The Great Wall of China

Why did Chinese build the wall?
For generations, the Chinese people have farmed their fertile land. Ancient China was ruled by emperors who kept order and maintained harmony as China prospered and Chinese culture flourished.

The nomadic tribes, north of China, led a different life style. Because the nomads lived on the steppe where there was insufficient rainfall to grow crops, they moved from place to place grazing sheep and trading horses for food and clothing. They were very skilled at hunting and fighting.

The nomadic tribes, such as the Mongols, traded horses to their Chinese neighbors for things they could not produce themselves such as grain, silk and iron.

The great differences between the two cultures often led to conflict. When the nomads could not get what they wanted by trading, they would steal and plunder from the Chinese to get what they wanted.

Different emperors throughout the ages had different ways of dealing with the nomads. Some tried making peace treaties, some sent soldiers to fight the nomads and some tried to encourage rules and regulations for trading between the two cultures. Other emperors built walls to keep the nomadic invaders out of China.

Experience showed offensive campaigns were too costly and risky, defense garrisons respond too slow to counter lightning attacks on a long border. The third option would be a very rational one, it was in fact tried and successful in couple of occasions, but generally the Chinese held themselves in a very high opinion, or the so-called “Middle Kingdom Complex”. They looked down upon the nomads as “people with animal heart (barbarians)” who live on the edge of the world. Any notion of them as an equal state was unthinkable. Thus wall building was the most favored option in many dynasties. There were three dynasties which built the most walls, they are Qin, Han, and Ming.

The Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC)
China's first emperor (Qin Shih Huang) was its first Great Wall builder. He was also a relentless book-burner and a ruler who sent free thinkers to work — and often to die — on his wall. However, forced conscription for wall building, and many other cruel treatment provoked a rebellion which overthrew his empire right after his death. Qin Dynasty Chronology

The Han Dynasty
One of the most powerful dynasties of Chinese history was also bothered by Huns. They tried many ways to deal with them, including the most open economic and diplomatic relations, which was abandoned because it was too “shameful”. Then offensive campaigns were taken up, which did result in some success, though burdened the empire’s finance. The second Great Wall project was not as massive as the first, but it took on a new challenge: how to build a wall through the Gobi Desert. It also opened up China to the West as never before.

The Ming Dynasty

Ming were the greatest wall builders. Ming emperors not only rebuilt the crumbling wall, but they added many miles to it, creating a structure that could stretch from Miami to the North Pole. They also began closing their country to outsiders. Ming forbade any foreign contact and trading for a while during 16th century. However, because of one of the border officer's defection, Ming was not able to repel another nomadic people, Manchurian’s invasion.

How long is the wall?
The Great Wall of China is known as "Wan Li Chang Cheng" in Chinese. Literally translation: “The Wall of Ten Thousand Li”. The entire wall and its extensions sum up to more than 6400 km, or in ancient Chinese measurement, more than 12000 Li (a "li" is about half of a kilometre).

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