The Great Wall of China is a wall that fortifies China. The Great Wall of China is made out of wood, parts of earth, brick, stone and other materials. Different parts of the wall were being built as early as the 7th century. These walls later joined together and made bigger and a stronger wall. There is a famous part of the wall which was built by Qin Shihuang who was the first Emperor of china, which was built between 220–206. A small portion of that wall exists these days. Since then the Great Wall of China has been on and off rebuilding, maintained, and enhanced.
The first part of the wall was built as early as 600 BCE. As time went one different Chinese emperors connected them. Thousands of soldiers, criminals and slaves/peasants worked on building the wall. Over 2000 years it has been believed that millions of people have worked on this structure. The Great Wall of China starts at Shanhaiguan in the east of China and ends in Lop Lake in the west. The wall itself measure out to be 21,196 kilometres long this includes the different branches. The Great Wall of China is between 5-9 meters tall and 8 meters wide.
The Great Wall of China is the biggest building/structure ever built by humans. It is built over deserts, grassland and mountains. In some areas two walls built in two different directions can be seen running side by side. Most of the wall today was built during the Ming dynasty. Who built The Great Wall of China? The Great Wall of China wasn’t built or designed by any one person, it was built by several Chinese emperors who built different parts of the wall. The first Emperor to build the wall was Qin Shihuang but princes and overlords were the first people to start building The Great wall of China.
Qin Shihuang was the first human to intend of building The Great Wall of China as the princes and overlords where building the wall as a way of defence from attacks from other kings. Qin Shihuang lived from 260BCE to 210BCE and was the King/Emperor of the state Qin. He changed his title as king to The First Emperor of the Qin dynasty. The Qin fought nomadic tribes in the north/northwest. The Xiongnu tribes couldn’t get defeated by the Qin. By the Xiongnu tribes being strong and not getting defeated by the Qin the Qin’s campaign was tiring and unsuccessful.
So Qin Shihuang and other high members of the Qin decided they needed to stop the Xiongnu tribes from going on the northern frontier any more. Qin Shihuang decided to build a defensive wall to stop the Xiongnu people going where they needed to go, therefor they could take over other tribes. Why was The Great Wall of China built? The Great Wall of China was built as a form of fortification to protect the different dynasties from being attacked. The Great Wall of China was built for other defensive things such as passes, forts and beacon towers.
These were built along The Great Wall of China to house soldiers, weapons and store grain/food, it was also built to transmit solider information. Some of the Great Wall of China was also built during the Qin dynasty to keep the nomadic tribes out of their land as they were trying to concur. The Great Wall of China was also used for border controls, which would allow goods be to be transferred along the Silk Road. The Great Wall of China was built to protect China from attacks from the Mongols. The Mongols were a tribal group that would regularly conduct attacks into China.
Despite the wall, the Mongols eventually conquered China. The Great Wall of China also kept Chinese citizens from leaving China because they could have gone to the Mongols and given them information about China, which would lead the Mongols to weak points and they would have more successful attacks. The Great Wall of China was the greatest military defence project in the world because it was the guarantee of the peace and stability of ancient society and agriculture. This is because most attackers couldn’t get into China to make harm this means they could live safe lives.
What is the Qin dynasty? The Qin dynasty was the first dynasty of China, this dynasty was from 221 BC to 206 BC. The Qin dynasty was formed after Qin attacked six other states to claim their land. Qin Shihuang was the First Emperor of Qin and of China. Even though the Qin dynasty only lasted for 15 years it was one of the most important dynasties. Qin Shihuang ran his dynasty with complete control. Qin was the first person to control the whole of China by himself. Qin Shihuang died at the age of 49. Despite Qin dynasty’s military strength, the Qin dynasty did not last long. This is because Qin Shihuang passed away.
When Qin Shihuang died in 210 BC, his son was placed on the throne to try to replicate Qin this was done by two of the previous emperor’s advisers. The advisors tried desperately to bring a new leader among them however, this resulted in both their deaths. A popular protest broke out a few years later, and the weakened empire soon collapsed, which went on to found the Han dynasty. Despite the quick end to Qin, the Qin dynasty influenced the future of the Chinese empires, particularly the Han dynasty. The name for China is thought to be of come from the Qin dynasty.
What is the Silk Road? The Silk Road also known as the Silk route was a network of trade and cultural transmission routes that were important for interaction through regions of Asia. These routes connected the west and east of china by monks, soldiers, merchants, urban dwellers and nomads from China and India. The road took people from the centre of China to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods of time. The Silk Road is 6 437 kilometres long. The name ‘Silk Road’ derives from the large amount of trade/transport of silk carried along this road during the Han dynasty which was during 206 BC and 220 AD.
The Chinese took great interest in the safety of their trade products and extended the Great Wall of China to ensure the protection of the trade on The Silk road. Trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the civilizations of China, the Indian, Persia and Europe. Even though silk was the major item for trade in China, many other goods were traded. In addition to economic trade, the Silk Road served as a means of carrying out cultural trade among the civilizations along its network. The Silk Road covers china and stretches to Europe with stops all around the area (See Fig. 3). What’s the Ming dynasty?
The Ming dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China for 276 years (1368-1644). During the final 40 years of the Yuan Dynasty (the dynasty before the Ming dynasty) era (1279–1368), there were famines, drought, flooding on the Yellow River, a plague, and other natural disasters. Tens of millions of people died therefor the Yuan dynasty had already fallen and a new dynasty had to uprise. The Ming dynasty was described as “one of the greatest eras of orderly governed and social stability in human history”. Around 1580 the Ming dynasty owned about half of china (see Fig. 1 & Fig. 2).
It’s an estimate that in 1415 the Ming dynasty owned 6 500 000 km2. The Hongwu Emperor ruled from 1368 to 1398, he attempted to create armies of self-sufficient communities ordered in a system that would provide a top class of permanent soldiers for the Ming dynasty, his army exceeded one million troops. Estimates for the population around 1393 peak 60 000 000, and in the time frame or 10 years it raised to 66 598 337. After 97 years the population almost doubled and reached 125 000-000, 100 years later in 1600 the population of people in the Ming dynasty raised to 35 000 000. During the Ming dynasty and most of China today they spoke and now speak Mandarin.
