China Great Wall Construction

It was a huge project to finish such magnificent Great Wall in ancient China, costing unprecedented longer durations than any historical architecture. Starts from Yalu River in the east and ends at Jiayu Pass in the west, the Great Wall passes through nine provinces and cities including Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia and Gansu, spanning about 8851.8 kilometers.

Brief Process of Building the Great Wall

Evoluted from beacon towers and city walls, the Great Wall was built to protect from the aggressors in the 7th century B.C by each states. Since the first emperor, Qin Shihuang unified the whole China; the separate walls were joined together and consequently stretched from east to west for about 5000 thousand kilometers in Qin Dynasty. Later in the following dynasties, the Wall had been further extended and strengthened, especially in Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) when the Wall was expanded to 6,700 kilometers.

Currently, the section of walls from Yalu River to Shanhai Pass has been seriously damaged while that from Shanhai Pass to Jiayu Pass is well preserved, all due to the quality of the project.

Why Built it

As early as Zhou Dynasty (1046BC-771BC), the territory of China was separated by many states. Individual walls were built to resist against the neighboring or powerful states. When the Emperor Qin Shihuang unified China in 221B.C., the separated walls were joined to form one long wall to strengthen the newly authority as well as to withstand the nomad people from the north. Ming Dynasty was another period renovated the Walls because of the rampant northern nomadic ethnic groups from the north.

The Materials the Great Wall Used

The Great Wall of China was a manmade architecture without any modern high-tech. The initial Walls were made of local resources that the labors compressed huge piles of soil, leaves, hay, and mud into a wall. Later on, earth, stones and bricks were applied to make a neat and solid long-lasting wall. When the walls were built over the mountain ranges, the labors would use the stones of the mountain ; when in the plains, they would rammed the earth; when in the desert, they would use the sanded reeds and juniper tamarisks. During Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), watch-towers were turned into elaborate structures with tile patterns circling the doorways, and the whole strengthening project became elaborate, that why the Ming Great Wall can be well remained until now.

Who ordered to build it

During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, the governors of each state dispatched their soldiers to build walls as defense construction. In Qin Dynasty, the Emperor Qin Shihuang sent the Genreal Meng Tian to connect the walls and built new walls. About thousands of forced laborers were requested for the task, costing 10 years.

A Folklore about the Construction of the Great Wall

There is a related tale passed on generations to generations that Meng Jiangnu whose husband was dispatched to build the Great Wall during Qin Dynasty went through all kinds of hardship to the Great Wall to look for her husband. When she heard the new that her husband had died and the remains were buried under the walls, she cries for three days and three nights without pause until the walls collapsed to reveal the human remain of her husband. As a result, she jumped from the mountain in despair.

Take a Tour to See Great Wall Now:
1 Day Mutianyu Great Wall, Summer Palace & Olympic Tour
4 Days Beijing Classic Panoramic View Tour
13 Days Best of China: Beijing, Xi'an, Tibet, Shanghai
More China Package Tours and China City Tours