The role of the Great Wall in history

From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, many passes along the Great Wall became places or centers for ethnic transactions in the two major economic and cultural systems of agriculture and animal husbandry, and some gradually developed into important towns along the Great Wall.

The Great Wall not only ensures the normal development of agricultural economy, culture and animal husbandry economy and culture, but also provides a place and convenience for their exchange and complementarity.

It also plays an important role in mediating the two economies and making the agriculture and animal husbandry economy develop in the direction of mutual assistance. Therefore, the Great Wall not only plays the role of isolating the two economies and cultures, but also shoulders the heavy responsibility of closely linking the two economies and cultures.

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 on immigration, which were adopted and implemented by the Han government.

Immigrants and soldiers guarding the Great Wall cultivated wasteland together, which not only accelerated the economic development of the border region, saved a lot of government military expenditure, but also greatly reduced the pain of long-distance transportation and made Chinese culture spread farther and wider.

2. National integration

Culturally, the Great Wall has also played an important role in the formation and development of the pluralistic and integrated pattern of the Chinese nation. On the contrary, the construction and defense of the Great Wall and the war in the Great Wall area promoted the extensive integration of the Han nationality in ancient China and a dozen ethnic minorities.

In the third year of Ganlu (5 1 year ago), the southern Xiongnu returned to Han, which realized the intersection of the Han nationality in China and the northern animal husbandry nationality in the Central Plains agricultural area, and was the beginning of the formation of the Chinese nation.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the archaeological discovery of the castle site in Yinshan area of Inner Mongolia shows that the peaceful communication between Han and Xiongnu was not completely blocked by the Great Wall of Wan Li and the military fortress.

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 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.

3. Military role

The Great Wall is the greatest military defense project in the ancient history of the world. It is not a simple isolated first-line wall, but from point to line, from line to surface, connecting the passes, military fortresses, Guancheng and military towns along the Great Wall into a tight network, forming a complete defense system. The system of military fortress, Guancheng and military town has many functions, such as fighting, command, observation, communication, concealment and so on, and is equipped with point, line and surface defense projects of resident troops.

The military defense thought embodied in The Great Wall occupies an important position in the history of military development. The birth and development of the Great Wall is in step with the whole military development in ancient China, which is of great significance to the study of the formation and development of ancient military operational thought. Qin Huang and Wu Han, including the early Ming Dynasty, built the Great Wall when they took the initiative to attack and gained overwhelming military superiority. It can be seen that building the Great Wall is not only an active defense, but also a strategy of accumulating strength and continuing to forge ahead.

Building the Great Wall is a positive measure to the northwest military situation, and it is a defense from passive to active. It should be emphasized that the defensive function of the Great Wall is not "self-defeating" as most people think;

Its real use lies in that the invaders may concentrate on breaking through one or two passes occasionally and breaking into the mainland, but as long as the whole Great Wall has strong troops stationed, the invaders will always be in danger of being blocked and ambushed and unable to go home;

In particular, the Great Wall has seized the traffic arteries of Yanshan Mountain and the northern branch of Taihang Mountain. Even if the nomadic cavalry broke through the customs, they could only harass the mainland, and their logistics could not be transported through the customs and could not stand on the mainland, thus shaking the foundation of the Chinese empire. No matter how serious scabies are, they can't be invaded, which is the fundamental significance of the existence of the Great Wall.

Extended data:

The purpose of building the Great Wall in Ming Dynasty

The purpose of building the Great Wall of Ming Dynasty is mainly to defend against the harassment of the rulers of Mongolian nomads in the north. The Ming Dynasty attached great importance to the construction of northern defense from beginning to end.

During the more than 270 years of Ming Dynasty, the construction of the Great Wall, Pass and Dunbao almost never stopped, and gradually formed a system of "nine-sided" partition defense, subsection management and subsection construction of the Great Wall.

According to Ming History? According to military records, Liaodong, Fu Xuan, Datong and Yansui were established at the beginning, followed by Ningxia, Gansu and Jizhou, with Taiyuan as the chief commander and Guyuan as the trilateral government, also known as the two towns, which are called "Nine Borders".

The Great Wall of Ming Dynasty played a positive role in the consolidation of Ming regime, the stability of agriculture and animal husbandry production in the northern region and national security. On the defensive layout, the troops are stationed in the town and defended by districts. In construction projects, it is divided into districts, sections and sections. For example, 1952, a stone tablet found on the walls of Juyongguan and Badaling in the tenth year of Ming Dynasty (1582), records the restoration method of the Great Wall.

In order to facilitate the defense management and construction of the whole Great Wall, the Ming Dynasty divided the whole line into nine towns. Appoint the company commander (also known as the Guards) to take charge of the government, also known as Jiubian Town.

The nine-sided defense in Ming Dynasty was a sieve, and the defense force was too scattered. As long as nuzhen or Mongolia invade, it will be useless. During Jiajing period, it was only used for burning wasteland, smashing dens, driving horses and preventing Ming people.

Baidu encyclopedia-great wall

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