Great Wall of China

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Great Wall of China, Herbert Ponting , 1907

The Great Wall of China ( Chinese  中國 長城  /  中国 长城 , Pinyin Zhōngguó Chángchéng  - literally: Long Great Wall of China ”), colloquially in Chinese mostly simply Great Wall ( 萬里長城  /  万里长城 , Wànlǐ Chángchéng  -“ literally: 10,000 Li- Wall, better: ten thousand Li long (protective) wall ", short : 長城  /  长城 , Chángchéng  -" literally: long wall ") is a system of historical border fortifications , consisting of temporally and geographically different protective walls, which the nomadic horsemen keep out of the north of the Chinese Empire and protect the population from robbery and attacks. With their construction in the 7th century BC Started. According to the latest surveys, it extends over 21,196 kilometers and includes 43,721 individual objects and locations.

The designation

The Chinese name "10,000 Li long wall" ( 萬里長城  /  万里长城 , Wànlǐ Chángchéng ) includes the Chinese length specification lǐ ( 里 ). A historical Li corresponds to about 500 m, 10,000 Li is therefore approx. 5,000 km. However, the term is not to be taken literally. The number 10,000, so wàn ( 萬  /  万 ), also stands for infinity or an uncountable amount in Chinese (similar to the myriad ). Therefore, the expression can be understood as an “unimaginably long wall”.

Expansion and condition

According to a survey by Chinese authorities in April 2009, the length of the Great Wall of China was given as 8,851.8 km, about 2,000 km more than previously assumed. This figure also includes 2,233 km of natural barriers such as rivers and mountains.

According to the latest archaeological surveys, the Chinese Cultural Heritage Office in June 2012 put the total length at 21,196.18 km. The 2008 survey recorded only those parts of the Great Wall that were built during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). Of these sections alone, only 8.2% are intact, while 74.1% are in poor condition. In some cases only the foundations exist.

In terms of volume and mass, the Great Wall of China is considered the largest structure in the world. The wall consists of a system of several sections, some of which are not connected to one another, of different ages and construction methods, the main wall of which is 2,400 km long. In total, the wall covers 15 provinces, autonomous areas and cities: Beijing , Tianjin , Hebei , Shanxi , Inner Mongolia , Liaoning , Jilin , Heilongjiang , Shandong , Henan , Shaanxi , Gansu , Qinghai , Ningxia , Xinjiang .

The section between Shanhaiguan , Yumenguan and Yangguan is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the "longest wall in the world" with a specified length of 3,460 km .

Overview of the most important sections of the Great Wall of China near Beijing including restoration status; Total length of the sections shown: 1222 km

Today the wall is constantly being restored through state funding. There is a 600 km section near Beijing, most of which is in good condition. Four sections can be visited by tourists. The best-known restored section of the wall extends near Badaling , 70 km northwest of Beijing . Other touristically developed sections are at Mutianyu , Simatai and Juyongguan . While the sections at Mutianyu and Badaling are to be expanded due to the great tourist interest, new, publicly accessible sections at Huanghuacheng and Hefangkou are also planned.

history

Orange: Great Wall of the Qin Dynasty
Black: Great Wall of the Han Dynasty
Red: Ming Dynasty Great Wall

It is believed that the Great Wall was built as early as the 7th century BC. Began. The oldest sections found so far are the Great Wall of the Qi Duchy in what is now Shandong Province and the Great Wall of the Chu Kingdom in what is now Henan Province . They go back to the time of the spring and autumn annals (770–476 BC).

Other early wall-like border fortifications were probably built in the second half of the 5th century BC. Chr. In the Warring States Period as protection against the feuding among themselves Chinese. These individual wall sections consisted of pounded clay, which was mixed with layers of straw and brushwood for better durability.

214 BC The first Chinese emperor, Qin Shihuangdi , had protective walls built to protect the Chinese empire against the peoples from the north, especially the Xiongnu , after the expansion across the Yellow River . In contrast to the existing remains of the old wall, the wall was not built in the valleys, but below the ridge line of the mountains on the northern slopes. Due to the lack of clay, it mostly consisted of layers of natural stone.

