Preview

Causes for Constructing the Great Wall of China

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1682 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Causes for Constructing the Great Wall of China
Causes for Constructing the Great Wall of China
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.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Ccot China 100-600 C.E.

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages

    From 100 C.E. to 600 C.E., in classical China, there were many changes both cultural and political, like the increase of Buddhism and the expansion of territory. However not everything changed, there were also several cultural continuities, the continuation of ancestor worship, and political continuities, the ongoing building of the Great Wall.…

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Think of it this way, if you traded place and were in their shoes, I’m indisputably sure “The Great Wall of China” would have nothing on you.…

    • 199 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    "Great Wall Construction." _The Great Wall of China._ N.p, 1998-2004. Web. 06 Mar. 2012. <http://www.mygreatwallchina.com/construction.htm>…

    • 1765 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Great Wall of Ancient China was built by the two dynasties, the Qin first started to building the Great Wall, then the Han continued to build the wall, but the reason why the two dynasties wanted to build the wall was to protect from the Xiongnu and other invaders invading, but all the benefits of the wall didn't outweigh the cost of building wall. The wall was constructed be thousands of soldiers, slaves, peasants, etc. Many died due to to hunger, dehydration, and extreme whether. In Document C, it states, " ... tens of thousands of soldiers died from hunger, sickness, and extreme heat or cold. No exact numbers of deaths are available. "…

    • 156 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Great Wall of China was originally built by the Qin & Han Dynasty , their reasoning for building the Great Wall were they needed protection from the Xiongnu Mongols . However the Benefits did not outweigh the Cost. According to Document C , it shows that building the wall had a lot of cost instead of benefits some of the cost were soldiers had to work on it for years 300,000 men had to leave there homes and that thousands of soldiers died from hunger , sickness, and extreme heat or cold . This shows that if the Great Wall was not built then all of those men would not have died .…

    • 114 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In conclusion, the benefits outweighed the cost in building the Great Wall of China because it protected China, allowed it to grow in many aspects, and it created a better safety system. China has many achievements which let them become rich and as impacted the world to this date. The wall allowed China to trade in the Silk Road which allowed them to gain money and other valuable materials. The Great Wall also saved many lives. None of this would have happened without the Great…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although, the wall protected China, the construction of the wall wasted time. Document B states a list of different ways China could have protected itself. If they had followed some of these suggestions, many Chinese subjects’ lives could have been spared. The Great Wall was also never on single continuous wall. This meant, they could have used this time to find simpler and safer ways to protect China. Third, the wall took an extreme amount of time to build and complete. In this time, invaders attacked, leaving the Chinese to have to start over on the sections of the wall.…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    13. Daoism- is the belief of finding the “way” or the dao of the Universe.…

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Great Wall was built by the Qin & the Han Dynasty. They built the wall to keep out the Mongols. However, the benefits did not outweigh the cost. According to Document C, soldiers were forced to leave their families. And many of them died from starvation. The cause of the soldiers dying was from the building of the Great Wall and not having enough resources. With the soldiers dying there will be a lower population & less soldiers to defend the people of there village. Next, according to Document B, the Han Dynasty still had to pay tribute to the Mongols even after the wall was built. This shows the benefits did not outweigh the cost because the Han Dynasty was still losing resources and soldiers. In the end the benefits did not…

    • 154 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Great Wall Dbq Analysis

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Great Wall was first built by the Qin Dynasty and Han dynasty for protection but however the benefits do not outweigh the cost. For example ,in Document C it state that they lost many citizens so. This shows that how it supports my claim because it talks about how this was worse than the benefit.To add on in Document B it stated how they still have to pay the mongols even though they had the Great Wall.This also shows how the cost did not outweigh the costs because they still were insecure even though they had a Wall for…

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood and other materials, generally built along an east to west line across the historical northern borders of china in part to protect the Chinese empire. Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC; these later joined together and made bigger and stronger.…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Forbidden City Essay

    • 770 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Zhu, Jian Fei.“A CELESTIAL BATTLEFIELD: THE FORBIDDEN CITY AND BEIJING IN LATE IMPERIAL CHINA.”Jstor. Architectural association school of architecture. Web. 17 Mar. 2015…

    • 770 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    China: Ancient Capitals

    • 1407 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty has recorded and carries the history of Jinling (ancient name of Nanjing).…

    • 1407 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    7 Wonders in World

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Great Wall of China, one of the greatest wonders of the world, was enlisted in the World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987. Just like a gigantic dragon, the Great Wall winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus stretching approximately 6,700 kilometers (4,163 miles ) from east to west of China.The links listed here take one to sites that are related to the Great Wall of China – like there is a site that will take you on a virtual tour through the Great Wall of China, a site having information and photographs of the same. Then there is a site on the marathon held every year at the Great Wall of China and a site housing special Nasa radar images of the Great Wall.…

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    China: School Project

    • 1396 Words
    • 6 Pages

    • The Great Wall of China was built over 2,500 years in 259-210 B.C ago to protect against invaders from the north. Troops would patrol the wall to defend China against attack. Once over 6,000 miles long, the wall is now about 3,750 miles long.…

    • 1396 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays