What is the historical value of the Great Wall?

The significance of the historical value of the Great Wall can be shown in the following aspects:

(l) The Great Wall is a barrier to defend the agricultural civilization and peaceful production environment in the Central Plains. In essence, the Great Wall is only a strategic defensive measure under the guidance of the strategic thought of "being prepared will defeat people, and being unprepared will defeat people". Its great military function has always been the most basic function of ancient society. For more than 2,000 years, the offensive and defensive warfare around the city wall has constituted the main content of ancient military activities, and a series of strategic and tactical systems for guarding the city have also emerged.

Throughout the construction history of the Great Wall, we can clearly see that as a military defense project, the purpose of the Great Wall is to prevent and avoid wars as much as possible, so as to obtain a stable production and living environment for people. Its role in maintaining the stability and peace of agricultural civilization in the Central Plains needs to be fully affirmed. (2) The Great Wall is a lever to promote the economic development in the northern region. Throughout the history of the development of northern China in ancient times, most of them are related to the border defense construction with the Great Wall as the core. It can be said that the Great Wall has played the role of economic leverage. Around the construction of the Great Wall, as well as the measures to solve the problem of military supplies for soldiers guarding the city, such as barracks, private enterprises and immigration, have stimulated the economic development of the northern region.

During the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were nearly ten million soldiers and civilians. While building the Great Wall, Qin Shihuang began to strengthen the development and construction of border areas, which opened the prelude to stationing farmland to defend the border and developing the border areas. Because it took a long time to build the Great Wall in the Han Dynasty, many people put forward suggestions for immigration. These suggestions have been adopted and implemented by the Korean government. Those immigrants, together with the soldiers guarding the Great Wall, cultivated wasteland and helped themselves to have plenty of food and clothing, which not only accelerated the economic development of the border region, but also saved a lot of military expenses of the government and greatly alleviated the pain of long-distance transportation. This is a policy of killing two birds with one stone. The Great Wall of Hexi in Han Dynasty also played a certain role in invigorating the trade and promoting economic development in the northwest border areas. In the second year of Emperor founding ceremony of the Han Dynasty (12 1), after Huo Qubing opened the Hexi Corridor, the envoys of the Han Dynasty and the western regions frequently walked along this road, which promoted the trade activities at that time.

The traffic network in northern Xinjiang was originally established directly because of the military needs of building the Great Wall defense. Smooth roads and developed traffic are the basis of economic development and the premise of further promoting economic activities. The transportation network extending in all directions is the main artery for transporting grain, grass and equipment and mobilizing military forces. This undoubtedly played an important role in strengthening the material exchange between the border region and the mainland and promoting economic development. In this sense, the Great Wall has indeed played a lifeline role in stimulating the economic development of northern Xinjiang and gestating the "pearl on the plug".

Finally, let's take a look at the protective effect of the Great Wall on the northern economy and the economic construction of the Central Plains. Throughout the history of the Great Wall, we can clearly see that no matter which dynasty, as long as the Great Wall plays its role as a frontier defense under the auspices of capable officials, great economic benefits will be achieved. It can be seen that in the historical process of building the Great Wall for more than two thousand years, the Great Wall has played a great role in protecting the economic and agricultural civilization along the Great Wall in the north and in the Central Plains.

(3) The Great Wall is the bond of national integration. The role of the Great Wall in ethnic integration has been reflected in China's history. In 5l BC, the southern Xiongnu returned to Han, which realized the integration of the Han nationality in China and the northern pastoral nationality in the Central Plains agricultural area, and was the beginning of the formation of the Chinese nation. After the founding of New China, the archaeological discovery of the Han Dynasty castle site in Yinshan, Inner Mongolia showed that the peaceful communication between Han and Xiongnu was not completely blocked by the Great Wall of Wan Li and the military fortress. During the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Zhaojun generously married the northern Xiongnu, leaving a commendable chapter in the history of national unity and friendship. In the Tang Dynasty, after Emperor Taizong defeated the Turkish army, he let hundreds of thousands of people live along the border Great Wall, set up six viceroy offices, and appointed Turks as viceroy. The Turks accepted the advanced economy and culture of the Han nationality and further accelerated the pace of national integration. In the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, this historical law was reflected in the fact that "mulberry does not grow, hemp does not grow" outside Yanmenguan, and later "where people come from, they are not mulberry horses". The relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Mongols in the north was also tense, but there were many friendly exchanges. The opening of the "Horse Market" along the Great Wall in Ming Dynasty showed the close relationship of interdependence and gradual integration between Han and Mongolia. The Qing government adopted the policy of Huairou, which further promoted the great ethnic integration around the Great Wall.

The continuous large-scale ethnic integration along the Great Wall finally formed the blood relationship between the Han nationality and the northern nationality "you become me, I become you, I have you, you have me". This is precisely the cohesion and connection of the Great Wall defense line.

Therefore, we say that the Great Wall is an immortal monument of national integration established in the collision and integration of agriculture, animal husbandry and ethnic groups.

The Great Wall is a treasure house of culture and art. As one of the most magnificent cultural relics in human history, the Great Wall has accumulated and condensed extremely profound cultural connotations.

For more than two thousand years since the appearance of the Great Wall, the cultural exchange between North and South has never stopped. For example, during the Warring States period, King Wuling of Zhao built the Great Wall of Zhao, and called on Chinese people to learn "riding and shooting in Hu clothes" and conduct cultural exchanges between the North and the South. Today's Zhao Great Wall site and a series of bronze cultural relics such as Xiongnu gold crown and gold medal unearthed from it are proof. During the Qin and Han dynasties, there was an unprecedented dialogue and exchange between the northern and southern cultures of the Great Wall. Qin Quan and imperial edicts found along the Great Wall, murals of Han tombs in Helinger, Inner Mongolia, Khan and Wadang, and the well-known tomb of Zhaojun, all witnessed the cultural exchange and integration between North and South.

On the cultural belt of the Great Wall, there are Dunhuang, Yungang, Maijishan, Wanfo Hall Grottoes murals and sculptures. Juyongguan Yuntai in Yuan Dynasty, Lugou Bridge in Jin Dynasty, Zhongdu and Dadu sites in Jin Dynasty and unearthed cultural relics. What is preserved in Beijing embodies the characteristics of cultural exchange and records the cultural glory in the history of the Chinese nation. In addition, the Great Wall itself is a great work of art, and there are many carvings and decorations at the ticket gates of many gates of the Great Wall, whether brick or stone, with exquisite workmanship and rich decoration, which can be compared with some royal and Wang Fu projects. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that the Great Wall is a great masterpiece in the world.

The Great Wall has also played a great role in promoting cultural exchanges between China and the West. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian to the western countries, it has opened up a famous traffic trunk road with a total length of more than 20,000 miles from Chang 'an (Jin 'an), the capital of the Han Dynasty, to Daqin (the eastern coast of the Mediterranean), which has been called the "Silk Road" by later generations. Since then, the material and cultural exchanges between China and Central Asia, West Asia and other countries have taken this route. 1since 2000, Chinese and foreign friendly missions have frequently traveled on this ancient road of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. It is still playing a role today, with great achievements and far-reaching significance.

Since its birth, the Great Wall has attracted generations of literati, border guards, famous poets, emperors and generals, folk people and so on with its majestic momentum and profound cultural connotation. He has created a large number of literary and artistic works with the theme of the Great Wall, including folk songs, myths and folklore. , especially poems and songs, have a wide range of contents. Some describe the grandeur of the Great Wall in Wan Li, some praise the grandeur of the Great Wall in Wan Li, and some mercilessly expose the cruelty and cruelty of whipping the ruling class to build a city for the soldiers and the people and the deep suffering it has brought to the people.

First of all, it is worth mentioning that the first Qin folk song "Ode to the Great Wall": "Be cautious when giving birth to a man, and breast-feed a woman; If you don't see the Great Wall, the corpses will be propped up everywhere! "This folk song, which reveals Qin Shihuang's tyranny and strong realism, was introduced into the Theory of Things by Yang Quan, a philosopher in Wei and Jin Dynasties, and later into the Notes on Water Classics by Li Daoyuan. It has been preserved and passed down to this day, so it is precious. This unique oral literary work of the working people in Qin Dynasty is the first time for later poets to praise the Great Wall, which occupies an important position in the history of China literature.

Since the Qin Dynasty, poems chanting the Great Wall have always occupied a major position, especially the frontier poems in the Tang Dynasty. These poems are closely related to the construction and defense of the Great Wall. Some of them sang about the majesty of the Great Wall and the diligence and wisdom of the builders. Some people who write about distant thoughts are happy and sad. There are tragic, lingering, sad and happy, with a wide range of themes, distinctive styles and diverse forms. Moreover, in the Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing and modern times, many famous poets and poets passed by or boarded the Great Wall, felt the construction and function of the Great Wall and the magnificent rivers and mountains on both sides of the Great Wall, and wrote famous works that are still widely circulated today, greatly enriching the treasure house of the Great Wall culture.