ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

The great wall of china.

The Great Wall of China was built over centuries by China’s emperors to protect their territory. Today, it stretches for thousands of miles along China’s historic northern border.

Anthropology, Geography, Human Geography, Social Studies, Ancient Civilizations, World History

The Great Wall of China is one of the most notorious structures in the entire world. The Jinshanling section in Hebei Province, China, pictured here, is only a small part of the wall that stretches over 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles).

Photograph by Hung Chung Chih

The Great Wall of China is one of the most notorious structures in the entire world. The Jinshanling section in Hebei Province, China, pictured here, is only a small part of the wall that stretches over 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles).

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. Since the wall looks a lot like the stone and soil that surround it, it is difficult to discern with the human eye even from low Earth orbit, and is difficult to make out in most orbital photos . However, this does not detract from the wonder of this astounding ancient structure.

For millennia, 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. Emperor after emperor strengthened and extended the wall, often with the aim of keeping out the northern invaders. In some places, the wall was constructed of brick. Elsewhere, quarried granite or even marble blocks were used. The wall was continuously brought up to date as building techniques advanced.

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. However, it has retained its importance as a symbol of Chinese identity and culture . Countless visitors view the wall every year. It may not be clearly visible from space, but it is considered “an absolute masterpiece” here on Earth.

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Great Wall of China

By: History.com Editors

Updated: April 18, 2024 | Original: August 24, 2010

Cityscapes Of Beijing - The Great WallBEIJING - DECEMBER 03: A general view of the Great Wall on December 3, 2006 in Beijing, China. Beijing will be the host city for 2008 Summer Olympic Games. (Photo by Guang Niu/Getty Images)

The Great Wall of China is an ancient series of walls and fortifications, totaling more than 13,000 miles in length, located in northern China. Perhaps the most recognizable symbol of China and its long and vivid history, the Great Wall was originally conceived by Emperor Qin Shi Huang in the third century B.C. as a means of preventing incursions from barbarian nomads. The best-known and best-preserved section of the Great Wall was built in the 14th through 17th centuries A.D., during the Ming dynasty. Though the Great Wall never effectively prevented invaders from entering China, it came to function as a powerful symbol of Chinese civilization’s enduring strength.

Qin Dynasty Construction

Though the beginning of the Great Wall of China can be traced to the fifth century B.C., many of the fortifications included in the wall date from hundreds of years earlier, when China was divided into a number of individual kingdoms during the so-called Warring States Period.

Around 220 B.C., Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a unified China under the Qin Dynasty , ordered that earlier fortifications between states be removed and a number of existing walls along the northern border be joined into a single system that would extend for more than 10,000 li (a li is about one-third of a mile) and protect China against attacks from the north.

Construction of the “Wan Li Chang Cheng,” or 10,000-Li-Long Wall, was one of the most ambitious building projects ever undertaken by any civilization. The famous Chinese general Meng Tian initially directed the project, and was said to have used a massive army of soldiers, convicts and commoners as workers.

Made mostly of earth and stone, the wall stretched from the China Sea port of Shanhaiguan over 3,000 miles west into Gansu province. In some strategic areas, sections of the wall overlapped for maximum security (including the Badaling stretch, north of Beijing, that was later restored during the Ming Dynasty ).

From a base of 15 to 50 feet, the Great Wall rose some 15-30 feet high and was topped by ramparts 12 feet or higher; guard towers were distributed at intervals along it.

Did you know? When Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered construction of the Great Wall around 221 B.C., the labor force that built the wall was made up largely of soldiers and convicts. It is said that as many as 400,000 people died during the wall's construction; many of these workers were buried within the wall itself.

Great Wall of China Through the Centuries

With the death of Qin Shi Huang and the fall of the Qin Dynasty, much of the Great Wall fell into disrepair. After the fall of the later Han Dynasty , a series of frontier tribes seized control in northern China. The most powerful of these was the Northern Wei Dynasty, which repaired and extended the existing wall to defend against attacks from other tribes.

The Bei Qi kingdom (550–577) built or repaired more than 900 miles of wall, and the short-lived but effective Sui Dynasty (581–618) repaired and extended the Great Wall of China a number of times.

With the fall of the Sui and the rise of the Tang Dynasty , the Great Wall lost its importance as a fortification, as China had defeated the Tujue tribe to the north and expanded past the original frontier protected by the wall.

