Information about the Great Wall of China

The Great Wall is an ancient defense project with the longest construction time and the largest engineering quantity in China and even in the world. Since the 7th and 8th centuries BC, it has been built continuously for more than 2,000 years, which is distributed on the vast land in northern and central China, with a total length of more than 50,000 kilometers. It is called "more than 2,000 years up and down, and more than 100,000 miles in vertical and horizontal directions". Such a huge project is unique not only in China, but also in the world, so it was listed as one of the seven wonders of the Middle Ages with the Colosseum and the Leaning Tower of Pisa hundreds of years ago.

The history of building the Great Wall can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty in the 9th century BC, in order to defend against the attack of nomadic people in the north. Once built a continuous arrangement of castles "Fierce City" as a defense. In the 7th and 8th centuries BC, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the governors of various countries first built the Great Wall of Chu in the 7th century BC, and then the governors of Qi, Korea, Wei, Zhao, Yan, Qin, Zhongshan and other countries built the Great Wall to protect themselves. At this time, the Great Wall is characterized by different directions in the east, south, west and north, and its length is short, ranging from several hundred kilometers to l000~2000 kilometers. In order to distinguish it from the Great Wall of Wan Li built by Qin Shihuang, historians call it the Great Wall of Pre-Qin Dynasty.

There are more than ten dynasties such as Han, Jin, Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Song, Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing, all of which built the Great Wall of different scales, among which the Great Wall of Han, Jin and Ming dynasties was the largest, reaching 5000 kilometers 10000. Their status is different. In addition to the Han nationality, many dynasties in which ethnic minorities ruled China also built the Great Wall, more than those ruled by the Han nationality. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, although the large-scale construction of the Great Wall was stopped, it was later built in some places. It can be said that the construction of the Great Wall has never stopped for more than two thousand years from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Qing Dynasty.

Evaluation by the World Heritage Committee:

Around 220 BC, Qin Shihuang, who dominated the world, connected some intermittent fortifications built earlier into a complete defense system to resist aggression from the north. In the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368 ~ 1644), construction continued, making the Great Wall the longest military facility in the world. Its cultural and artistic value is equal to its historical and strategic importance.

Refer to the above? People's Republic of China (PRC) Central People's Government-World Cultural Heritage-The Great Wall