Taking the Great Wall as the boundary, the north of the Great Wall is often called the Great Wall (north, northwest) or the outside of the customs (northeast), and the south of the Great Wall is called the inside of the customs.
Great wall of past dynasties
The construction of the Great Wall in China began in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, with a history of more than 2,000 years, especially in the Qin, Han and Ming dynasties. In the Tang Dynasty, the Great Wall was not built because the Turks in the north had been defeated and were no longer threatened. In the Song Dynasty, sixteen states fell, so it was meaningless to build the Great Wall. The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty were Mongols, who only built some passes to interrogate passers-by and trade routes. Similar to the Yuan Dynasty, the Great Wall was not built in the Qing Dynasty. Modern construction of the Great Wall is not only for the maintenance and protection of historical sites, but also for the development of tourism to a certain extent, but it has lost its military significance.
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Warring States great wall
The construction of the Great Wall in China began in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The Book of Songs Xiaoya Chu Ci records: "The son of heaven commands me, and the city is the other side. Hehe, South China. " Obviously, the role of the Great Wall in the north is to prevent the invasion and plunder of nomadic people in the north. During the Warring States period, more than 20 vassal states built the Great Wall. At that time, there were two kinds of fortifications: "mutual defense" and "resisting Hu". The former, such as Chu, Qi, Yan, Wei, South Korea, Zhao and Qin, built the Great Wall on their respective borders in order to defend each other. According to historical records, "Qi Xuanwang built the Great Wall on one mountain, with a distance of thousands of miles to the east, and Jeju prepared for Chu". The latter, such as the Great Wall built by Qin, Zhao and Yan countries adjacent to the north to prevent the invasion of nomadic peoples such as Xiongnu, Donghu and Loufan in the north.
Qin Changcheng. During the reign of Zhao Haoqi in the Qin Dynasty, the Great Wall in the north was built. The Great Wall in northern Qin starts from Lintao County in the west, passes through the borders of Longxi County, Beidi County and Shang Jun County, and reaches the Yellow River in the east.
Zhao Changcheng. Zhao Xiu built two Great Walls, namely the North Great Wall and the South Great Wall. In the seventeenth year of Zhao Suhou (333 BC), the Great Wall was built on the embankment of Zhangshui and Qiushui (now Fuyang River) to prevent the Qi and Wei Dynasties. Because the Great Wall is located in the south, it is called "Zhaonan Great Wall" in history. "Historical Records of Zhao" records: "In seventeen years, Wei and Huang were besieged, but they could not. Build the Great Wall ". In the 26th year of King Wuling of Zhao (300 BC), the Great Wall was built in Yun Yun, Yanmen and Dai Jun in Inner Mongolia to resist the Huns. Because it is located in the northern part of Zhao, it is called "the Great Wall of Northern Zhao" in history. Historical Records Biography of Xiongnu records that "King Wuling of Zhao is vulgar and wears Hu clothes, learns to ride and shoot, and he is broken in the north and annoyed. Building the Great Wall has been passed down from generation to generation. Under the shady mountain (1 1), the highest gate is Sai (12). It is located in the cloud, Yanmen and Dai Jun. " The Great Wall of Zhao Bei starts from Gaoque in the west (now He Lin, Inner Mongolia), runs along the yinshan mountains and reaches Dai Jun in the east (now Zhangbei South, Hebei).
Qi Great Wall. The Great Wall of Qi was built in the 5th century BC, and now it runs east-west, starting from Pingyin in the west, passing through the northern foot of Mount Tai, and entering the sea in Langyatai, Mizhou in the east, with a total length of over 500 kilometers. Qi Great Wall is the earliest Great Wall in the history of China, and its position in the history of China Great Wall is very important.
Yan Great Wall. The Great Wall in the northern part of Yan starts from Yang Yang (now Dushi, Hebei Province) in the west and ends in Xiangping County in the east.
Chu Great Wall. "History of Han Geography" records: "Ye, Chu Ye Gongyi. There is the Great Wall, otherwise known as Fangcheng. " . However, whether the Great Wall of Chu exists is still controversial.