During the Song Dynasty, the Chinese were forced to withdraw under threat from the Liao and Jin peoples to the north, who took over many areas on both sides of the Great Wall. The powerful Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty (circa 1271-1368), established by Genghis Khan , eventually controlled all of China, parts of Asia and sections of Europe.

Though the Great Wall held little importance for the Mongols as a military fortification, soldiers were assigned to man the wall in order to protect merchants and caravans traveling along the lucrative Silk Road trade routes established during this period.

Wall Building During the Ming Dynasty

Despite its long history, the Great Wall of China as it is exists today was constructed mainly during the mighty Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Like the Mongols, the early Ming rulers had little interest in building border fortifications, and wall building was limited before the late 15th century. In 1421, the Ming emperor Yongle proclaimed China’s new capital, Beijing, on the site of the former Mongol city of Dadu.

Under the strong hand of the Ming rulers, Chinese culture flourished, and the period saw an immense amount of construction in addition to the Great Wall, including bridges, temples and pagodas.

Construction on the most extensive and best-preserved section of the Great Wall began around 1474. After an initial phase of territorial expansion, Ming rulers took a largely defensive stance, and their reformation and extension of the Great Wall was key to this strategy.

The Ming wall extended from the Yalu River in Liaoning Province to the eastern bank of the Taolai River in Gansu Province, and winded its way from east to west through today’s Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia and Gansu.

Starting west of Juyong Pass, the Great Wall was split into south and north lines, respectively named the Inner and Outer Walls. Strategic “passes” (i.e., fortresses) and gates were placed along the wall; the Juyong, Daoma and Zijing passes, closest to Beijing, were named the Three Inner Passes, while further west were Yanmen, Ningwu and Piantou, the Three Outer Passes.

All six passes were heavily garrisoned during the Ming period and considered vital to the defense of the capital.

Significance of the Great Wall of China

In the mid-17th century, the Manchus from central and southern Manchuria broke through the Great Wall and encroached on Beijing, eventually forcing the fall of the Ming Dynasty and beginning of the Qing Dynasty.

Between the 18th and 20th centuries, the Great Wall emerged as the most common emblem of China for the Western world, and a symbol both physical—as a manifestation of Chinese strength—and a psychological representation of the barrier maintained by the Chinese state to repel foreign influences and exert control over its citizens.

Today, the Great Wall is generally recognized as one of the most impressive architectural feats in human history. In 1987, UNESCO designated the Great Wall a World Heritage site, and a popular claim emerged in the 20th century that it is the only manmade structure visible from space ( NASA has since refuted this claim ).

Over the years, roadways have been cut through the wall in various points, and many sections have deteriorated after centuries of neglect. The best-known section of the Great Wall of China—Badaling, located 43 miles (70 km) northwest of Beijing—was rebuilt in the late 1950s, and attracts thousands of national and foreign tourists every day.

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Building the great wall.

The Great Wall of China has often been compared to a dragon, with its head in the East and tail to the West, winding over thousands of miles of hills and mountains. In fact, one legend tells us that it was a dragon who determined the course the wall would take. In China the dragon is an auspicious, protective creature, representing the life-giving force of water, and which embodies wisdom, strength, and goodness. So, too, does the Great Wall. It represents the Chinese Empire, protecting itself against attack by the nomads of the North, while remaining strong and good within. It symbolizes the orderliness of China, first brought to the land by the first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi. Water had been a lucky element of the Qin, and the emperor chose this as his symbol. Thereafter the Dragon was symbolic of the emperor.

BACKGROUND WHEN THE GREAT WALL WAS BUILT

—The Great Wall was added to, repaired, rerouted, and reconstructed over many dynasties, particularly during the Ming Dynasty of 1368 to 1644 A.D. This essay will concentrate on the work done during the Qin Dynasty only, because it reflects the establishment of the Imperial System by the First Emperor.

