The Great Wall of China is considered as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In 1987, the building was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Long.
The Great Wall of China is not a continuous length, but a collection of short walls that follow the shape of the mountains of northern China. On April 18, 2009, after an investigation by the government accurately the People's Republic of China, announced that the giant wall constructed in the Ming Dynasty period length is 8851 km.According to historical records, after a long wall built by the Ming, then known term "changcheng" (长城, "Great Wall" or "long wall"). Previous term was not found. The term of the Great Wall of China in Mandarin is "Wanli changcheng", meaning "wall that are 10 thousand li". At the present time the term is officially used.
In 2009, the Surveying and Mapping Agency and the Agency for Cultural Heritage Administration of the People's Republic of China to do research to re-calculate the length of the Great Wall of China. The results showed that the Great Wall of China is longer than the range that is currently known. According to measurements, the overall length of the walls reach 8,850 km. The project has also found parts of other wall 359 km in length, trench along 2232 km, as well as a natural barrier such as hills and rivers along the 2232 km. The average span of the Great Wall of China is 5000 km, generally quoted from various historical records.
Seen from space.
Great Wall of China was mentioned as one of the man-made structure visible from space with the naked eye. However, after an investigation conducted by the astronauts, the perception is not correct. From a low orbit, man-made structure such as roads, ships, cities and others can indeed be seen, but at the time the Earth passes through the orbit of the tens of thousands of feet high, none of objects on the Earth's surface can be seen, including the Great Wall of China , This is corroborated by NASA statement: "The Greatwall can barely be seen from the Shuttle, so it would not be possible to see it from the moon with the naked eye"."The Great Wall of China is barely visible from the air Capsules (space), so it may not be visible from the moon to the naked eye"
Launched the first Chinese astronaut in space in 2004, Yang Li-wei, also stated that he could not see the building.
Perceptions about the invisibility of the giant wall of space has become a myth, even written into school textbooks in China. The earliest evidence comes from the writings of British antiques collector named William Stukeley in 1754 which compares the Great Wall of China with Hadrian's Wall in England by stating that Hadrian's Wall in England can only be defeated by the Great Wall of China, which is an important building in the world, so that it could be visible from the moon ("This mighty wall of four score Miles in length is only exceeded by the Chinese wall, the which makes a Considerable figure upon the terrestrial globe, and may be discerned at the moon.") The book by Richard Halliburton, an American adventurer in 1938, entitled "Second Book of Marvels", making the people believe that giant wall can be seen from space.
History.
Historically, the construction of the wall is one of the most important part in the history of Chinese architecture, namely to restrict urban areas and housing. Various theories why the Great Wall was established, among others, as a bulwark, land ownership boundaries, boundary markers and lines of communication to convey the message.Based on the written evidence acceptable to the public, basically the majority of the Great Wall of China was constructed in the period of the Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. However, most of such a giant wall that stands today is the result of a period of Sun.
Pre-Qin.
Before the Qin Dynasty period, the earliest construction of a giant wall made in Spring and Autumn period (722 BC-481 BC) and the Warring States Period (453 BC-221 BC) to withstand enemy attacks and tribes of northern China. Countries that contribute to the construction of the first recorded inter alia the country Chu, Qi, Yan, Wei and Zhao. In subsequent periods, giant wall grew longer, repaired and modified.Qin dynasty.
In the year 220 BC under the command of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, General Meng Tian collect employment of 300 thousand people to connect walls previously as a line of defense. Development takes 9 years require expensive and the expense of ordinary people. Workers who become victims of reaching millions of souls so that the state becomes weak. Hatred of the people on the labor angered farmers who rebelled overthrew the Qin Dynasty. After that, the construction of a giant wall was not continued.Han dynasty.
The year 127 BC, when Emperor Han Wudi power (140 BC-87 BC), renovation projects and construction parts old wall was conducted over 20 years adds to the overall length of the wall to 1000 km. In the first period of the Han, giant wall serves as a protector of the western region of the United Hun is threatening the Chinese people. After the Hun influence weakened, the construction of the wall was not continued. Beginning in 39 AD, on the orders of Guang Wudi, general Ma Cheng restart construction of the Great Wall project. At that time, the Huns split into two parts, north and south. Northern Huns successfully subdued by Han while the southern part of peace. After that, the construction of a giant wall abandoned because China already has a large military force.Ming Dynasty.
During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), after conquering Mongols, giant wall constructed back from the previous period, with a long record of 5,650 km. At this time, the Great Wall of China is divided into 9 districts equipped military fortifications and the gate to monitor the border area. On it made the road as a transportation hub. The most eastern gate named Shanhaiguan and most western gate called Jiayuguan.Architecture.
Beacon.
Beacon or fenghuotai (烽火台) is used to convey military messages by making smoke signals during the day and fire by night to notify the movements of the enemy. Is one of the most important parts of the Great Wall, the structure is made in every part of the giant wall with local materials. In mountainous areas, composed of bricks, in grassland or desert made of clay. Shape can be round, oval and square. There are 3 types of beacon, which is the type that is built on top of the wall, the wall or built separately for lurking enemy.The gate (slit).
The structure of the gate to function as a fortress in important positions. Composed of:Chengqiang or stockade (城墙), with a maximum height of 10 meters. The outer part is made of large bricks or granite. The inside is made of yellow soil or a mixture of gravel. The top of the wall can be traversed horsemen. The side walls are square-shaped protective wall as a place to oversee and shelter.