Wei Changcheng. In order to resist the attack, consolidate the land of Hexi and defend the capital, Wei successively built the Great Wall of Weihe West (known as the Great Wall in history) and the Great Wall of Weihe South (known as the Great Wall in history).
Zhongshan Great Wall. The Great Wall of the ancient kingdom of Zhongshan was built in 369 BC. It is recorded in Historical Records Zhao Shijia that "Zhao Chenghou built the Great Wall in the sixth year".
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the great wall
In the thirty-third year of Ying Zheng (2 14 BC), Qin Shihuang sent general Meng Tian to lead 300,000 people to drive the Xiongnu northward, occupy the Hetao and build the Great Wall. "Qin has merged with the world, making Meng Tian meet three hundred thousand soldiers from the north and accept Henan. The Great Wall was built from Lintao to Liaodong, stretching all the way to Vandory, so it crossed the river and meandered north according to Yangshan Mountain. Violent teachers have been abroad for more than ten years. " (Biography of Historical Records of Meng Tian) Qin Changcheng connected the Great Wall of Qin, Zhao and Yan in those days, and Wan Li extended from Lintao to Liaodong, hence it was called the Great Wall of Wan Li.
Qin Changcheng can be roughly divided into the western section and the northern section. The western section starts from Min County, Gansu Province, along the Taohe River north to Lintao County, passes through Dingxi County to Guyuan County and Huanxian County in Ningxia, Jingbian, Hengshan, Yulin and Shenmu in Shaanxi Province, then turns north to Tuoketuonan in Inner Mongolia and reaches the south bank of the Yellow River. The northern section is the Great Wall north of the Yellow River, along the Yinshan Mountain and Langshan Mountain, east to the northern foot of Daqing Mountain, east to Jining and Xinghe in Inner Mongolia to Shangyi in Hebei, east to Zhangbei and Weichang in Hebei, east to Fushun and Benxi, and finally to the sea of Qingchuan River in North Korea.
When the Great Wall was built in the north, it was demolished as the "common defense" of the former vassal States: "Emperor Yong, Germany and vassals are United, and the world is peaceful. If the battlements are destroyed, they will pass through the Sichuan defense and get rid of the danger. " Qin Changcheng played an important role in resisting the harassment of Huns and ensuring the stability of production and life in the Central Plains. Qin Shihuang built the Great Wall with 300,000 people, which created a miracle in the history of human architecture. This heavy construction project also brought great pain to people at that time, and the story of Meng Jiangnv came from it. Now there are Qin Changcheng relics near Lintao, Yinshan and Daqingshan.
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Great wall in Han dynasty
The Han Dynasty continued to build the Great Wall to resist the invasion of Xiongnu in the north. From Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty to Xuan Di, a Great Wall with a total length of nearly 10,000 kilometers was built, starting from Dawaner Shicheng in the west and reaching the north bank of Yalu River in the east. The Great Wall in Han Dynasty is the longest in history.
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The Great Wall in the Northern and Sui Dynasties
The Great Wall was built and added in the Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, Northern Qi and Northern Zhou Dynasties. Among them, the construction scale was the largest in the Northern Qi Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, in order to guard against Turks, Ding Zhuang was recruited many times to build the Great Wall in winter. During the reign of Yang Di, laborers were recruited twice in the summer. At this time, the defense targets also include Tuyuhun in the northwest. On the basis of the Great Wall of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Great Wall of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Great Wall of the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Great Wall from the east to the east of Yugu Valley is basically connected in a line.
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Jin Dynasty Great Wall
In order to defend Mongolia, the Jin Dynasty began to build the Great Wall. The Great Wall built by the Jin Dynasty was called Jinjie River or Phnom Penh Fort in history.
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Great wall in Ming dynasty
Main projects: Ming Great Wall
Satellite photos of the Great Wall. Located in the north of Shanxi Province, China. Low-angle sunlight and Bo Xue highlight a section of the Great Wall, extending from the lower left corner of the image to the upper right corner with a black line. In the Ming Dynasty, from Hongwu to Wanli, after 20 large-scale constructions, a 6350-kilometer-long Great Wall was built, starting from Jiayuguan in Gansu in the west and ending at Hushan in Liaodong in the east. This is also most of the Great Wall that we see now.
