The Great Wall of China
dear my esteemed viewers welcome to my channel in today's episode of world wonders i present to you facts about the great wall of china which is one of the best architectural marvels of the world constructed by the chinese dynasties rule between 200 bc and 1644. the great wall of china is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient chinese states and imperial china as protection against various nomadic groups from the eurasian steppe several walls were built from as early as the 7th century bc with selective stretches later joined together by chinchi wang 220 up to 206 bc the first emperor of china little of the chin wall remains 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 up to 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 immigration furthermore the defensive characteristics of the great wall were enhanced by the construction of watchtowers troop barracks garrison stations signaling capabilities through the means of smoke or fire and the fact that the path of the great wall also served as a transportation corridor the frontier walls built by different dynasties have multiple courses collectively they stretch from the aodong in the east to lot lake in the west from the present-day sino-russian border in the north to tao river tauaya in the south along an ark that roughly delineates the edge of the mongolian steppe spanning 21 196.18 kilometers 13
170.70 miles in total today the defensive system of the great wall is generally recognized as one of the most impressive architectural feats in history the great wall of china stretches westward across the provinces and municipalities of li warning hibai tianjin beijing inner mongolia autonomous region shaanxi shaanxi and ningxia autonomous region to gansu in the west the great wall of china can be visited at many places along its length of several thousand kilometers its condition ranges from excellent to ruined and ease of accessibility very straightforward to quite difficult note that different sections also each have their own admission fees for example if you want to hike from gen shelling to cemetai then you probably have to pay twice great wall of china chinese pinyin wally chan chang or wagel's romanization one lacy hmcha 10 000 li long wall extensible work erected in ancient china one of the largest building construction projects ever undertaken the great wall actually consists of numerous walls many of them parallel to each other built over some two millennia across northern china and southern mongolia the most extensive and best preserved version of the wall dates from the ming dynasty 1368 up to 1644 and runs for some 5 500 miles 8 850 kilometers east to west from mount who near the andang southeastern li waning province to giu pass west of jukwan northwestern gansu province this wall often traces the crest lines of hills and mountains as it snakes across the chinese countryside and about one-fourth of its length consist solely of natural barriers such as rivers and mountain ridges nearly all of the rest about 70 percent of the total length is actual constructed wall with the small remaining stretches constituting ditches or moats although lengthy sections of the wall are now in ruins or have disappeared completely it is still one of the more remarkable structures on earth the great wall was designated a unesco world heritage site in 1987. large parts of the fortification system date from the seventh through the fourth century bce in the third century bce shihungi chin shihuang the first emperor of a united china under the qin dynasty connected a number of existing defensive walls into a single system traditionally the eastern terminus of the wall was considered to be shanghai past shanghai in eastern hipaa province along the coast of the bow high gulf of chile and the wall's length without its branches and other secondary sections was thought to extend for some 4160 miles 6 700 kilometers however government sponsored investigations that began in the 1990s revealed sections of wall in liam and aerial and satellite surveillance eventually proved that this wall stretched continuously through much of the province the greater total length of the mingwall was announced in 2009 the great wall developed from the disparate border fortifications and castles of individual chinese kingdoms for several centuries these kingdoms probably were as concerned with protection from their near neighbors as they were with the threat of barbarian invade trades about the 7th century bce the state of chu started to construct a permanent defensive system known as the square wall this fortification was situated in the northern part of the kingdom's capital province from the 6th to the 4th century other states followed jew's example in the southern part of the key state an extensive perimeter wall was gradually created using existing river dikes newly constructed bulwarks and areas of impassable mountain terrain the key wall was made mainly of earth and stone and terminated at the shores of the yellow sea in the zhongshan state wall system was built to thwart invasion from the states of zhao and chin in the southwest there were two defensive lines in the way state the hexy west of the yellow river and amen south of the river walls the hexy wall was a fortification against the chin state and western nomads built during the reign of king who 370-335 bce it was expanded from the dikes on the loyal river on the western border it started in the south near xiangyuan cave east of mount hua and landed at gaiang in what is now the inner mongolia autonomous region kinan wall built to protect liang the capital now kaifeng was repaired and extended in kangawa's later years the gen state also built the wall system which was rebuilt by the han state after it conquered jain the state of zhao completed a southern wall in the northern wall the southern wall was built mainly as a defense against the way state after administrative reorganization was carried out by shang yang died 338 bce the chin state grew politically and militarily to become the strongest among the seven states but it was frequently raided by the donggu and blue fan two nomadic peoples from the north therefore the chin erected a wall that started from lin chao went north along the upan mountains and ended at the wanghi yellow river in the yan state two separate defensive lines were prepared the northern wall and the yoshi wall in an effort to defend the kingdom from attacks by northern groups such as the donggu linu and lufan as well as by the key state in the south the ushi wall was expanded from the dike of the u river as a defense line against kian zhao its two main rival states it began southwest of ye city the capital and ended south of wenan in 290 bce beyond state builds the northern wall along the young mountains starting from the northeast in the area of jiangjiaku in hibai passing over the liao river and extending to the ancient city of xiangping modern yaoyang this was the last segment of the great wall to be erected during the jengyo warring states period in 221 bce shawwandy the first shin emperor completed his annexation of ki and thus unified china he ordered removal of the fortifications set up between the previous states because they served only as obstacles to internal movements and administration in addition he sent general mencheon to garrison the northern border against incursions of the nomadic xiongnu and to link the existing wall segments in chin yawn and gel into the so-called 10 000 li long wall 2 equal approximately 0.6 mile 1
kilometer this period of construction began about 214 bce and lasted a decade hundreds of thousands of soldiers and conscripted workers labored on the project with the fall of the chung dynasty after shillandi's death however the wall was left largely on garrison and fell into disrepair during the reign of the han emperor hudi 14187 bce the wall was strengthened as part of an overall campaign against the xiangnu from that period the great wall also contributed to the exploitation of farmland in northern and western china and to the growth of the trade route that came to be known as the silk road in 121 bce a 20-year project of construction was started on the hexy wall generally known as the sidewall between yongdang now and gansu in the eastern lake lopner now in xinjiang in the west according to julian han john joy and correspondents of the han the strong points set up along the wall include a peak in every five li a tower every 10 li a fort every 30 li and a castle every 100 li the main work on the wall during the dung eastern han period 25 220 ce took place during the reign of liu zhu guan wudi who in 38 ordered the repair four parallel lines of the great wall in the area south of the hexy wall the great wall served not only for defense but also to centralize control of trade and travel during dubai northern way dynasty 386 up to 534 535 ce the great wall was repaired and extended as a defense against attacks from the wan wan and kitten tribes in the north according to wei shu ming yuan digi history of way chronicle of emperor minoon in 417 the eighth year of the reign of minguandi 409 up to 423 a part of the great wall was built south of changshun from shikhang now in hibai to wu yuan now in inner mongolia in the west extending more than 620 miles 1000 kilometers during the reign of taiwodi 423 up to 452 a lower and thinner wall of rand earth was built around the capital as a complement to the great wall starting from guangling in the east it extended to the eastern side of the wong he forming a circle around darung in 549 after the dongway kingdom moved its capital east yi it also built a segment of the great wall in the area of contemporary shanky province in order to strengthen its northern frontier and prevent invasion from the west by the baiju the iki kingdom 550 up to 577 launched several big construction projects that were nearly as extensive in scope as the building projects of the qin dynasty in 552 a segment was built on the northwestern order and only three years later the emperor ordered the recruitment of 1.8 million workers to repair and extend other sections the construction took place between the south entrance of jayang pass near modern beijing and adam in shaanxi in 556 a new fortification was set up in the east and extended to the yellow sea the following