Chenglou or tower gate (城楼) : the door to enter and exit the border, as a discharge while attacking enemy forces. Gates named after the pass.
Wangcheng : small on the outside wall of the great wall that serves as a protective gate.
Luocheng : second wall to protect wengcheng.
Trenches and drains in to slow the movement of enemies, giving the opportunity to strike quickly.
Wall.
The wall is the main body of the giant wall architecture. Its function is to connect the flare tower, watchtowers and gates into a defensive line. Height depending on the shape of the plains. At the strategic areas made higher. At the time of crossing the mountains or areas with uneven shapes made as low as possible to save on materials and labor. An average of 23-26 foot high wall.Critical parts on the wall :
Nuqiang (女 牆) :
Protective wall on the upper side of the wall structure. Built to protect soldiers and horses on the wall. If the giant wall across the side of a steep mountain, just built one piece nuqiang to save material.Duokou (垛口) :
Slotted wall to spy. Doukou is still covered by a protective layer of the wall again.Racecourse :
The footpath next to the lookout that could be passed riders to reach the top of the wall.Quanmen :
Curved door on the inside wall as the entrance to the top of the wall.Material.
The material used to create a giant wall of disparate corresponding period of the dynasty. Before the bricks are found, a large wall made of earth, stone and wood. Due to its construction always requires a lot of resources, workers utilizing improvised materials. As it passes through the mountain, the mountain stone will be used. At the time of building on flat land, a wall made of loose soil made and if through the wilderness, the material used is a mix of sand and grass twigs of coniferous trees. The wall of this material is brittle, easily penetrated and quickly destroyed.At the time of the Qin Dynasty, the technology has not been developed, so that the material used is dirt or gravel mixed soil. At that time the castle structure has not been established. Some parts of the wall consists of a large mound of stones.
At the time of the Han Dynasty, soil and rock material as the previous period is still commonly used.
During the Tang Dynasty, bricks have been produced. However, because it is expensive, is limited to the city gates and walls that close.
Only in the Ming Dynasty, the wall construction technology is more advanced. However, only in the middle period of the dynasty quality bricks manufactured. Bricks better than soil or gravel because it is lighter, more resistant and effective load in a short time. Stone still used, mainly for the foundation, outer suburbs and the gate due to stronger than a brick. Limestone mortar with sticky rice that can be effective as a cement glue the bricks.
The new discovery.
In recent years began to find some walls in areas of China that is unattainable. In 1998, the site was found near one of the walls in the silk road between the provinces of Gansu and Xinjiang. The walls were built of yellow sandy soil and twigs Eucalyptus marginata has a length of 500 km, including solid bastion. This discovery adds to the length of the Great Wall to 2,700 km.The deserts in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region who move around a lot, also has opened up parts of the wall and fortress construction Sun
The discovery of the inscription which contains the writing carved in various regions of China around the walls became an important source of written historical documentation of the construction of the Great Wall of China. The earliest inscription is inscribed Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577). Ming Dynasty inscription found in Beijing and Hebei province, but the danger of being corrupted or lost due to rain, wind, erosion and environmental damage.
In the study, GPS and infrared technology used can help detect some parts that were buried by sandstorms. New parts found are the result of the construction of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) which extends from Hu Mountain in northern Liaoning province to Jiayu Cracks in the western province of Gansu. The project also charted parts of the wall which was established at the time of the Qin (221-206 BC) and Han (206 BC-9M).
Damage and maintenance.
Although it is a protected site, the Great Wall of China suffered a lot of damage, mostly due to the haphazard development of infrastructure, the theft of artifacts of stone inscriptions and parts of the wall and repairs done haphazardly.Conservation report in early 2004 reported that only 1/3 of a length of 6,350 km wall that is still preserved, making the range of wall "shorter". Many people around the ancient sites do not know they stay close together because of views on a giant wall of fortress architecture solid Ming, but the actual condition of the Great Wall of China is not uniform. Residents around the Great Wall bricks to build houses and livestock enclosures.
The wall that was outside of Beijing is the most threatened, as in the provinces of Shaanxi and Ningxia. Of the 2,000 km range of the wall in the province of Shaanxi, 1/3 of 850 km from the Ming structures have disappeared due to infrastructure development and industrial activity. A total of 40 holes penetrated the wall by the road for vehicles.
Meanwhile, the Great Wall in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region which has a length of 1500 km is established from various periods ranging from the Warring States Period, the Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty is part susceptible to vandalism such as broken vehicle lanes and erosion.
Efforts and renovation projects have been carried out by the People's Republic of China government in order to repair the damage. One way open Studies majors Wall (长城 学; Changchengxue) in local universities. This study is a new branch of Chinese history are being developed to attract the attention of archaeologists and young researchers to trace the history of the giant wall and preservation.
Thank you for reading this article. Written and posted by Bambang Sunarno. sunarnobambang86@gmail.com
author:
https://plus.google.com/105319704331231770941.
name: Bambang Sunarno.
http://primadonablog.blogspot.com/2015/08/you-know-wall-of-china.html
DatePublished: August 16, 2015 at 12:14
Tag : You Know Wall of China.
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