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South Great Wall
Main projects: Miaojiang Great Wall
Located at the junction of China, Hunan and Guizhou, the South Great Wall, also known as the Miao Great Wall, was discovered in April 2000. Founded in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, it starts from Queying, Guzhang County, Xiangxi, Hunan Province in the north and ends at Huanghuiying, Tongren, Guizhou Province in the south, with a total length of190km.
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Great wall architecture
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formation rule
The construction of the Great Wall is based on the basic principle of "dividing into blocks according to the terrain". "Suit measures to local conditions" refers to building projects according to topographic conditions and making full use of local natural resources to select suitable building materials. "Blocking by danger" mainly refers to using geographical natural disasters to defend the enemy. This principle is beneficial to defense and can also save building materials.
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Building materials and construction methods
The construction of the Great Wall lasted for more than two thousand years from the Spring and Autumn Period to the end of the Ming Dynasty. Due to the different levels of productivity and technology in different times and the different military situations faced by various regimes, the Great Wall built in past dynasties is different in structure, construction methods and shape. Due to the different geographical conditions, the Great Wall built at the same time has different characteristics.
From different historical periods and the development of city-building technology, the Great Wall before the Northern Wei Dynasty was mainly built with rammed earth, and the Great Wall with masonry structure appeared in the Northern Wei Dynasty, while the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty widely used masonry method, brick method and masonry mixed method.
As far as the geographical conditions along the Great Wall are concerned, the materials needed to build the Great Wall are based on the principle of "adapting to local conditions". In mountainous areas, cut mountains and take stone walls; In the loess area, soil is taken for compaction; In the desert, reeds or wickers are used to build sand layers. In addition, bricks, tiles, lime and wood used to build walls are not only burned or cut in local kilns, but also supplied by special government departments.
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The shape and system of the Great Wall
The beacon tower Great Wall has never been an isolated wall, but a tight system composed of a large number of buildings. In the later period, the Great Wall system will be more perfect and rigorous, and the overall defense capability will be continuously enhanced. The Great Wall system is mainly composed of three parts: pass, city wall and tower, beacon tower, and other ancillary facilities. City walls and balconies can be divided into three parts: city gates, towers and city walls.
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pass
Generally speaking, all the main throat routes in and out of the Great Wall are related to card stationing. Pass is usually built on a narrow passage, such as the narrowest place between two mountains, the narrow corridor between mountains and rivers, and the intersection of valleys. Because of the military significance of the pass, the Great Wall here has a more solid and perfect defense system. Pass generally consists of square or polygonal walls, gates, towers and urn. There are plenty of Los Angeles and moats.
City gate: the city gate is the passage to and from the pass. Before the Yuan Dynasty, wooden beams were often used, and later arch-voucher-shaped doorways were built with bricks or stones, which were called "voucher doors". There is a huge iron wooden door at the door, and huge nails are inlaid outside the door. Doors are equipped with latches and locking rings, and some are equipped with mechanical devices.
Tower: There is a tower above the city gate, which is an important observation post, command post and battle stronghold. The tower is made of wood structure or brick-wood structure, with three floors and below.
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Beacon and smoke
There are a large number of beacon towers as information transmission systems in the Great Wall system. According to historical documents, unearthed Han bamboo slips and field visits, there are a large number of beacon towers here, which extend far away from the Great Wall. According to the location and function of beacon towers, it can be divided into four groups: beacon towers located in the depths of the desert are the forefront of warning, and beacon towers set along both sides of the Great Wall transmit information along the route. A series of beacon towers from the Great Wall to the capital contacted the central government of the dynasty, and a number of beacon towers contacted local governments and garrison troops near the location of the Great Wall. According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, give a cigarette and fire a gun, which means that the enemy is about 100 people. Put two smoke bombs and two cannons to attack about 500 people; /kloc-more than 0/000 people held three cigarettes and fired three shots.