The idea of wall building started quite early in China. In 400–300 B.C., the various states in China had been separate, warring factions, each trying to gain control over the others. It was common practice for these states to build walls to protect themselves from other states. One of the early walls built in China dates to about 450 B.C., by the kingdom of Qi in northeast China, preventing its neighboring state, Lu, from attacking Qi. Other walls were not built for another 100 years. The idea of building walls for protection seemed to catch on, and soon the kingdoms in the north of China were building walls to keep out the northern nomads. The nomads were the Xiongnu, or Huns. They made their living by raising animals, contrary to the agricultural lifestyle of the Chinese. The Huns were a slave society and made regular raids on neighboring Chinese states, taking the people for slaves and causing other damage.

By the year 221 B.C., the state of Qin had conquered the neighboring states and formed the first united empire in China. The ruler of the Qin state called himself the First Emperor, and modeled himself after the legendary Yellow Emperor, Huangdi, who was known for bringing order into the world, and having the secret of immortality. The Emperor’s full title was Qin Shihuangdi: First Emperor of Qin.

There were some minor problems with unifying such a large collection of territories. Each state had its own system of weights, measures, money, and writing. This caused considerable problems when the Empire was supposed to function as one nation, so Qin unified these systems so that all regions of the empire would use the same standards.

WHY THE GREAT WALL WAS BUILT

—The protection of this newly founded empire was of paramount importance. The raids of the nomads from the north were causing economic damage to the developing economy. The emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, took on the task of having the many walls already built connected together to form a single, strong wall of defense. This we know as the first Great Wall of China.

WHO BUILT THE GREAT WALL

— The first crew sent to the northern regions by Emperor Qin to build the Great Wall was soldiers. General Meng Tian was given three hundred thousand soldiers and sent to begin the construction. Military garrisons were assigned particular tasks, and in other cases, large forces were concentrated to tackle certain sections.

aerial photograph of the great wall, which shows the wall winding down the mountainside

Another way people were sent to work on the wall was through a kind of corvee system, where each citizen owed the Emperor one year of his life for building or defending the wall. Approximately 500,000 peasants spent their time in this way. However, the regime could always find excuses to add more time to one’s service.

Emperor Qin was notably a harsh ruler. He believed that the only way to establish peace within the Empire was through strict rule and adherence to the demands of the Emperor. The criminal justice system dictated harsh punishments for criminals. Under the law of Qin, many crimes were punishable by a period of time serving hard labor working on the wall. The law said that a person had to be at least 1.38 meters tall to be given a servitude penalty, so shorter convicts were put in jail until they grew tall enough to be put to work on the wall. This leads to the question of child labor. Supposedly, no one under the age of fifteen could be sent to work on the wall. However, there are records indicating that children as young as seven and eight were actually working.

As is frequently the case in this kind of situation, money could buy one out of this time of serving on the wall construction. One could buy off a corvee, or even pay for a crime with money, or buy a servant to serve the required time on the wall. Therefore, it was the poor people who, in fact, worked and died along the great wall.

WHAT WAS USED TO BUILD THE GREAT WALL

— The basic materials used in the construction of the wall in Qin times included earth, stone, timber, and tiles. Materials were always gathered locally, so various sections of the wall reflect what was available in the surrounding area.

In the high mountains, stones were quarried from the land. In areas of flat, loess soil (a special kind of soil blown in from the Gobi desert and carried by the Yellow River) the soil was used to create tamped earth layers. In the Gobi Desert area alternating layers of sand, pebbles, tamarisk twigs (a small shrub), and reeds were used. In the Northeast, near Liaodong, boards of oak, pine, and china fir trees were used. It is said that if all the stones used to build the Great Wall were used to build a wall one meter wide and five meters high, that wall could circle the globe at the equator ten times around!

HOW THE GREAT WALL WAS BUILT 

—There are three major areas of discussion about how the Great Wall was built: Transportation, Technique, and Design. Transportation of materials was a great project in itself. The tightly structured regime of the First Emperor guaranteed that hundreds of thousands of people were available to carry on the necessary tasks. People were the main source of transportation. They carried supplies on their backs or with carrying poles over their shoulders. They also passed materials hand to hand in a long line up steep slopes or along the top of a completed section. Simple tools were used when possible. These included handcarts, wooden rods, levers, and windlasses. Ropes were slung over deep ravines and valleys to send baskets full of materials to the other side. It seems that not many animals were used for transportation during the Qin Dynasty, but evidence of the use of goats and donkeys surfaces in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to 220 A.D.) records.

