Facts about the Great Wall of China

[Bryan]

This thread just skims the surface of a very complex and interesting subject.

For more details, try some Great Wall history books, some Great Wall informational books, or maybe a Great Wall video.

[Adam]

Hello,

I have been fascinated by the wall for a while reading about its history and such. I made a youtube video stating some interesting facts I gathered about the wall. Here is the link if you are interested,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIfUS38h6zc

Thanks

[chinoook]

Hi Adam,

Originally Posted by Adam

Hello,

I have been fascinated by the wall for a while reading about its history and such. I made a youtube video stating some interesting facts I gathered about the wall. Here is the link if you are interested,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIfUS38h6zc

Thanks

The video is nice made. Which software did you use?

It is not critics but ince this is a (the!) Great Wall forum I want to state:

• the Great Wall is not only a "northern border". Depending on where you look it was a border with many purposes, at some places even to defend to the south
• wich wall is 6.400km long? The Ming Great Wall?
• the number of 2-3 mio. dead labourers is a random number. Regarding all dynasties that built Great Wall the number is probably _much_ higher
• the number of 1 mio. labourers built the Great Wall (again: which Great Wall?) is by far to low
• as far as I know there is no evidence that there are any dead bodies burried in the Great Wall. I cannot accept the people who built the Great Wall would have weakened the structure by doing so
• it is absoulte unknown how much defense the Great Wall actually made. There are even authors who doubt the defense success but I have never seen any estimates or any research result

-chinoook

[Bryan]

Hi Adam, I enjoyed your video! Thanks for joining the forum and telling us about it. The Great Wall is one of the most interesting things to see in the world. Unfortunately, photos and videos just can't do it justice since one of the most amazing aspects of the Great Wall it its gigantic scale. You just have to see it for yourself and then it takes on a whole new meaning. When are you going to go to China and experience it for yourself?

[Adam]

Originally Posted by chinoook

Hi Adam,




The video is nice made. Which software did you use?

It is not critics but ince this is a (the!) Great Wall forum I want to state:

• the Great Wall is not only a "northern border". Depending on where you look it was a border with many purposes, at some places even to defend to the south
• wich wall is 6.400km long? The Ming Great Wall?
• the number of 2-3 mio. dead labourers is a random number. Regarding all dynasties that built Great Wall the number is probably _much_ higher
• the number of 1 mio. labourers built the Great Wall (again: which Great Wall?) is by far to low
• as far as I know there is no evidence that there are any dead bodies burried in the Great Wall. I cannot accept the people who built the Great Wall would have weakened the structure by doing so
• it is absoulte unknown how much defense the Great Wall actually made. There are even authors who doubt the defense success but I have never seen any estimates or any research result

-chinoook

Hi Chinoook

I used movie maker to make this video. I know there may be a lack of evidence for some the info that I placed in the video, I actually did place the video under entertainment only and not education. Regarding the how long it is, I was referring to the unified wall and not any one wall. I actually came across many numerical figures but choose this one, it’s the wall from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west. The dead labourers is a very rough estimate I admit, no one knows for sure, you'll find different numbers from different sources. I only placed it there as a generalized piece of information, nothing to get worked up about. The dead bodies added to rubble could be a myth, but still an interesting myth nonetheless. Also, the wall was not really that significant at defending against the enemy. The Ming dynasty were the best builders of the wall and they were defeated by the Qin dynasty (I know the wall was not the only factor in the matter but it is still a valid point). The Mongols managed to penetrate the wall as well and enter China.
Anyways, I appreciate your input. I should also add that I had no intentions by any means to offend anyone by making this video.

[chinoook]

Hi Adam,

no one has been offended by your work. As we (Bryan and I) noted it is great work.

Two states:
The Ming wall did not extend westward to the Lop nur. It ended at Jiayuguan, wich is some 700 km eastward. It also did not end at Shanhaiguan but at the Korean border. This is an offset of roughly 900 km (following the line of the Ming Great Wall.

Of course I can not be sure there are no dead bodies inside the wall. But the guys took such an efford that I can hardly imagine the risked to weaken the structure. Though I found this:



The underlying structure is the Great Wall. Did the bones come out of it? Whas this only a later burial close to the Great Wall? The bones are _very_ old. I don't know.


-chinoook

[Bryan]

The source of the myth about people being buried in the Great Wall is the same as the source of the myth about it being visible from the moon — this Ripley's cartoon from 1932. We all know how reliable this source is. It also states that the wall was built in 15 years...

[chinoook]

But at least the bones I found were real ...


-chinoook

[theBW]

One of the things people frequently don't get is that the majority of the wall was built in the mid-1500s. There were certain sections built earlier, but the sections in the north and northeast were newer. Also, the wall was not a complete military failure. The Manchus went through it many times in weaker sections, but the whole thing certainly was never overcome militarily.

[PeterLee]

It is said that the Ming Dynasty was weak and did not want any conflict or confrontation and so they built the Ming Great Wall. It is very difficult to judge whether the Ming Wall served its purposes and prevented the invasions from the North. From a geographical perspective, indeed China faced numerous threats:-

1. Xiongnu & Yuezhi from the Northwest - Han Wall
2. Tibetans from the West - Sui Wall and Tang Wall?
3. Xianbei from the North - Eastern Wei and Western Wei Wall??
4. Mongolians from the North - Ming and Jin Wall, Song Wall
5. Khitans; Rourans; from the North - ?????
6. Nüzhen from the Northeast - Ming and Jin Wall

These different tribes or ethnicities proved to be a threat at different periods for the different dynasties. The issue is did the Ming built ALL the walls or did they repaired earlier dynasty walls? How different were the walls between say the Sui Wall and the Ming Wall?