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Other ancillary facilities
The Great Wall system is not only a beacon of information transmission system, but also a defense-in-depth configuration composed of urban barriers and other facilities. During the Qin and Han dynasties, various facilities were perfected, and garrison cities were set up inside and outside the Great Wall as places for garrisoning heavy troops, which developed in depth and formed a network. On the outside of the city walls and castles, there are also special obstacles, such as stiff waterfalls and tiger waterfalls. In the Great Wall of Hetao, elm trees were widely planted in Qin Dynasty to stop tarquin, which was called Guan Yu. During the Northern Qi Dynasty, troops were stationed in the Great Wall, towns were dealt with when necessary, and troops were built to form a front-line defense.
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Military significance
The Great Wall is not only the front line of defense for farming people, but also the forward base for launching counterattacks against nomadic people. The rear of the Great Wall is equipped with mobile troops to deal with the war, but the Great Wall is not the forefront of defense, and the observation post deployed in front of the Great Wall goes far. The ancient nomadic cavalry had excellent mobility and strong attack power, but they could do nothing about the wall defense system, so building the Great Wall could effectively resist the invasion of northern nationalities.
But the passive defense of the Great Wall alone cannot stop organized large-scale attacks. "The Deeds of Beilu" records: On the 22nd day of the first month of the tenth year, more than 20,000 people rode to the north town of Huamachi and stopped at Shijinger Wharf. They opened 12 wall and plundered in Guyuan and other places. On July 22nd this year, 20,000 people rode in, set out from Liuyang Pier in the north of Huamachi to Qingyang Pier, demolished 16 wall, went deep into Pingliang Gong Lin, and reached Longzhou, where they plundered. Zhang Deng, the general manager of the Right Empire, transferred the loyalists in Yulin and other places to Guyuan, which was unable to defend. "In the twenty-ninth year of Jiajing (1550), in the Change of Gengxu, when Mongolian Khan attacked Gubeikou head-on, he demolished the Great Wall from Huangyugou, and the Ming army collapsed without fighting. Anda attacked outside Beijing, sweeping.
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Cultural significance
The Great Wall is one of the most magnificent projects built in ancient China, which played a very important defensive role in later dynasties. The existence of the Great Wall was also a spiritual defense against invasion for the ancients. Especially in modern times, people in China regard the Great Wall as a symbol of China. March of the Volunteers, the national anthem of China, has the lyrics of "People who don't want to be slaves, build our new Great Wall with our flesh and blood", calling on all the people to resist invasion at the most critical moment of the country.
In "The Story of the Earth" published by 1937, Long Fang guessed that the Great Wall in China was the only building that astronomers could see on the moon. Whether the Great Wall can be seen with naked eyes from space has always been controversial. The Great Wall is almost as wide as an ordinary highway. It is neither a luminous body nor a reflector. It is difficult to observe without instruments more than several hundred kilometers. Shenzhou 5 astronaut Yang Liwei said that he didn't see the Great Wall during his space trip in 2004.
1987 UNESCO listed the Great Wall as a world cultural heritage.
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The famous Guancheng
Hushan Great Wall: the starting point of the eastern end of the Ming Great Wall.
Shanhaiguan: Shanhaiguan controls the western Liaoning corridor and is the main road from Beijing to the northeast. It is located in the narrow strip between the eastern Yanshan Mountain and the Bohai Sea. It is the first pass in the eastern part of the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty and is known as the "first pass in the world".
Jiayuguan: Jiayuguan is located in the narrow pass between Qilian Mountain and Longshou Mountain, which controls the Hexi Corridor. It was built in the Ming Dynasty and is the westernmost part of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty. Known as "the best male biography in the world."
Yumen Pass
Yangguan
Yanmenguan: Yanmenguan stands on Yanmen Mountain, one of the nine blockade lines, guarding the transportation hub between north and south of Shanxi, cutting off the important passage from Saibei Plateau to Shanxi and North China Plain.
Shuiguan
Huangyaguan
Badaling
Juyongguan
Mutianyu
Jinshanling Great Wall
Dajingmen
Ningxia ancient great wall