Since then, the wall has been expanded and rebuilt again and again. For example, punitive expeditions to Mongolia were occasionally undertaken in the Jin Dynasty (1125–1234) , and from 1192 the Great Wall was also reinforced. The shape of the wall that still exists today was created during the Ming Dynasty , the last major expansion phase. In 1493, under Emperor Hongzhi, the construction of the Ming Wall began, which was supposed to protect against the Mongols and to better monitor trade. About 300,000 soldiers were stationed in the nine Ming garrisons to defend it . Its course followed the mountain ridges, a particularly complex and expensive construction method. It was built largely from burned stones and partly from natural stones. The mortar used consisted of quick lime and around three percent sticky rice , with the amylopectin contained in this early composite material ensuring the particularly high resistance. Only the outer skin of the structure was bricked ( wall masonry ), the inside was filled with clay, sand and gravel. The exact number of people who died while building the Great Wall of China is not known. Some researchers estimate that hundreds of thousands, if not up to a million, were killed in the construction of the Qin Wall alone.

The dimensions of the wall are quite different; in the Beijing area , 4 to 8 m wide at the crown and 10 m at the base and a height of 6 to 9 m are common. At a distance of a few hundred meters, towers around 12 m high were built to serve as weapons depots and signal towers. In addition, they offered protection for the defenders in the event of attacks. It is estimated that up to 25,000 such towers were integrated into the wall and that 15,000 additional signal towers were supposed to secure communication with the capital. Remnants of signal towers have been found near Kashgar , the old trading city in China's extreme west.

The watchtowers were notified according to a simple principle when opponents were in sight. Neighboring watchtowers could be informed through a fire on the tower where an enemy was sighted. This was made possible by the viewing distance of the towers, which could then pass on the warning by fire signals.

Great Wall of China, detail from the map by Abraham Ortelius (1584)

The Great Wall of China is also shown on the famous China map by the Flemish cartographer Abraham Ortelius , which was published in 1584 in the Atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum . This west-facing map is the first map of China printed in Europe. The length of the Great Wall of China was given by this cartographer to be 400 Dutch miles, which is 2336 km, and thus clearly underestimated. The Latin text next to the wall reads: Murus quadringentarum leucarum inter montium crepidines a Rege Chinæ contra Tartarorum ab hac parte eruptiones extructus. In English: A four hundred mile long wall was built between the mountain ridges by the King of China against the invasions of the Tartars in the area.

  • Great Wall of the Han Dynasty with transport routes and the Silk Road from Chang'an to the west

  • Overall course of the Great Wall of China

  • Unrestored watchtower near Simatai

  • The Great Wall of China, in poor condition in places

  • The so-called dragon head, the end of the wall in the Pacific at Shanhaiguan

and display information about the image
Panorama with the Great Wall of China near Badaling

The system of walls was originally more extensive than long assumed. Even Sven Hedin and Folke Bergman discovered during their Chinese-Swedish expedition 1927-1935 remains of the Great Wall in the Lop Nor desert , the Folke Bergman described the 1937th His book was made available to Chinese scholars in a Chinese translation in 2000; Then, in early 2001, they looked for the signal towers of the Great Wall of China in the Lop Nor desert, which is located almost 500 km west of the Jiayuguan fortress , which Chinese scientists had previously considered the western end point of the wall. Scientists believe this part of the wall was built to protect the middle route of the Silk Road , on which richly laden trade caravans traveled west, but they suspect that the end of the wall was not here.

