The Great Wall Of China

The Great Wall of China was very important in China throughout history. It was built and re-modeled throughout many historical dynasties of China. The Great Wall of China was built for several different reasons. It was constructed for protection from northern invaders; it partially unified China, and was later restored for the attraction of travelers. There were several different dynasties that made what the Great Wall is today. The first dynasty to begin the construction of the Great Wall was the Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.). Shihuangdi built the Great Wall as a defense from northern invaders . Weapons of this time, such as arrows, could not reach over the extensive wall. The workers of the Qin Dynasty worked day and night . If they complained or attempted to run away and got caught, they suffered severe consequences of being buried alive . Most of the workers spent their whole lives building this wall and about 70% of the China population was involved with the construction of this wonder .








After the Ming Dynasty reconstructed the wall for over 200 years, it is now only being restored for the attraction of travelers . Throughout the 1,000 years of construction of the Great Wall, 3,000 people died building it. That is more than 300 people per mile . After about 2,500 years of the Great Wall standing, it has extended over 6,000 miles at one point reaching from the Yalu River in Northeast China, to Gansu province in Northwest China . The actual length of the Great Wall varies
from different authors, but it ranges from 3,000 to 4,500 miles .The great wall of China is a place of defense for the borders of the northern and . The wall runs along the east to the area surrounding Goadai, Gansu Province. On the west there is an inner wall running from the surrounding area of Beijing almost to Hadan. The largest portion of the wall was erected by Shih Huang Ti. He was the first emperor of the Ch'in Dynasty. It was made for defense against raids by nomadic people.


Work on the wall started about 221 B.C, after Shih Huang Ti had united China. It was finished by about 204 B.C. Small sections of the wall might have already existed, but Shih Huang Ti is supposed to have had about 1900 km (about 1200 mi) of the wall erected during his rein. In later centuries, especially during the period of the Ming Dynasty (A.D 1368-1644), the Great Wall was repaired and extended. The fortification finally reached a length of about 2400 km (1500 mi). It follows the courses of rivers instead of bridging them. It conforms to the contours of the mountains and valleys in its way.


The wall is built of earth and stone. There is brick on the east side of the wall. It is from 4.6 to 9.1 m thick at the base and tapers to about 7.6 m.