The technique used in the actual construction of the wall in some areas is similar to that used in the building of mud house walls. There were two stone walls built, and the space between these walls was filled with earth and pebbles. The traditional technique of tamped earth with the loess soil was used in the areas where this soil was abundant. Posts or boards, sometimes bamboo poles, were used to create two walls with a space between. The loess soil was deposited in this space, then pounded by hand. Each layer of pounded, or rammed, earth was seven to ten centimeters thick, and as hard as stone.

WHERE THE GREAT WALL WAS BUILT 

—The wall winds and twists over the land. This is because the builders took advantage of the natural landscape of steep mountain sides and difficult areas to traverse, putting natural barriers to their best use. The wall was designed so that soldiers could march along its top. Emperor Qin mandated that the wall be six horses wide at the top, eight horses wide at the bottom, and five men high. At strategic points, like a pass between mountains, riverbends, and road junctions, were built forts, beacon towers, and other defense works. These became the components of an important communication system. Military forces could alert other areas of enemy sightings, send information on troop activities, and leaders could send orders. Beacon fires, flags, and drum beats were used on top of the beacon towers, to send coded messages. These towers were built into the wall so they could be seen by the towers on each side.

It follows that the thousands of people involved in this project would need to feed themselves. In some cases, whole villages were transferred to an area of the wall, and would work to grow crops and make clothing and utensils to support the workers. In other places the soldiers would plant crops and meet their own needs. The crops required water, so irrigation canals were dug. To meet the constantly moving construction site needs, roads were built. These developments actually aided the economic and cultural growth of the areas, and many of these settlements left behind artifacts of everyday life as well as journals and information written on bamboo slips.

THE WALL REMAINS AS A REMINDER

—Today the Great Wall stands as a memorial to the hundreds of thousands of workers who gave their lives in its construction. Emperor Qin wanted his dynasty to last 10,000 generations, and he himself was continuously seeking the elixir of immortality. Qin died, and his dynasty lasted less than two generations. However, his establishment of the Imperial system lasted. The Great Wall stands as evidence that he organized a bureaucracy so well structured that its evidence remains more than 2,000 years later.

In the concluding part of this essay, we provide readers with detailed lessons on the Great Wall.

LESSON PLANS Lesson Plan for The Great Wall

From the National Geography Standards, students will understand:

  • The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement
  • How human actions modify the physical environment
  • How physical systems affect human systems
  • The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources
  • How to apply geography to interpret the past

The following strands from the National Council for the Social Studies Standards are addressed:

#3: People, Places and Environment #6: Power, Authority and Governance

Have students read or listen to the background information about the Great Wall. Teachers may want to follow this reading/listening with a chart, such as a mind map or outline, to organize the information. It is written to be easily organized into categories of when, why, who, what, how, and where.

1. Discuss the visual image students have formed about the Great Wall and the surrounding landscapes. If possible, have books available with photos of the landscapes in China that will enhance the students’ visual image.

2. Have students create a wall mural to represent some of this landscape. Do research to find out what the region should look like, what kinds of plants might be found, what the soil would be like. Refer to the background information for suggestions. Decide what kinds of material would be used for wall construction. Add sections of the wall to the mural. Create a village near the construction site to serve the needs of the workers. What materials would be used to build shelters? How would food be provided? Would there be facilities for making pottery? What methods of transportation would be found here? Would there be artists, musicians, medical service here?

1. Give each student a role to play. See “Suggested Roles for the Great Wall Simulation” (to left).

2. In small groups, have students locate their character’s approximate locale on the map, and talk about their role. Through questions, help them develop their characters. Where are you from? What kind of life have you left? What did you do before working on the Great Wall? How long have you been here on the wall? How long do you need to stay? Do you have many friends here? Do you know where your family members are now? How is your health? What jobs do you do at the wall construction site?

3. At this point, students could write a character description, or begin a journal of their experiences as this character.

1. To demonstrate an understanding of the interdependence of geography and construction materials of the wall, students work in groups to build a section of the wall related to a particular area. Use materials such as twigs, sand, earth, popsicle sticks, pebbles, or as a last resort, Legos.

In our simulation, students carried dirt across the school field in plastic bags on poles across their backs. We built a wooden frame as a mold and put dirt and stones in it. Then we used bricks attached to poles and “tamped” the earth until it was very hard. We removed the molds and had small sections of wall built. Students should stay in character in this activity, and always have a supervisor to order them around and keep them working hard!