year a second wall was built inside the great wall within modern shanky beginning in the vicinity of lao young east of pianguan extending to the east beyond yanmen pass and pinching past and ending in the area around chiaguin and genki in 563 the emperor wu chengdi of the baikey has a segment repaired along the tai hang mountains that is the part of the great wall found today in the area around long guan guangchang and phuping in jiangxi and hibai in 565 the inner wall built in 557 was repaired and the new wall was added that started in the vicinity of shiawan extended to the jayang pass in the east and then joined to the outer wall the segments repaired and added during the wiki period totaled some 900 miles 1 500 kilometers and towns and barrett were established at periodic intervals to garrison the new sections in 579 in order to prevent invasions of the baiju kingdom by the two jew a group of eastern turks and the keaton the emperor jing started a massive rebuilding program on areas of the wall located in the former kingdom starting at yanmen in the west and ending ajishi in the east during the sui dynasty 581 up to 618 the great wall was repaired and improved seven times in an effort to defend the country against attacks from the tuju after the tang dynasty 618 up to 907 replaced this we the country grew much stronger militarily defeating the two jew in the north and expanding beyond the original frontier thus the great wall gradually lost its significance as a fortification and there was no need for repairs or additions during the song dynasty 960 up to 1279 however the liaon jin peoples in the north were a constant threat the song rulers were forced to withdraw to the south of the lines of the great wall built by the chin han and northern dynasties many areas on both sides of the wall were subsequently taken over by the liao 907 up to 1125 and jin dynasties 11 15 up to 12 34. when the song rulers had to retreat even farther to the south of the yangtze river zhang jiang repairs to the wall or extensions of it were no longer feasible limited repairs were carried out once 1056 during the out times but only in the area between the yazi and huntong rivers in 1115 after the jin dynasty was established work was performed on two defensive lines at ming chang the old wall there previously called the wushu wall or jin yuan fort ran westward from a point north of wulanahata then wound through the hialatu mountains turning to the north and then to the west again finally ending at the nuanchi river the second of the lines was the new ming chang wall also called the energen wall or the jin trench which was constructed south of the old wall it started in the west from abandoned the wall he and ended at the sangari songwa river during the yuan mongol dynasty 1206 up to 1368 the mongols controlled all of china as well as other parts of asia and sections of europe as a defensive structure the great wall was of little significance to them however some forts and key areas were repaired and garrisoned in order to control commerce and to limit the threat of rebellions from the chinese han and other nationalities rulers during the ming dynasty 1368 up to 1644 ceaselessly maintained and strengthened the great wall to prevent another mongolian invasion the majority of the work took place along the old walls built by the by key and by way most of the great wall that stands today is the result of work done during the reign of the hanji emperor 1487 up to 1505. starting west of jayang pass this part of the wall was split into south and north lines respectively named the inner and outer walls along the wall were many strategic passes or fortresses and gates among them were juayan doma and zeijing passes the three closest to the ming capital beijing together they were referred to as the three inner passes farther west were yanmen known as the three outer passes both the inner and outer passes were of key importance in protecting the capital and were usually heavily garrisoned after the king manchu dynasty 1644 up to 1911 or 12 replaced the ming there was a change in ruling strategy called gyaru mollification wherein the ching tried to pacify the leaders and peoples of mongolia tibet and other nationalities by not interfering with local social cultural or religious life because of the success of that strategy the great wall was repaired less frequently and it gradually fell into ruin the great wall had three major components passes signal towers beacons and walls passes were major strongholds along the wall usually located at such key positions as intersections with trade routes the ramparts of many passes were faced with huge bricks and stones with dirt and crushed stones as filler the bastions measured some 30 feet 10 meters high and 13 to 16 feet four to five meters wide at the top within each pass were access ramps for horses and planters for soldiers the outside parapet was granulated and the inside parapet or yukian knew king was a low wall about three feet one meter high that prevented people and horses from falling off the top in addition to serving as an access point for merchants and other civilians the gate within the pass was used as an