The Great Wall Research Paper

The Great Wall is considered China’s greatest and best known monument as well as one of its most powerful symbols. The wall was made entirely by hand and was built to protect the Chinese from intruders. Known in Chinese as the “Long Wall,” it has captivated the imagination of both Chinese and non-Chinese for centuries. Although the wall has been around for over 2,000 years and parts of the wall are decaying and crumbling, it remains a popular attraction today and is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The history of the Great Wall began in the first millennium, when feudal states constructed defensive walls along their borders. The state of Chu was the first to build a wall, followed by the Qi, Yan, Wei, Zhao and Qin (Schwartz). Each of the states built walls to defend themselves and had soldiers stationed at the wall to keep intruders out. When these states existed the wall was about 3,100 miles long and each of the six different states owned different parts (Schwartz). The emperor at the time was Emperor Qin Shihuang and he wanted the states to become a unified kingdom. His plan was successful and resulted in the first unified kingdom …show more content…
Due to the fact that many dynasties helped in the building of the wall and many sections are located in isolated mountains, grasslands or deserts; the investigation of the size of the wall was difficult. However on April 18, 2009, after a full investigation it was announced that the Great Wall is 5,500 miles long and wall in Beijing measures over 342 miles long (Waldron). The Great Wall is no doubt the largest manmade creation in the world. According to Waldron, the wall passes 156 countries in ten cities or provinces including Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, Beijing, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai. The wall contains 723 beacon towers, 7,062 lookout towers, 3,357 wall platforms and 1,026 other ruins