Page 190 - DK Eyewitness Travel Guides - The World's Must-See Places

The Great Wall of China
188 A SI A

A symbol of China's historical detachment and sense of
RUSSIAN
fWEAATIOIC
vulnerability, the Great Wall snakes through the Chinese
'-
MO NGOLIA landscape, over deserts, hills, and plains, for more than
THE GREA.l-WALL 2,500 miles (4,000 km). Yet, despite its seemingly
OF CHINA
1eijing impregnable battlements, the wall was ultimately an
CHI NA ineffective barricade. In the 13th century it was breached
Shanghai• £AST
CHINA SEA by the ferocious onslaught of the Mongols and then in
the 17th century by the Manchu, helped by the decline of
the Ming dynasty. Today, its dilapidated remains crumble
across the rugged terrain of northern China and only

THE EXPANDING WALL select sections have been restored.
Sections of the bastion called the Great Wall
were first built during the Warring States THE GREAT WAL L OF CHINA (MING DYNASTY) Shi Huangdi, the
First Emperor
period (4 7 5-2 21 BC) by individual states to
thwart incurs ions by northern tribes and to
INNER MONGOLIA
defend against aggressive neighbors. S imple
Y.Ucw ,f· CJiD®
and unconnected earthen ramparts, they were ''e • (i)
<D Datong • seiJing
not joined together until the Qi n dynasty 7
(221-207 BC) first unified China under Sh1 Taiyuan" Tlanjln• BcHai
Huangd, the F1rst Emperor. The ma1nten<r~ce ~ / Ramparts
and expansion of the wall reflected each These enabled the
Yelk>w soldiers to fire dOMl
succeed1ng dynasty's feelings of insecunty . LanzhOu Sea on their attackers with
Enlarged under the expansionist Han dynasty relative impunity.
Okilometers 400
(206 BC-AD 220), the wall was neglected by Vis iting the Great Wall
Most visitors travel from Beijing to see the , ;..
the cosmopolitan Tang dynasty (AD 618-907),
wall, but the restored forts at Jlayu Guan and J' o miles
only to be heavily fortified by the more inward- Shanhai guan are also impressive.
looking Ming dynasty ( 1368-1644)
Places to visit
1 Ji3yu Guan 3 Huanghua
BUILDING ON S AND 2 Juyong Guan 4 S lmatal
and Badaling 5 Shanhalguan
The Qin wall was a simple tamped earth affair,
but the later Han dynasty adopted a more
advanced technology that enabled them to
build walls even in the bleak expanses of the
Surface of stone
Gob1 Desert. They would line wooden frames
slabs and bricks
With a layer of INillow reeds and twigs and
then fill the frame INith a mixture of mud, fine
gravel, and water. This would then be pressed
firmly into place. When the mixture dried, the Tamped layer of
earth and rubble
frame could be removed, leaving behind a
I arge s lab of hard, bricklike mud that could be
bu1lt upon again in the same manner. This is
much like modern construction, when steel Bigger rock:s
rods are use to reinforce concrete. and stones -----+~=t:r-;.~~

GENERAL CAl KAI
Kiln-fired bri(k:S,
One of the I egends about the wall tells that,
cemented with a
during the Ming dynasty, General Cai Kai was mortar of lime and
put in charge of building the section of wall at glutinous rice ----r~~:!:C~
Huanghua, 40 miles (55 km) north of Beijing.
Word got back to the emperor that the
general was taking too long over the task and
wasting too much money. The unfortunate
general was therefore summarily executed ICEY D A TES
later, when the Mongols mounted a 5t h century BC 119 BC 589 1215 1644 1987
concerted attack. General Cai Kai's efforts
Individual staes Aller dri<ing the After <enturiesol The Mongols <~ure The M<rl<hus The Greot wall of
pa1d off, Hu<r~ghua was the only fortress that make defensive Mongols back into strife, Yang Jial Betjng after beilg ~errun the wal China is added to
successfully warded off the enemy. Realiz1ng walls oot of firm If the Gobi Desert, the unites China under held off for f oor from the northeast UIIESCO's World
tamped earth. Han dynasty extend the Sui dynasty years b')' the waiL and create the Hentage List.
his mistake, the emperor exhumed General
the Great WaiL and rebuilds the Qing dynasty.
Cai Kai's body and had it reburied with full Great \llrciiL
honors near the part of the wall that he built