exit for the garrison to counter attack raiders or to send out patrols under the gate arch there was typically a huge double door of wood bolts and locker rings were set in the inner panel of each door on top of each gate was a gate tower that served as a watchtower in command post usually it stood one to three stories levels high and was constructed either of wood or of bricks and wood built outside the gate where an enemy was most likely to attack was a weng chang a semi-circular or polygonal parapet that shielded the gate from direct assault extending beyond the most strategic wang changs was an additional line of protection the luo chang which was often topped by a tower used to watch those beyond the wall and to direct troop movements and battles waged there around the gate entrance there was often a moat that was formed in the process of digging earth to build the fortifications signal towers were also called beacons beacon terraces smoke mounds mounds or kiosks they were used to send military communications beacon fires or lanterns during the night or smoke signals in the daytime other methods such as raising banners beating clappers or firing guns were also used signal towers often built on hilltops for maximum visibility were self-contained high platforms or towers the lower levels contained rooms for soldiers as well as stables sheepfolds and storage areas the wall itself was the key part of the defensive system it usually stood 21.3
feet 6.5 meters wide at the base and 19 feet 5.8 meters at the top with an average height of 23 to 26 feet 7 to 8 meters or a bit lower on steep hills the structure of the wall vary from place to place depending on the availability of building materials walls were made of tamper sandwiched between wooden boards adobe bricks a brick and stone mixture rocks or pylons and planks some sections made use of existing river dikes others used rugged mountain terrain such as cliffs and gorges to take the place of man-made structures in the western deserts the walls were often simple structures of rambert and adobe many eastern ramparts such as those near babeling were faced with stone and included a number of secondary structures and devices on the inner side of such walls placed at small intervals were arched doors called one which were made of bricks or stones inside each one were stone or brick steps leading to the top of the battlement on the top on the side facing outward stood seven foot two meter height reynolds called duo kuau on the upper part of the duo coal were large openings used to watch and shoot at attackers and on the lower part were small openings or loopholes through which defenders could also shoot at intervals of about 650 to 1000 feet 200 to 300 meters there was a granulated platform rising slightly above the top of the wall and protruding from the side that faced attackers during battle the platform provided a demanding view and made it possible to shoot attackers from the side as they attempted to scale the wall with ladders on several platforms were simply structured huts called pufang which provided shelter for the guards during storms some platforms as with signal towers had two or three stories and could be used to store weapons and ammunition those of babeling commonly had two stories with accommodations for more than 10 soldiers on the lower level there were also drainage ditches on the walls to shield them from damage by excessive rainwater each major stronghold along the wall was hierarchically linked to a network of military and administrative commands during the rule of xiumi 12 prefectures were established along the wall and in the ming period the whole fortification was divided into nine defense areas four zones a post-chief zombie room was assigned to each zone together they were known as the nine border garrisons the great wall has long been incorporated into chinese mythology and popular symbolism and in the 20th century it came to be regarded as a national symbol above the east gate dung men at shanghai passes an inscription attributed to the medieval historian he al zion which is translated as first pass under heaven referring to the traditional division between chinese civilization and the barbarian lands to the north despite the wall's cultural significance roadways have been cut through it at several points and vast sections have suffered centuries of neglect in the 1970s a segment near sematai 68 miles 110 kilometers northeast of beijing was dismantled for building materials but it was subsequently rebuilt other areas have also been restored including just northwest of giu pass at the western limit of the wall at yanjia pass some 105 miles 170 kilometers north of tianjin and at muchianu about 55 miles 90 kilometers northeast of beijing the best-known section at bageling 43 miles 70 kilometers northwest of beijing was rebuilt in the late 1950s it now attracts thousands of national and foreign tourists every day portions of the wall around shanghai pass and at mount hoo the eastern terminus also had been rebuilt by 2000 dear viewers this will bring us to the end of the show thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe to my channel
2022-05-20 16:04
