when was the great wall china?

Answer 1

No one can tell precisely when the building of the Great Wall was started but it is popularly believed that it originated as a military fortification against intrusion by tribes on the borders during the earlier Zhou Dynasty. Late in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476 BC), the ducal states extended the defence work and built "great" structures to prevent the attacks from other states. It was not until the Qin Dynasty that the separate walls, constructed by the states of Qin, Yan and Zhao kingdoms, were connected to form a defensive system on the northern border of the country by Emperor Qin Shi Huang (also called Qin Shi Huangdi by westerners or the First Emperor). After the emperor unified the country in 214 BC, he ordered the construction of the wall. It took about ten years to finish and the wall stretched from Linzhao (in the eastern part of today's Gansu Province) in the west to Liaodong (in today's Jilin Province) in the east. The wall not only served as a defence in the north but also symbolized the power of the emperor.

From the Qin Dynasty onwards, Xiongnu, an ancient tribe that lived in North China, frequently harassed the northern border of the country. During the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu (Han Wu Di), sent three expeditions to fight against the Xiongnu in 127 BC, 121 BC and 119 BC. The Xiongnu were driven into the far north of the Gobi. To maintain the safety of the Hexi Corridor (today's Gansu Province), the emperor ordered the extension of the Great Wall westward into the Hexi Corridor and Xinjiang region. The ruins of the beacon towers and debris of the Han Wall are still discernible in Dunhuang, Yumen and Yangguan. A recent report shows that ruins of the Han Wall have been discovered near Lopnur in China's Xinjiang region.

Further construction and extensions were made in the successive Northern Wei, Northern Qi and Sui dynasties.

The present Great Wall in Beijing is mainly remains from the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). During this period, bricks and granite were used when the workers laid the foundation of the wall and sophisticated designs and passes were built in the places of strategic importance. To strengthen the military control of the northern frontiers, the Ming authorities divided the Great Wall into nine zones and placed each under the control of a Zhen (garrison headquarters). The Ming Wall starts from Yalujiang River (in today's Heilongjiang Province), via today's Liaoning, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia provinces, to Guansu. The total length reaches 12,700 li (over 5,000 kilometers). The Shanhaiguan Pass and the Jiayuguan Pass are two well-preserved passes at either end.

Today, the Wall has become a must-see for every visitor to China. Few can help saying 'Wow!' when they stand on top of a beacon tower and look at this giant dragon. For centuries, the wall served succeeding dynasties as an efficient military defence. However, it was only when a dynasty had weakened from within that invaders from the north were able to advance and conquer. Both the Mongols (Yuan Dynasty, 1271-1368) and the Manchurians (Qing Dynasty, 1644-1911) were able take power because of weakness of the government and poverty of the people but never due to any possibility of weakness of the Wall.

Wall of Zhou

The Zhou Dynasty is traditionally divided into two periods: Western Zhou (11th century BC-771BC) and Eastern Zhou (770BC-221BC). And the Eastern Zhou has two periods: the Spring and Autumn Period (770BC-476BC) and the Warring States Period (476BC-221BC).

Spanning 2,700 years of Chinese history, ranging from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), over twenty states and dynasties were involved in the building of the Great Wall. The creation of the Great Wall was initiated during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to prevent the invasion by other states of China and outer tribes.

Walls Built in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476 BC)

The Wall of Chu State

According to historical records, the first part of the Great Wall of China was built by Chu State. Chu State was a small state that gradually developed by conquering weak neighbors during the Spring and Autumn Period. To control China and prevent the intrusion of the Jin and Qi states, Chu State built a series of walls along its northern frontier in about 656BC. These boundary markers would eventually evolve into the Great Wall. Shaped like a "U", the Wall of Chu was referred to as "the Rectangle Wall".

Entering the Warring States Period, Chu State extended its wall to guard against the attack from other states especially the mighty Qin. As such, the wall of Chu became more integrated and solid. At this point, the site now included the Lushan and Yexian Counties of Pingdingshan City, Wugang City, Fangcheng and the Nanzhao Counties of Nanyang City in Henan Province.

The Wall of Qi State

Qi State was another state that participated in the building of the wall. Qi construction of the Wall commenced in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period and finished in the middle of the Warring States Period. The whole construction lasted 300 years covering a length of 600 kilometers (372 miles). That was later called the Famous Wall of Qi.

