasure of world culture, one of the greatest projects in the world, and one of the seven relics in the world.

Dragon's History

The Great Wall, its history can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty in the ninth century BC. At first, a castle named "Liecheng" was built to defend against the invasion of northern nomads. With the passage of time, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States period, the states were in chaos. Qin, Chu, Qi, Yan, Wei, Han, Zhao and other countries rose one after another. Countries competed for hegemony and invaded each other. Scattered sections of the Great Wall, these early city defenses are called by historians"Pre-Qin Great Wall".

However, what really makes the Great Wall the scale of the "Great Wall of Thousand Miles" is China's eternal emperor- Qin Shihuang Yingzheng. In 221 BC, Qin Shihuang ended the conflicts between the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States and completed the feat of unifying the six countries. In order to defend against the Huns who invaded from the north from time to time, he ordered to connect the city walls of Qin, Yan, Zhao and other countries during the Warring States Period and carry out large-scale construction. The large-scale expansion and construction formed the prototype of the "Great Wall". "Starting from Lintao in the west and ending in Liaodong in the east, it meanders for more than 10,000 miles", which describes the brilliant and amazing project of the Great Wall in the North. Naturally, such a magnificent miracle project is built by countless manpower and material resources, and the blood and tears involved in it can be known by everyone's imagination. In any case, the merits and demerits of the ancestors, individuals have their own personal judgments, it is inconvenient to evaluate here, after all, no one is qualified to draw conclusions, right?

The construction of the Great Wall has gone through a long period of time. With the change of dynasties, the Great Wall has been continuously expanded and repaired. Since the Qin Dynasty, more than ten dynasties including Han, Jin, Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming have built the Great Wall to varying degrees. Among them, the length of the Great Wall built by the Han and Ming All over ten thousand miles. The well-preserved Great Wall we see today isThe section of the "Ming Great Wall" built between Hongwu and Wanli in the Ming Dynasty stretches from Jiayuguan in Gansu in the west to Shanhaiguan in the east (it is also recorded that it reaches Hushan in Liaodong in the east), It was built eighteen times before and after, and it took more than a hundred years to complete. The Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty not only used the best building materials at that time, but also built many piers, towers and gates. The famous Shanhaiguan, Niangziguan, Yanmenguan, Jiayuguan, etc. are all sections of the city that were newly built or rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty.

What are the architectural subjects of the Great Wall?

The architectural body of the Great Wall consists of four main parts:

1. city wall: The city wall is the main structure of the Great Wall, and it is also the most representative part. It is composed of rammed earth, stones and masonry. . The walls of the Great Wall change with the topography, not only to defend the enemy, but also to fix the national border, becoming an important frontier defense line in ancient China.
2. pass: The pass is the throat of the Great Wall, which can be used to control the entrance and exit of the fortress, and is usually set at strategic locations such as traffic arteries and mountain passes.
3. Chengtai: The city tower is located on the top of the Great Wall, and one is built every 300 to 400 meters, which is used to face the enemy and coordinate operations.
4. Beacon: Beacons, also known as beacon towers, are used to transmit military intelligence and messages. When a war breaks out, smoke is used during the day and a fire is lit at night, and the stations are connected to quickly transmit the war message. And the allusion of "The Beacon Fire Opera Princes" refers to the story of King You of Zhou who smiled for Bo Baosi and lit the beacon tower to tease the princes.

The significance of the Great Wall to the Chinese nation

The Great Wall is an important defense project in ancient China. It has far-reaching military, political and cultural significance:

1. Military significance: The Great Wall is an important defense system of ancient Chinese dynasties. Its construction enables the dynasties to deal with the nomads in the north more effectively, and provides a significant strategic advantage.
2. political significance: The Great Wall is one of the symbols of the centralized political power of ancient Chinese monarchs. In Chinese history, the construction and expansion of the Great Wall often represented the intention of unifying the country and a unified political ideology, which demonstrated the jurisdiction and control of the central court over the border areas, and made the people in the border areas feel the existence of the central government. To strengthen centralized rule.
3. cultural significance: The Great Wall occupies an important position in Chinese culture, is one of the symbols of traditional Chinese culture and national identity, and is considered to be the representative of ancient Chinese civilization. The Great Wall has also become the subject of various literary works, artworks and poems, and has beenIt was included in the World Cultural Heritage List by UNESCO in 1987.middle. As a world cultural heritage, the Great Wall has also become an important tourist attraction in China to attract domestic and foreign tourists, which has greatly promoted the development of China's cultural tourism industry.

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References

1. Great Wall - Wikipedia

2. Great Wall - Baidu Encyclopedia

3. The pictures in the article are all from the CC0 free gallery.