The Great Wall of China

McNeese, Tim. The Great Wall of China. Part of the Building History Series. 1997. 96p. ISBN 97801056006-428-5. Available at 931 MCN on the library shelves.

The Great Wall of China is often mentioned in the same breath as the Pyramids of Egypt, structures so vast and technically challenging and so ancient that they have defied thousands of years of history to bear witness to an era when the power of rulers was limitless. Pieces of what would become the Great Wall were first built starting around 450 BCE by the various warring Chinese states, mainly to protect their northern borders from the barbarians that dwelled in the steppes but also against their neighbors.

This heritage of wall building first arose in the 4,000 BCE when villages constructed earthen works to protect themselves against attack by enemies. Builder skills and expertise grew until hundred of miles of walls protected vast segments of China. Having united the seven warring states of China, Emperor Qin Shih Huang Ti dismantled the walls that sat within the borders of the new country and endeavored to add to the various walls on the northern border to protect against barbarians. Over the course of seven years, 1,850 miles of walls were constructed or renovated to create a continuous line from the sea in the East to the Gobi desert in the west.

Over the following centuries, the Great Wall as it became known fell in disrepair and was rebuilt several times until the Ming Dynasty, which undertook a complete renovation and expansion of the Great Wall, giving us the structure we know today. Throughout that time soldiers manned the Wall and fought large battles against encroaching tribes from the North. Farmers, merchants, and government officials dwelled within its shadows. Two periods of foreign domination, the Khans and the Mings, did not end the perceived need for the Great Wall, however, but the emergence of the cannon soon ended its domination as border protection.

Fans of military history and of architecture will enjoy the story of how the Great Wall was built. To this day, it remains a marvel of engineering and an amazing feat of construction.