Similar to Chu State, Qi State built the fortification to prevent intrusion by other states and outer tribes. It became one of the most influential military defenses in Chinese history. Its ramparts, passes, fortresses and beacon towers formed an integrated military defense system around which important historical events and campaigns were held.

The Wall of Qi stretched across almost the whole of Shandong Province, from the west in Changqing County to the east in Jiaonan County, passing through eight cities to reach the Yellow Sea of China.

With the development of Chinese society, the defense function of the Wall of Qi no longer exists. Only relics are left.

Walls Built in the Warring States Period (476BC-221BC)

Battles during the Spring and Autumn Periods and the Warring States Period occurred very often, particularly during the period of the "Seven Powers of the Warring States Period". Each state was eager to set the boundaries of its territory. To defend the state against invasion, they each built defense walls. With the increasing heat of the battles, the walls were continuously extended. The "Seven Powers" of Qin, Qi, Chu, Han, Yan, Zhao and Wei each built or extended their walls. Except for the Walls of Chu in the Yangtze River valley, all the others were in the Yellow River valley and Northern China areas.

The Wall of Qin State

During the early Warring States Period, Qin State suffered from a weak economy, civil strife and repeated invasions by Wei State. To protect Qin State, the kings, Qin Ligong and Qin Jiangong successively, built the wall to the west of the Yellow River and the Luo River - a site that can now be found in Northern Shaanxi in Shaanxi Province.

An additional section of the wall was built along the northwest frontier of the state by King Qin Zhaogong. To the northwest of Qin State lay the Yiqu, a branch of the ancient Chinese Xirong people. Powerful during the Spring and Autumn Periods, these people held battles with the Qin from time to time. To guard against the intrusion of the Yiqu, King Qin Huiwen built the fortification along the north of his frontier. However, it was not until the period of King Qin Zhaogong that the Yiqu were completely defeated and the wall of Qin was built. These sites now lie in Gansu Province and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The Wall of Zhao State

According to historical record, the Wall of Zhao State was built in two sections. One section was built to the south of Zhao State in 333BC to prevent attacks from Wei and later the strong Qin. The whole wall was about 200 kilometers (124 miles) long and its site can now be found in Linzhang County and Cixian County of Hebei Province.

The other section was built in 300BC by King Zhao Wuling to prevent attacks from the Hu people. King Zhao Wuling was a wise king that made great efforts to make reforms and promote the culture exchange of different nations. He learned from the Hu people on one hand, and fought against the invasion of Hu people on the other. This section of the wall was located in what now is Inner Mongolia in China.

The Wall of Zhongshan State

Zhongshan State was a small but powerful one. During the Warring States Period, Zhongshan was aligned with the Yan and the Qin, its northern and eastern neighbors, and experienced a long and peaceful period. However its southwestern neighbors, the Zhao and Wei states, considered it a serious danger. So Zhongshan built the wall in 369BC to protect itself.

The Wall of Zhongshan was at the junction of Hebei Province and Shanxi Province of China. It ran over Mt. Hengshan, across Mt. Taihangshan and finally reached the Xingtai area of Hebei Province, stretching about 250 kilometers (155 miles).

The Wall of Wei State

The Wall of Wei had two sections: the first was the Hexi Wall located in the northwest of Wei, and it was originally built to guard against the mighty Qin. The other was the Henan Wall in the south. The sites are located in now Huayin City, Hancheng City and Dali County in Shaanxi Province. Starting at the foot of Qinling in Huayin, the Wall stretched to Dali, Chengcheng and Heyang in the north and Hancheng in the east, through the Loess Altiplano to Inner Mongolia, and at last ended in Guyang, Baotou. It spanned more than 200 kilometers (124 miles). The longest and best preserved part ran about 2.1 kilometers (1.3 miles), with a height of 2.2-11.4 meters (7.2-37.3 feet) and a width of 6-16 meters (19.7-52.4 feet). Today, only one or two sections remain including a fortress and beacon tower at a height of 7-11 meters (23-36 feet).

The Wall of Zhenghan State

This part of the Wall was originally built by Zheng State in 355BC. After the Zheng were conquered by the Han, Han State continued to build and use the Wall. Some call this section the Wall of Han, while others call it the Wall of Zheng - hence the creation of the shared name Wall of Zhenghan. This part of the Wall connected with the southeastern Wall of Wei, and can be found in present Xinzheng City in Henan Province, once the capital of the Zheng and Han.

