Jiajun Wang (Sean)
Kwai Manor
Causes for Constructing the Great Wall of China As is known to all, China is a country with an ancient civilization, which has existed for over 5,000 years. Historical scholars from all over the world are interested in every single historic relic of this country. The Great Wall of China, marvel of architecture in this world, played a significant role in the Chinese historical stage. Even today, it also has a great influence on China (The Great Wall, 2006). Could you imagine that a 6,260 km long (not including gullies and some natural defensive passes) and extremely old dragon is just living on earth with us? (Great Wall of China, 2011). It is said that “you 're not a man if you haven 't climbed the Great Wall ' ' (A Sketchy View, 2006). Since becoming a famous tourist attraction, people have hardly paid attention to the Great Wall 's origin. Tourists go and spend time there. Unfortunately, lots of them know little about it. To know the history of the Great Wall and study it, is a good way to understand ourselves. Therefore, the reasons for building the Great Wall of China will make a profound impact on telling us what our ancestors used to do, and it could be a warning against war as well. This paper reports the history of the Great Wall and the significant causes for the construction of it. The Great Wall of China is located in north China. It starts from Gansu province to Liaoning province. The walls are 25 ft (7.6 m) in height and 15-30 ft (4.6-9.1 m) wide at the base. Also, the walls are 12 ft (3.7 m) high at the top (Great Wall of China, 2011). Since the Great Wall is a huge engineering project, there are a great deal of popular myths going around about it. Although a 1932 cartoon points out that the wall is “the mightiest work of man, the only one that would be visible to the human eye from the moon”, it was just a
References: The great wall of China. (2006). Retrieved from http://www.greatwall-of-china.com/51-90/the-great-wall-of-china.html The great wall of China. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.globalmountainsummit.org/great-wall-of-china.html A sketchy view of the great wall – why great? (2006). Retrieved from http://www.greatwall-of-china.com/51-5/a-sketchy-view-of-the-great-wall-why-great.html Whether the great wall is visible from the moon. (2006). Retrieved from http://www.greatwall-of-china.com/42-88/whether-the-great-wall-is-visible-from-the-moon.html Langerbein, H. (2009). Great blunders?: the great wall of China, the Berlin wall, and the proposed Unite States/Mexico border fence Lu, R. (2008). Ancient and contemporary changes to the great wall. China Today, 57(1), 14-19. The great wall past and present. (cover story). (2008). China Today, 57(1), 10-13.