The Great wall of China
Great
Wall of China
The one thing most
people “know” about the Great Wall of China—that it is one of the only man-made
structures visible from space—is not actually true . Several walls were
built from as early as the 7th century BC, with selective stretches
later joined by Qin Shi Huang (220–206 BC), the first emperor of China. Little of the Qin wall remains.[5] Later on, many successive dynasties
built and maintained multiple stretches of border walls. The best-known
sections of the wall were built by the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) .
Apart from defense,
other purposes of the Great Wall have included border controls, allowing the imposition of duties on
goods transported along the Silk Road, regulation or encouragement of trade
and the control of immigration and emigration . King Zheng of Qin conquered the last of his opponents and
unified China as the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty ("Qin Shi Huang") in
221 BC . Chinese leaders instituted wall-building projects to protect
the land from northern, nomadic invaders.
One surviving section of such an ancient wall, in the Shandong province, is
made of hard-packed soil called “rammed earth”
and is estimated to be 2,500 years old. For centuries during the Warring States
Period, before China was unified into one nation, such walls defended the
borders . Around 220 B.C.E., Qin Shi Huang, also called the First Emperor, united China. He masterminded the process
of uniting the existing walls into one. At that time, rammed
earth and wood made up most of the wall .
Zhu Yuanzhang, who
became the Hongwu Emperor, took power in 1368 C.E. He founded the
Ming Dynasty, famous for its
achievements in the arts of ceramics and
painting. The Ming emperors improved the wall with watchtowers and
platforms. Most of the familiar images of the wall show Ming-era construction
in the stone. Depending on how the wall is measured, it stretches somewhere
between 4,000 and 5,500 kilometers (2,500 and 3,400 miles) . In the 17th
century, the Manchu emperors extended Chinese rule into Inner
Mongolia, making the wall less important as a defense .
The Great Wall concept was revived again under the Ming in the 14th century,[30] and following the Ming army's defeat by the Oirats in the Battle of Tumu. The Ming had failed to gain a clear upper hand over the Mongol tribes after successive battles, and the long-drawn conflict was taking a toll on the empire. The Ming adopted a new strategy to keep the nomadic tribes out by constructing walls along the northern border of China. Acknowledging the Mongol control established in the Ordos Desert, the wall followed the desert's southern edge instead of incorporating the bend of the Yellow River . Towards the end of the Ming, the Great Wall helped defend the empire against the Manchu invasions that began around 1600. Even after the loss of all of Liaodong, the Ming army held the heavily fortified Shanhai Pass, preventing the Manchus from conquering the Chinese heartland. The Manchus were finally able to cross the Great Wall in 1644 .
The North
African traveler Ibn Battuta, who also visited
China during the Yuan dynasty c. 1346, had heard about China's
Great Wall, possibly before he had arrived in China .
A 2012 report by
the National
Cultural Heritage Administration states that 22% of the Ming Great
Wall has disappeared, while 1,961 km (1,219 mi) of wall have
vanished.[65] More than 60 km (37 mi)
of the wall in Gansu province may disappear in the next 20
years, due to erosion from sandstorms. In some places, the height of the wall has
been reduced from more than 5 m (16 ft 5 in) to less than
2 m (6 ft 7 in). Various square lookout towers that characterize
the most famous images of the wall have disappeared. Many western sections of
the wall are constructed from mud, rather than brick
and stone, and thus are more susceptible to erosion .
Thank you for read
Best wishes from
Suvendu Singha & Mamata Singha
(India , Odisha , Baleswar)
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