Great Wall

Author: Zhou Wanping, Wang Licheng, et al., Tang Dewei
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-04-01
Features: During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the various states built walls in strategically important locations to defend against each other. After Qin Shi Huang conquered the six states and unified China, he repaired the northern sections of the walls of the former Qin, Zhao, and Yan states in 214 BC, connecting them into a single system. The original site extended from Tao (now Min County, Gansu) in the west to Yinshan in the north and Liaodong in the east, commonly known as the "Ten Thousand Li Great Wall." Remnants of it still exist today. During the Ming Dynasty, to defend against the invasions of the Tatars and Mongols, walls were constructed repeatedly over 18 times, starting from Jiayuguan in the west to Shanhaiguan in the east, with a total length of about 6,700 kilometers. Most of these walls remain largely intact to this day. In the Juyong Pass area, the walls stand 8.5 meters high, 6.5 meters thick at the base, 5.7 meters thick at the top, and the parapet is 1 meter high. It is magnificent in scale and stands as one of the great engineering feats in world history.