Walls of different states and dynasties in Chinese history
Surname Timeframe Chin. swell Remarks
Great Wall of
the Chu 		722-221 BC Chr. 楚 長城  /  楚 长城
Chu Changcheng 		The defense wall of the Chu Kingdom in the triangle of Hubei , Shaanxi and Henan . Not yet localized.
Great Wall of
the Zhao 		424-222 BC Chr. 趙 長城  /  赵 长城
Zhao Changcheng 		The Defense Wall of the Zhao Kingdom from the Warring States Period
Great Wall
of Wei 		445-225 BC Chr. 魏 長城 遗址  /  魏 长城 遗址
Wei Changcheng Yizhi 		The defense wall of King Hui of Liang in Hexi 梁 辉 王 河西 长城 , Liang Hui Wang Hexi changcheng during the Wei Dynasty from the Warring States Period
Great Wall of
the Yan 		353-290 BC Chr. 燕 長城  /  燕 长城
Yan Changcheng 		The Defense Wall of the Kingdom of Yan from the Warring States Period
"Earth" or "Stone Dragon"
Great Wall of
the Qin 		361-221 BC Chr. 秦 長城  /  秦 长城
Qin Changcheng 		The First Great Wall under Qin Shihuangdi at the end of the Warring States Period .
Guyang (Qin) ( 固 阳 秦 长城 , Guyang Qin changcheng ), the Great Wall of the Qin State of Nalinta ( 纳林塔 秦国 长城 遗址 , Nalinta Qinguo changcheng yizhi ), the Qin Age Great Wall of Xiaoyutai in Xiaoyutai , Yinshan , Inner Mongolia ( 内蒙古 阴山 小 余 泰 秦 长城 , Neimenggu Yinshan Xiaoyutai Qin Changcheng ) a. a.
Great Wall of
the Han 		206 BC BC – 8 AD, 25–220 漢 長城  /  汉 长城
Han Changcheng 		Han Dynasty , the Great Wall west of the Yellow River , Loulan
Great Wall of
the Northern Wei 		352 / 386-584 北魏 長城  /  北魏 长城
At Wei Changcheng 		Northern Wei Dynasty
Hexi -section 352–361, Henan -section n. Known
the Great Wall of the Eastern Wei (Dong Wei, 534–550) 东魏 长城 , Dong Wei Changcheng
Great Wall
of Northern Qi 		550-577 北齊 長城  /  北齐 长城
At Qi Changcheng 		Northern Qi Dynasty

Zhou Great Wall		 557-581 北周 長城  /  北周 长城
Bei Zhou Changcheng 		The defensive wall of the Northern Zhou Dynasty
Great Wall of
the Sui 		581-618 隋 長城  /  隋 长城
Sui Changcheng 		Sui dynasty
Great Wall
of Tang 		618-907 唐 長城  /  唐 长城
Tang Changcheng 		The Mudanjiang boundary wall of the Tang Dynasty , the north-eastern part of the Great Wall
Great Wall
of Song 		960-1126 北宋 長城  /  北宋 长城
At Song Changcheng 		Song Dynasty . Additionally the " willow branch boundary " ( 柳條 邊 , liutiao bian )
Great Wall of
the Liao 		1066-1125 遼 長城  /  辽 长城
Liao Changcheng 		Liao Dynasty
Great Wall of
the Jin 		1125-1234 金 長城  /  金 长城
Jin Changcheng 		Jin Dynasty of the Jurds
Great Wall of
the Ming 		1368-1644 明 長城  /  明 长城
Ming Changcheng 		Ming Dynasty , the Shijiazhuang Great Wall
Great Wall in South China 1368-1644 苗疆 長城  /  苗疆 长城
Miaojiang Changcheng 		The Miaojiang Border Wall, not part of the Great Wall

The Great Wall as a World Heritage Site

Great Wall of China in winter

While some parts of the wall near tourist centers have been preserved or even restored , large parts of the wall are in poor condition today. Some of them are used by local villagers as a stone spring for houses and streets. Sections of the wall were also painted with graffiti or torn down to make room for other construction projects. The wall has been protected since 2006 and it is forbidden to use it as a quarry. The “ Society of the Great Wall of China ” is committed to preservation.

The UNESCO declared the Great Wall of China a World Heritage Site in 1987 .

In 2007, the Great Wall of China was voted one of the “ new seven wonders of the world ” by 70 million people worldwide as part of a private initiative . Both UNESCO as the official guardian of the world cultural heritage and z. B. Egypt (Ancient Wonders of the World : Pyramids of Gizeh ) distanced themselves from the choice described as a "private campaign" without scientific criteria.

Visibility from space

Satellite image of the Great Wall of China in very good weather conditions, 2001

It has long been said that the Great Wall of China is the only structure that can be seen from space with the naked eye. So far, no astronaut has been able to see the Great Wall of China with the naked eye. However, what you could see from a great height with very good visibility would be the shadow of the wall if the sun is low from a suitable point of the compass and the wall creates a wide band of shadows.