2. Have students follow instructions on diagram 2 (Building and Using the Great Wall Form). I used 2 X 12s for the form, but inch thick or reinforced plywood would work just as well. The idea is that it is strong enough to take a beating. The inside surfaces need to be smooth. A couple of coats of polyurethane would help to make the form move along easier. The top supports are used to keep the sides a specific distance apart. When it is time to move the form and make the wall longer, it helps to be able to spread the sides apart. Therefore, only one side of the top supports should be nailed or screwed, the other side should be pinned. I have used double-headed nails or dowels for this. The hinges help to separate the form so it can easily be moved. The other side of the end plate should be securely fastened. The earth around our neighborhood has a heavy clay content, so our soil packs really well, thus the rammed-earth method works just dandy for us. If there was a heavy sand content, I’d probably mix in a little cement to the process and hope no one kicked the finished product. The idea is that the form is just wider than a standard 2 X 4 so one can be used as a rammer. Fill the bottom of the form with two inches of dirt. Then, using a 2 X 4, compact that to one inch. Continue laying down more dirt and packing it down (firmly) until you reach the top, or close to it. I feather, or slant, the front edge near the end plate so I can blend in the next length.

When one length is complete, tap on the edge of the form with the 2 X 4 rammer at the open end to help separate the dirt wall from the form. Take out the pins from the top supports and open the form slightly. Slide the form ahead three-fourths of the length of the dirt wall and re-secure the top support pins. Repeat the whole process until you, the students, or both, run out of energy.

3. Following the role playing, students write in their journals or share orally in groups about their experiences.

4. Discuss how the experience would be different in areas near a river, in a desert region, or in the mountains.

three people put thing in bags

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

1. Study work songs that we are familiar with in our own culture, such as “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” and slave songs from the cotton fields like, “Pick a Bale of Cotton.” Listen to traditional Chinese music. Research what kind of instruments might have been used during this time period. Compose and perform work songs that might have been sung by people working, or in the evening during common gathering times.

2. Simple machines were used in the construction process of the Great Wall. In a science book, study about the various forms of simple machines. What forms were most likely used to build the Great Wall? How? Show some in use on the mural.

3. The towers placed along the wall were used for communication, for example to warn others that an invading army was in sight. Have students post themselves at strategic locations around the school and send signals, using signal flags, drum beats, or any way they can create. Discuss how efficient this technique might have been. How would it accommodate for mountainous regions? Desert area? Over rivers?

4. Have students research other walls to discover if there were other lands that used large walls for protection. (Roman walls would be interesting to compare.)

5. Calculate: From your home territory, how long would it take you to walk to your assigned construction site at the wall?

6. Research and story-tell some of the Chinese legends that are about the Great Wall and The First Emperor. Some can be found in Tales From a Chinese Grandmother , by Frances Carpenter, or Dragons, Gods, and Spirits from Chinese Mythology , by Tao Tao Liu Sanders.

a man touches a part of the wall

1. PORTFOLIO The mural indicates an understanding of the geographical characteristics of the region. Photos of the mural could be put in the portfolio with student writing to explain their own contributions to the mural. Journal entries indicate an understanding of the interdependence of geography and construction materials used on the wall. Work songs indicate an understanding of the hardships of this kind of forced labor.

2. PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT Students will make a twelve by eighteen inch size miniature “mural” reflecting what they have learned. Consider using torn paper for the features on a background piece of construction paper. The mural will indicate appropriate geographic features for a region. Discuss the possibilities of making it in a different type of region, such as a desert scene, forest area, mountainous region. It will include a human-made structure such as a wall or fortress. The construction of this structure will reflect the use of available materials in the region. The structure will be placed in a geographically appropriate location on the miniature mural. Students will then write a description of the region, including an explanation of why the structure exists in this location, using appropriate geographical terms, and explain how it was built.

3. SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

· Why was the Great Wall built? · How does the construction of the Great Wall reflect the geography of various regions of China?

a small section of wall built by bricks

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Carpenter, Frances. Tales of a Chinese Grandmother . Tokyo: Charles Tuttle and Co., 1973.

Cheng, Dalin. The Great Wall of China . China Books and Periodicals, 1984.

