History and Construction of the Wall:
It is one of the greatest and longest ancient defensive architecture walls in the world. The Great Wall has more than a 2300 years history as it started building at the early dynasty before Qing. It was built for preventing invasions from northern nomadic tribes and protecting Silk Road trade. The Great Wall not only enhanced the Chinese national pride, but also represented Chinese possessed talents in making an extravagant and creative architecture.
The Great Wall that was reconstructed in the Ming Dynasty paid an important role in the ancient time as it integrated a military defensive system with the features of surveillance, command posts and logistics, and communications. It became stronger and more sophisticated in the Ming Dynasty after reclaiming China from the Mongolian attacked, and reached over 5000 km.
It is one of the greatest and longest ancient defensive architecture walls in the world. The Great Wall has more than a 2300 years history as it started building at the early dynasty before Qing. It was built for preventing invasions from northern nomadic tribes and protecting Silk Road trade. The Great Wall not only enhanced the Chinese national pride, but also represented Chinese possessed talents in making an extravagant and creative architecture.
The Great Wall that was reconstructed in the Ming Dynasty paid an important role in the ancient time as it integrated a military defensive system with the features of surveillance, command posts and logistics, and communications. It became stronger and more sophisticated in the Ming Dynasty after reclaiming China from the Mongolian attacked, and reached over 5000 km.
The Ming emperors decided to build new walls along the northern border for resisting the attacks from the Mongols when Chinese regained control of China in 1368. To increase the ability of defending invaders, the Ming built the walls in brick and stone with the averaged height of the walls about 8 m and 9 m width to fortify the north side of the capital, and some walls were built in doubled with two parallel walls. The construction and development of Great Wall in Ming Era has the most architecturally advanced structure, and this design achievement became a highly controlled and strongly defended security point. However, this wall was damaged by Manchus when they made the conquest of China in 1644.
The Great Wall was beginning to decline after the Qing government ruled over China. Since the Qing emperors controlled the Mongolia and Tibet areas, the wall was ignored by the emperors because it became no longer needed for defending the country. The Qing government diminished their interest in making any maintenance of the wall, so the wall began to fall into ruin after a long period of time.
Sources:
[1] Joseph R, Neill. The Great Wall of China. Edina, Minn.: ABDO Pub, 2009.
[2] David, Large. The Great Wall of China. Pg.21-29
Media:
Figure [1] David, Large. The Great Wall of China. Pg.28
Figure [2] David, Large. The Great Wall of China. Pg.26
The Great Wall was beginning to decline after the Qing government ruled over China. Since the Qing emperors controlled the Mongolia and Tibet areas, the wall was ignored by the emperors because it became no longer needed for defending the country. The Qing government diminished their interest in making any maintenance of the wall, so the wall began to fall into ruin after a long period of time.
Sources:
[1] Joseph R, Neill. The Great Wall of China. Edina, Minn.: ABDO Pub, 2009.
[2] David, Large. The Great Wall of China. Pg.21-29
Media:
Figure [1] David, Large. The Great Wall of China. Pg.28
Figure [2] David, Large. The Great Wall of China. Pg.26