China's first astronaut , Yang Liwei , said after his space flight in October 2003: “The view was beautiful. But I couldn't see the Great Wall of China. ”The Chinese government then printed new school books in which this was changed. [Proof?] Even after his Apollo 15 mission, the American astronaut James Irwin declared that it was impossible to see the Great Wall.

Leroy Chiao was able to photograph the Great Wall of China in 2005 from the space station ISS . He used a commercially available camera and a 180 mm telephoto lens. When taking photos, however, he was not sure whether he had the Great Wall of China in the viewfinder. He couldn't make out the Great Wall of China with the naked eye.

It should be noted, however, that the term space is defined very vaguely. Most of the manned space travel in the past took place at an altitude of 300 to 600 km. For comparison: The distance from the earth to the moon is around 380,000 km. To see the structure with the eye from the moon would be impossible.

More pictures

and display information about the image
Panorama of the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu

  • Great Wall of China at Simatai

  • Simatai

  • Great Wall of China near Badaling

  • From Jinshanling to Simatai

  • Great Wall of China near Badaling

  • Tourists on the wall

The wall as a theme in art

The theme of the Great Wall of China has been incorporated into artistic works many times and in different ways. The subject who Franz Kafka in his narrative fragment the construction of the Great Wall (1917) or Max Frisch in his drama The Great Wall processed (1946) literary.

The action-fantasy film The Great Wall (2017) is based on the theme of the Great Wall of China.

The Great Wall of China is also an important part of the art performance The Lovers - The Great Wall Walk (1988) by Marina Abramović and Ulay .

Sports

The international Great Wall Marathon has been held annually since 1999 . 2,500 marathon runners from over 30 nations conquer the wall over a distance of 42.195 kilometers and overcome 5,164 steps.

In August 2000, the Canadian Kris Holm rode the Great Wall of China on a unicycle with Unicon X participants . Holm only rolled or drove over the continuous parapet and jumped with the unicycle over battlements and / or broken or broken places.

See also

literature

  • Folke Bergman: Archaeological Researches in Sinkiang. Especially the Lop-Nor Region (= Reports… The Sino-Swedish expedition. Publication 7 ). Bokforlags Aktiebolaget Thules, Stockholm 1939 (English).
  • Sven Hedin, Folke Bergman: History of an Expedition in Asia 1927-1935 . Part III: 1933–1935 (= Reports… The Sino-Swedish expedition. Publication 25 ). Elanders Boktryckeri Aktiebolag, Stockholm 1944.
  • Cornelia Hermanns: From emperors and barbarians. The construction of the Great Wall of China . With illustrations by Gregor Koerting. Drachenhaus-Verlag, Esslingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-943314-03-8 .
  • David Hessler: Under the spell of the Great Wall. In: Epoc. Heidelberg 2008.1, 32 ff.
  • Michel Jan (text); Roland Michaud, Sabrina Michaud (photos): The Great Wall of China. Hirmer, Munich 2000. ISBN 3-7774-8680-9 .
  • Julia Lovell : The Great Wall. China versus the rest of the world. Theiss, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 3-8062-2074-3 .
  • Hans Wilm Schütte: China's Great Wall. The rediscovery of a world wonder. Orbis, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-572-01318-6 .