Cotterell, Arthur. The First Emperor of China . New York: Holt, Reinhart and Winston, 1981.

Lou, Zewen and others. The Great Wall . New York: McGraw Hill Publishers, 1981.

Nancarrow, Peter. Early China and the Wall . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978.

Sanders, Tao Tao Liu. Dragons, Gods and Spirits from Chinese Mythology . New York: Schocken Books, 1980.

Waldron, Arthur. The Great Wall of China: From History to Myth . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

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  • Great Wall of China Research Paper

Great Wall Of China Research Paper

The artists of the 1980s and the 90s attempted to reshape the collective historical significance of the Great Wall into a utilitarian icon that could help deal with the complex and ambiguous contemporary demands placed on their artistic in-tray. Significance of the Great Wall The Great Wall of China can be regarded from two perspectives. Firstly, it is important to examine the significance of the wall during the early dynasties and how it influenced the power of the emperors at the time. The second way is to view the Great Wall of China as a symbolic icon of Chinese unity, culture, identity and pride in modern day, and, finally, as an architectural wonder. The main objective of the construction of the Great Wall of China was to defend territory against foreign marauding forces. However, the wall gained more meaning during the Dynasty of Qing, by acquiring cultural value. The Great Wall is a marvelous 50 foot high, 3000 mile long stone structure. It is clearly a great feat. The wall transformed into a psychological reality representing the essence of the Chinese people and the world, in general. The great wall is a representation of the barrier against western ideology and influence. Modern and ancient Chinese leaders alike, converge on the feeling that the west is a threat to Chinese existence since 300 BCE. The symbolism of the Great Wall cannot be underestimated. It is a symbol of wisdom because it has lived through the times. The wall evokes emotion by reminding people of the strife that people encountered when it was built. Lately, it is a great tourist attraction and an economic magnate. Its uniting significance cannot be underestimated either. The Great Wall of China is a representation of ingenious engineering and ambition. It is said to be the work by humans that can be spotted right from the distant moon. It is a union of architecture and the landscape. It is a living testimony that China has old civilizations. The rammed earth segments of the wall date back to the ancient Western Han, and are conserved within the Gansu Province. The acclaimed masonry of the Ming period is also captured in the symbolism (Su and Wall, 146-56). The wall is a significant icon and masterpiece of military architecture which was used for a single purpose for 2000 years but also one that has evolved perfectly through the changing political environments and military defense demands. The Great Wall of China is viewed and widely noted today as a humongous architectural achievement in the history of man. It was designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO IN 1987. Man has made roads that break through the wall over the time in different locations. Some sections have been run down as a result of years of neglect. Badaling is the best known section of the Great Wall of China. It was put up in the latter parts of 1950s, and runs for 70 kilometers (43 miles). It is a great attraction to both foreign and local tourists. Symbolism of the great wall By even its name alone, the Great Wall of China is imposing. It is an architectural marvel in its own right. It is a representation of a range of aspects of the people of China and humanity. It captures the military and political power, architectural superiority and a cultural metaphor for the polity and general population of Chinese citizenry in modern day.…

Sources Used in Documents:

Works cited Gao, Minglu. "The Great Wall in Chinese Contemporary Art." positions: east asia cultures critique 12.3 (2004): 773-786. Hayford, C. W. "The Great Wall: China against the world, 1000 BC-2000 AD." (2006): 103. Huang, Chi. "Deconstructing the Great Wall of China: The Jesuits’ and British encounters." History in the Making 1.1 (2012): 65-78. Lee, Jyh-An, and Ching-U. Liu. "Forbidden City enclosed by the Great Firewall: The law and power of Internet filtering in China." Minn. JL Sci. & Tech. 13 (2012): 125. Pearce II, John A., and Richard B. Robinson Jr. "Cultivating guanxi as a foreign investor strategy." Business Horizons 43.1 (2000): 31. Su, Ming, and Geoffrey Wall. "Community participation in tourism at a world heritage site: Mutianyu Great Wall, Beijing, China." International Journal of Tourism Research 16.2 (2014): 146-156. UNESCO. The Great Wall, (n.d.). Web. Williams, Dee Mack. Beyond great walls: environment, identity, and development on the Chinese grasslands of inner Mongolia. Stanford University Press, 2002. 64-65. Print.

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