The Chinese Wall is one of the famous and largest monuments of ancient architecture. It runs throughout northern China for almost 9,000 kilometers and in Badaling near Beijing.
Construction History
The construction of the first wall in China began in the 3rd century BC during the War of the Kings. At this time, the emperor of China Qin Huangdi-Shi ruled (he belonged to the Qin dynasty). The purpose of this wall was to protect the state from the devastating raids of the Hunnu nomads. About a fifth of the entire population of the state, that is, approximately one million people, participated in the construction. The length of the Chinese wall, taking into account all the branches, was 8851.8 kilometers. She also determined the boundaries of the possible expansion of the Chinese people themselves and protected the subjects of the empire from the transition to a barbaric semi-nomadic way of life. She fixed the borders of Chinese civilization, contributed to the creation of a single empire from a number of kingdoms that she had just conquered.
During the reign of the Han Dynasty (approximately 206-220 BC), the Great Wall of China was significantly expanded to the west. In addition, a line of special watchtowers was built, which went into the very depths of the desert and was intended to protect trade caravans from nomads. During the construction, the Chinese used a special sticky rice porridge, in which they added slaked lime. Almost all sections of the wall that have survived to our time were created during the reign of the great Ming Dynasty. In this era, the main materials for construction were stone blocks and bricks. They made the wall structure more reliable and sturdy. During the time that the Ming Dynasty ruled, the length of the Great Wall of China increased significantly. It stretched from west to east from the Yuimenguan outpost to Shanhaiguan, which was located on the shore of the Gulf of Bohai.
The destruction of the Chinese wall and its further restoration
With the help of Wu Sangui's betrayal, the Manchu Qing dynasty overcame the wall and reacted to it with extreme neglect. During the 3 centuries of rule of this dynasty, the Chinese wall almost completely collapsed under the inexorable influence of time. Only one small section of it near Beijing survived. It served as a "gateway to the capital", and for this reason was maintained in order. However, in 1899, newspapers in the United States of America started a false rumor that the Chinese Wall would soon be demolished and a modern freeway would be built in its place. In 1984, a program was launched to restore it at the initiative of Xiaoping Dan. It was funded by private individuals, as well as foreign and local companies.
Chinese news reports that a section of the wall (approximately seventy kilometers) in Gansu province is undergoing active erosion due to the introduction of intensive methods in agriculture. This led to the drainage of groundwater, due to which the region became the center of origin of strong sandstorms. Already more than forty kilometers of the wall has disappeared, while the rest are still standing still. Moreover, in some places its height decreased from six to two to three meters.
In 2007, William Lindsey found a long section of a fragment of the wall, which was later attributed to the time of Han. And in 2012, with further searches in Mongolia, the remaining lost sites were discovered. In the same year, a significant section of the wall located in Hebei fell apart due to heavy torrential rains. Its length was thirty-six meters. During the collapse, not a single person was injured. This event took place on August 6, but official news appeared only on the tenth.