Web links

Commons : Great Wall of China  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c China's Great Wall is 21.196 km long: survey , Xinhua , June 5, 2012 (Eng.)
  2. ↑ a b c Beijing to open more Great Wall sections to tourism ( Memento from April 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), China Daily , June 9, 2012 (engl.)
  3. ^ Great Wall much longer than previously believed: survey . China Daily USA. June 13, 2012. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2012. (Eng.)
  4. ↑ Johnny Erling: Great Wall of China much longer than assumed. , DerStandard.at , April 19, 2009. Results of the surveying of the Great Wall of China by the state authorities for cartography and monument protection
  5. ^ Longest wall. In: Guinness World Records. Retrieved July 17, 2017 (English).
  6. ↑ Great Wall much longer than previously believed: survey , China Daily , June 13, 2012.
  7. ↑ Denis Twitchett , Frederick W. Mote: The Cambridge History of China Vol. 7 - The Ming Dynasty 1368–1644 Part 1. Cambridge University Press, 1988. p. 373 (Eng.)
  8. ↑ Fuwei Yang, Bingjian Zhang, Qinglin Ma: Study of Sticky Rice-Lime Mortar Technology for the Restoration of Historical Masonry Construction. In: Accounts of Chemical Research. June 15, 2010, Volume 43, Number 6, pp. 936-944, doi: 10.1021 / ar9001944 (Engl.).
  9. ↑ FuWei Yang, BingJian Zhang, ChangChu Pan, YuYao Zeng: Traditional mortar represented by sticky rice lime mortar - One of the great inventions in ancient China. In: Science China. Series E: Technological Sciences. June 2009, Volume 52, Number 6, pp. 1641-1647, doi: 10.1007 / s11431-008-0317-0 (Engl.).
  10. ↑ Louise Chipley Slavicek, George J. Mitchell, James I. Matray: The Great Wall of China (= . Arbitrary borders ). Chelsea House Publishers, Philadelphia 2005, ISBN 0-7910-8019-6 , p. 35.
  11. ↑ Thammy Evans: Great Wall of China: Beijing & Northern China. Bradt Travel Guides, Chalfont St. Peter 2006, ISBN 1-84162-158-7 , p. 3.
  12. ^ Defense and Cost of The Great Wall - page 3 . Paul and Bernice Noll's Window on the World. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
  13. ↑ Wall of Chu ( Memento from September 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), diychinatours.com (Engl.)
  14. ↑ China Reisen Beijing "Great Wall Tour" ( Memento from September 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), lonelyway.com (English)
  15. ↑ Wall of Zhao ( Memento from September 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), diychinatours.com (Engl.)
  16. ^ Wall of Yan ( Memento from September 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), diychinatours.com (Engl.)
  17. ↑ Wall of Qin ( Memento of September 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), diychinatours.com (Engl.)
  18. ↑ Cheng Dalin: Unification and the First Great Wall , meet-greatwall.org (Engl.)
  19. ^ Wall of Han ( Memento of September 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), diychinatours.com (Engl.)
  20. ↑ Wall of Wei ( Memento from September 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), diychinatours.com (Engl.)
  21. ^ Wall of Qi ( Memento of September 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), diychinatours.com (Engl.)
  22. ↑ a b c Cheng Dalin: The Walls of the National Minorities , meet-greatwall.org (Engl.)
  23. ↑ The History of the Great Wall , chinaweb.de
  24. ↑ chinagreatwall.org (Eng.)
  25. ↑ Ancient Wonder, Modern Challenge , Friends of the Great Wall.
  26. ^ Wall of Ming ( Memento from September 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), diychinatours.com (Engl.)
  27. ↑ Cheng Dalin: The Ming Dynasty Wall , meet-greatwall.org (Engl.)
  28. ↑ Great Wall in Shijiazhuang ( Memento from September 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), hebeitour.com.cn (English)
  29. ↑ UNESCO World Heritage Center: The Great Wall. Retrieved April 5, 2017 .
  30. ↑ Worldwide Election , The New 7 Wonders of the World, July 7, 2007 (Eng.)
  31. ^ Controversial vote , Spiegel Online , July 8, 2007
  32. ↑ NASA: Shooting for the Heart: Astronaut Finds Passion for Photography in Space , nasa.gov, August 19, 2005 (Eng.)
  33. ^ Marina Abramović. The Great Wall Walk. 1988/2008 | MoMA. Retrieved July 20, 2020 .
  34. ↑ Great Wall of China Marathon
  35. ↑ Where there's a wheel there's a way: Unicyclist who can reach 50mph and has ridden down 6000-meter volcano , dailymail.co.uk, updated April 14, 2011, accessed August 21, 2017.
  36. ↑ Man takes sport to extreme lengths with incredible collection of pictures from across the globe , dailymail.co.uk, May 21, 2013, accessed August 21, 2017.

Coordinates: 40 ° 20 ′ 37.1 ″  N , 116 ° 0 ′ 5.9 ″  E