It is estimated that at least 2 million people helped with the construction. But it is practically impossible to give an exact answer for the simple fact that the work took almost 2000 years, going through several stages. “Certainly many generations of workers were used to build the Wall”, says Chinese culture specialist Chen Tsung Jye, from the University of São Paulo (USP). With its 7,300 kilometers, the Great Wall is made up of several walls, built, restored and extended by different dynasties that ruled China. The wall was born even before the unification of the country: around the 7th century BC, feuds that were in the current Chinese territory erected defensive systems to protect their domains. When the first Chinese Emperor, Qin Shin Huangdi, conquered these fiefdoms and unified them to form the Chinese mainland, the scattered walls were connected into a single line to defend China from Mongol encroachments. During the 276 years of the Ming dynasty, between 1368 and 1644, the walls underwent a huge expansion process – most of the Great Wall, which can still be seen today, is the result of works from that period. After that time, the wall went through a long period of decay, which lasted until 1980, when communist leader Deng Xiaoping led the restoration of the monument. In 1987, the Wall was declared a World Heritage Site by the UN, and today it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the East.
loneliness SOS
On top of hills, towers were installed to ensure communication for soldiers who were positioned on the Wall, in readiness against a Mongol invasion. Communication was done by means of flags or smoke signals, drums, rattles and bells. At night, flashlights flashed prearranged codes
It’s stick, it’s stone
The Wall was built with materials available on site. In mountainous areas local rocks were used, while in the plains rammed earth blocks predominated. The building material would only become more sophisticated in the 14th century, when the walls gained bricks and lime.
door of hope
In strategic locations, watchtowers of up to three floors with a wooden gate allowed merchants to enter Chinese territory and soldiers to leave to patrol the surroundings. The building was made of wood or brick and surrounded by a moat to protect the borders.
On top of the wall
The main part of the defensive system, the walls have an average width of 6.5 meters at the base and 6 meters at the top. Its average height is between 7 and 8 meters – a little less on steep hills or steep elevations. The walls also have gutters to prevent the construction from being detonated by the runoff during heavy rains.
Infinite highway
In practice, the top of the Wall serves as a road to cross Chinese territory. Stairs and ramps inside the fortified passages guarantee access for both men and horses to this “elevation”, which has protective parapets for archers and a wall about 1 meter high to prevent falls.
Brick by brick
As the Wall was erected over 2,000 years ago, construction methods varied greatly. In its first phase, in the 3rd century BC, the wall was made only with piled up stones or pounded earth and wood. From the 14th century, with bricks on the scene, builders mixed lime and rice paste to manufacture a mortar that served as cement.
read, read
The Wall was built by successive generations of soldiers and peasants, forced to join the construction brigades. Heavy work, epidemics and poor living conditions caused thousands of deaths – some corpses were added to the structure of the wall
Read too:
– What was the Opium War?
– What was the Chinese Cultural Revolution?
– Why does China occupy Tibet?