The Wall of Yan State

The Wall of Yan State also had two sections: the Wall of Yishui and the Wall of the North. Construction of the Wall of Yishui, from 334BC to 311BC, was done to guard against the attack from the Zhao, Qi and Qin. It stretched about 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the foot of present Mt. Taihangshan of Yixian County through Xushui and Anxin Counties, via XiongXian County and ended in Wen'an County in Hebei Province.

The Wall of the North was built to guard against intrusion by nomadic people like the Donghu. This part of the wall was built in 254BC, which was the last wall built in the Warring States Period. This wall went through present Zhangjiakou City of Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, across Hebei Province, Chaoyang City of Liaoning Province, over Mt. Yiwulu Shan, and reached Liaoyang of Liaoning Province. Now the sites of Wall of Yan can be found in the above-mentioned areas.

The Great Wall of China is often thought to have been built by order of Qin Shihuang, the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC). It is true that as a national defence work, the Great Wall first took shape after the unification of China during that period. However, the construction of the separate sections started long before the Qin Dynasty. As early as the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC) and the period of the Warring States (475-221 BC), some sections of the walls were built by the seven powerful ducal states, the Qin, Qi, Chu, Han, Zhao, Wei and Yan for protection against each other. Also, some sections were built along the northern borders by the Qin, Zhao and Yan to fend off the Huns, who assaulted China constantly. These walls formed the origins of the Great Wall. When he established the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Qin Shihuang made every effort to protect the new Empire. He gave the order to build the Great Wall. This project involved joining the separate walls previously constructed plus a further extension of totally over 5000 kilometers cutting right across northern China, starting from Inner Mongolia in the east.

Emperor Qin Shihuang's contribution to the design of the Wall is considered to be of great importance as it ensured peace for the people in the northern part of China against the Huns and established a pattern of defence for future generations.

The Great Wall of the Qin Dynasty was divided into 3 sections: the eastern section, the middle section, and the western section. The eastern section, mostly built on the original wall of Yan State, started from Huade County, Inner Mongolia and ran into Fuxin City, Liaoning Province through Hebei Province. The middle section with beacon towers, mostly built by the Qin Dynasty, rose from Xinghe County, Inner Mongolia in the east and reached the desert to form a further protection system. The western section went along the Yellow River. It began in Min County, Gansu Province and wound its way to Yuzhong. Within this section, some parts were based on the walls of the Warring States Period.

The Great Wall of the Qin Dynasty was built at the expense of many lives. It involved the backbreaking toil of tens of thousands of people including conscripted soldiers, slaves, convicts as well as ordinary people. It is for this reason that the story of the Great Wall is often associated with the tyranny of the First Emperor of Qin.

Han Dynasty was divided into two historical periods: Western Han (202BC-24AD) and Eastern Han (25AD-220AD). The capital of Western Han was at present Xian of Shaanxi Province and the capital of Eastern Han was at present Luoyang City of Henan Province.

Liu Bang (256BC-195BC) took the title of Han Gaozu, the first emperor of Han Dynasty (202BC-220AD), when he ascended the throne after defeating Xiang Yu in 202BC. That was right after the brief Qin Dynasty, which had imposed a centralized government on China. But the new nation was no match for the fierce Huns, who had constantly invaded its northern borders. Early Han administrators had no choice but sued for peace, and sent Chinese princesses north as Hun nobles' brides.

By 140 BC, under Liu Che (156BC-87BC), the emperor Han Wudi brought war home to the Huns. He also had several parts of the Great Wall built.

Han Wudi ordered a construction project of the Great Wall in 127 BC. This resulted in rebuilding an older part of the Wall and an extension of territories to present day Mount Yinshan of Inner Mongolia.

Huo Qubing, Emperor Han Wudi's general pushed the Huns back and in 121 BC he secured the Hexi Corridor, the passage to the Western Region. A subsequent Hexi wall construction from present day Yongdeng County to Jiuquan City in Gansu Province had severed contacts between Huns and their allies the Qiang People. The newer wall had joined the eastern terminus of an older network of walls.

Forts dotted the distance between Jiuquan City and Yumenguan Pass of Gansu Province that were also the form of the Great Wall. These were measures against Hun warlords around 110 BC. Around 101 BC Chinese workers built the section from Yumenguan Pass to Luobu Po of Xinjiang Ugyur Autonomous Region. Altogether Han Wudi had built a thousand kilometers (621 miles) of defense wall over twenty years to secure the passage to the Western Region. The Huns power later was in decline and consequently less wall-building activity came about this side of the border.

