The Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Center. The wall is one of the most famous symbols of Chinese history and culture to the outside world. The wall’s construction spanned hundreds of years and was constructed during different periods of China’s history and by different leaders for various purposes. The timelines for the construction of the wall, its purposes, and length have long been subjects of archeological research and controversy. However, recent data revealed that the wall is roughly 21000 kilometers long (Brock, 2014). Millions of tourists from all over the world travel to China to tour the wall, particularly the best-preserved parts in northern Beijing, China’s capital (Su & Wall, 2012). The Great Wall of China is a modern national symbol for China that illustrates the country’s culture and continuous history that stretches back thousands of years.
The history of when the construction of the Great Wall started is often difficult to pinpoint because different leaders did construction at different times, and record-keeping was not as meticulous as it is today, thus making it difficult to have accurate documentation of construction timelines. However, available data suggest that construction may have started earlier than the fifth century with different tribes constructing walls to act as fortifications during the period of the Warring States (Huang, 2012). Organized construction is attributed to China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. He ordered for the demolishment of earlier fortifications and the joining of walls in northern China into a single system to defend against raiders such as the Mongols. Qin Shi Huang was the first to rule over a unified China in what is commonly known as the Qing dynasty. Records suggest that Qing delegated the project to his general Meng Tian, who used a workforce of hundreds of thousands consisting of soldiers, convicts, and the local population. The materials used in the construction were mostly earth, stone, bricks, wood, and lime.
After the end of the Qing dynasty, several other dynasties, after that, did not pay much attention to the wall until the period of the powerful Ming dynasty. The Great Wall, as it is today, was constructed during the Ming dynasty that lasted from 1368-1644 (Su & Wall, 2012; Brock, 2014). The Ming dynasty had expanded territories and made Beijing the capital. Building the wall was critical to a successful defense of these territories and the capital (Huang, 2012). The wall built during the Ming dynasty extended from the Yalu River in Liaoning Province to the Taolai River in Gansu Province (Su & Wall, 2012). The wall further winded through modern-day Beijing, Hebei, Gansu, Shanxi, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Liaoning, and Tianjin (Su & Wall, 2012). Over the years, the wall has lost substantial sections due to neglect and erosion, with the sections in Beijing being the best maintained and most visited by tourists (Brock, 2014).
The Great Wall is one of the modern-day representation of China’s nationalism, history, and culture. The wall’s long history illustrates the country’s long history and culture that has lasted for thousands of years (Huang, 2012). Besides, the fact that different rulers constructed or repaired different sections of the wall during different periods is a representation of China’s long and dynamic history of political leadership under various emperors, dynasties, and rulers. The Great Wall is the modern-day national symbol for China as it represents the strength and resolve of the Chinese people as well as their commitment to nationalism, unity, and the defense of their culture and autonomy (Huang, 2012).
The wall also illustrates the superiority of Chinese civilization and architecture and is often cited as one of the best works of ancient human architecture. Furthermore, the Great Wall is a representation of China’s determination and resolve to protect its territorial integrity and sovereignty from external aggression just as the wall was meant to protect against external conquests and raids (Brock, 2014). Modern-day China continues to pursue its territorial integrity and sovereignty by modernizing its massive military and reclaiming territories. The wall also represents China’s relative wariness of foreigners and its desire to remain autonomous and independent (Schill, 2007). It is only recently that China involuntarily opened up its borders to foreigners during the Opium Wars. The wall’s enclosure of the country represented China’s desire to isolate itself from the outside world until its recent open-door policy (Schill, 2007).
Even though there is a growing western cultural influence in China due to globalization, the country still maintains some of its cultural and religious traits. Just as the wall was meant to protect against raids and conquests, modern-day China’s “Great Firewall” is often cited as a way for China to lock out external influences such as social media in which sites such as Facebook and Twitter are banned. In addition, the wall symbolizes China’s authoritarian leadership that aims to maintain significant state control over the affairs of the country. The Great Wall is also a representation of the strength, resolve, spirit, unity, and nationalism of the people of China.
References
Brock, J. J. (2014). The Great Wall of China: the world’s greatest boundary monument. International Federation of Surveyors (June 2014), 1-13.
Huang, C. C. (2012). Deconstructing the Great Wall of China: The Jesuits’ and British encounters. History in the Making, 1(1), 65-78.
Schill, S. W. (2007). Tearing down the great wall: the new generation investment treaties of The People’s Republic of China. Cardozo J. Int’l & Comp. L., 15, 73.
Su, M. M., & Wall, G. (2012). Global–local relationships and governance issues at the Great Wall World Heritage Site, China. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 20(8), 1067-1086.