During the period of Eastern Han, after years of civil wars, Liu Xiu (6BC-57AD), the emperor Guang Wudi could put up only weak resistance to northern invaders. In around 39 AD he gave order to his general Ma Cheng to build four boundary walls to contain the damage. The boundary walls ran 1) from Lishi County of Shanxi Province to southeast of Xianyang City of Shaanxi Province; 2) between Gaoling County of Shaanxi and Anyi County of Shanxi; 3) from Taiyuan City of Shanxi to Jingxing County of Hebei Province; and 4) from Dingxian County of Hebei to Linhang County of Henan Province.

The walls offered some protection to Luoyang, the capital of Eastern Han. Afterwards in-fighting divided the Huns into the North and South. The North Huns were driven off by Han. The more friendly South Huns co-existed with the Han Dynasty and there was no need to build more walls.

Answer 2

The Great Wall of China is a Chinese fortification built from 3rd century BC until the beginning of the 17th century, in order to protect the various dynasties from raids by Mongol, Turkic, and other nomadic tribes coming from areas in modern-day Mongolia and Manchuria. Several walls were built since the 3rd century BC, the most famous being the Great Wall of China built between 220 BC and 200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi (this was located much further north than the current Great Wall of China built during the Ming Dynasty, and little of it remains).


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Answer 3

The Great Wall of China was built over 2,000 years ago, by Qin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of China during the Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty (221 B.C - 206 B.C.). In Chinese the wall is called "Wan-Li Qang-Qeng" which means 10,000-Li Long Wall (10,000 Li = about 5,000 km).

Answer 4

Chinese fortification built from 3rd century BC until the beginning of the 17th century, in order to protect the various dynasties from raids by Mongol, Turkic, and other nomadic tribes coming from areas in modern-day Mongolia and Manchuria. Several walls were built since the 3rd century BC, the most famous being the Great Wall of China built between 220 BC and 200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi (this was located much further north than the current Great Wall of China built during the Ming Dynasty, and little of it remains).

Watchtower interiorA defensive wall on the northern border was built and maintained by several dynasties at different times in Chinese history. Its purpose was to defend the China mainland from Mongol and Turkic nomads. There have been five major walls:

208 BC (Qin Dynasty)
1st century BC (Han Dynasty)
7th century CE (Sui Dynasty)
1138 - 1198 (Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period)
1368 - 1640 (from Hongwu Emperor until Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty)
The first major wall was built during the reign of the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. This wall was not constructed as a single endeavor, but was mostly the product of joining several regional walls built by the Warring States. The walls that were linked together at this time consisted of rammed earth with watch towers built at regular intervals. It was located much further north than the current Great Wall with its eastern end at modern day North Korea. Very little of this first wall remains
The government ordered people to work on the wall, and workers were under perpetual danger of being attacked by brigands. Because many people died while building the wall, it has obtained the gruesome title, "longest cemetery on Earth" or "the long graveyard". Possibly as many as one million workers died building the wall, though the true numbers cannot be determined now. The people that died were not buried in the wall, since decomposing bodies would have weakened structure.

The later long walls built by the Han, the Sui, and the Ten Kingdoms period were also built along the same design. They were made of rammed earth with multi-story watch towers built every few miles. These walls have also largely vanished into the surrounding landscape, eroded away by wind and rain.

The Great Wall which tourists visit today was built during the Ming Dynasty, starting around the year 1368 and lasting till around 1640. Work on the wall started as soon as the Ming took control of China but initially, walls were not the Ming's preferred response to raids out of the north. That attitude began to change in response to the Ming's inablilty to defeat the Oirat war leader Esen Taiji in the period 1449 to 1454. A huge Ming Dynasty army with the Zhengtong Emperor at its head was anihilated in battle and the Emperor himself held hostage in 1449.

Apparently the real focus on wall building started as a result of Altan Khan's siege of Beijing which took place one hundred years later in 1550. The Ming, faced with the choice of trying to defeat the Mongols with direct military force, chose instead to build a massive defensive barrier to protect China. As a result, most of the Ming Great Wall was built in the period 1560 to 1640. This new wall was built on a grand scale with longer lasting materials (solid stone used for the sides and the top of the Wall) than any wall built before.

Answer 5

Ofcourse Taj Mahal

Answer 6

As far as I knew it was never Porcelain.