The Great Wall of China is one of the oldest structures that have survived to this day. Its construction dragged on for many centuries, accompanied by exorbitant human losses and gigantic material costs. Today this legendary architectural monument, which some even call the eighth wonder of the world, attracts travelers from all over the planet.
Which Chinese ruler was the first to build the Wall?
The beginning of the construction of the Wall is associated with the name of the legendary Emperor Qin Shi Huang. He did many important things for the development of Chinese civilization. In the III century BC. e. Qin Shi Huang was able to unite several kingdoms that were at war with each other into a single entity. After the unification, he ordered the erection of a high Wall on the northern borders of the empire (more specifically, this happened in 215 BC). At the same time, the commander Meng Tian was to directly supervise the construction process.
The construction took about ten years and involved a large number difficulties. A serious problem was the lack of any kind of infrastructure: there were no roads for the transport of building materials, there was also not enough water and food for the people involved in the work. The number of those who were involved in construction during the time of Qin Shi Huang reached, according to researchers, two million. En masse, soldiers, slaves, and then peasants were transported to this construction.
Working conditions (and it was mostly forced labor) were extremely cruel, so many builders died right here. Legends have come down to us about immured corpses, that allegedly powder from the bones of the dead was used to strengthen the structure, but this is not supported by facts and studies.
The construction of the Wall, despite the difficulties, was carried out at a high pace
A popular version is that the Wall was intended to prevent the raids of the tribes that lived on the lands to the north. There is some truth in this. Indeed, at that time, the Chinese principalities were attacked by aggressive Xiongnu tribes and other nomads. But they did not pose a serious danger and could not cope with the militarily and culturally developed Chinese. And further historical events showed that the Wall is, in principle, not very good way stop the nomads. Many centuries after the death of Qin Shi Huang, when the Mongols came to China, she did not become an insurmountable obstacle for them. The Mongols found (or made themselves) several gaps in the Wall and simply passed through them.
The main purpose of the Wall was probably to limit the further expansion of the empire. It seems not entirely logical, but only at first glance. The newly-made emperor needed to preserve his territory and at the same time prevent a mass exodus of subjects to the north. There, the Chinese could mix with the nomads and adopt their nomadic way of life. And this ultimately could lead to a new fragmentation of the country. That is, the Wall was intended to consolidate the empire within the existing borders and contribute to its consolidation.
Of course, the Wall could be used at any time to move troops and cargo. And a system of signal towers on and near the Wall ensured fast communication. The advancing enemies could be seen in advance from afar and quickly, lighting a fire, notify others about it.
The wall during the reign of other dynasties
During the reign of the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), the wall was extended in westbound to the oasis city of Dunhuang. In addition, a special network of watchtowers was created, stretching even deeper into the Gobi Desert. These towers were designed to protect merchants from nomadic robbers. During the years of the Han Empire, about 10,000 kilometers of the Wall were restored and built "from scratch" - this is twice as much as was built under Qin Shi Huangji.
During the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), women were used instead of men as sentries on the Wall, whose job it was to monitor the surrounding area and, if necessary, sound an alarm. It was believed that women are more attentive and treat the duties assigned to them more responsibly.
Representatives of the ruling Jin dynasty (1115–1234 AD) made a lot of efforts to improve the Wall in the 12th century - they periodically mobilized tens and hundreds of thousands of people for construction work.
Sections of the Great Wall of China, which have survived to this day in an acceptable condition, were erected mainly during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). In this era, blocks of stone and bricks were used for construction, which made the structure even stronger than before. A building mixture studies show that ancient masters cooked from limestone with the addition of rice flour. Largely due to this unusual composition, many sections of the Wall have not collapsed so far.
During the Ming Dynasty, the Wall was seriously updated and modernized - this helped many of its sections to survive to this day.
changed and appearance Walls: its upper part was equipped with a parapet with battlements. In those areas where the foundation was already flimsy, it was reinforced with stone blocks. Interestingly, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the inhabitants of China considered Wan-Li to be the main creator of the Wall.
Over the centuries of the Ming Dynasty, the building stretched from the Shanhaiguan outpost on the coast of the Bohai Bay (here one section of the fortifications even goes a little into the water) to the Yumenguan outpost, located on the border of the modern Xinjiang region.
After the accession of the Manchu Qing dynasty in 1644, which managed to unite the North and South of China under its control, the issue of the preservation of the wall receded into the background. It lost its importance as a defensive structure and seemed useless to the new rulers and many of their subjects. Representatives of the Qing dynasty treated the Wall with some disdain, in particular, due to the fact that they themselves easily overcame it in 1644 and entered Beijing, thanks to the betrayal of General Wu Sangai. In general, none of them had plans to build the Wall further or restore any sections.
During the Qing Dynasty Great Wall practically collapsed, as it was not properly cared for. Only a small section of it near Beijing - Badaling - was preserved in a decent form. This section was used as a kind of front "capital gate".
Wall in the 20th century
It was only under Mao Zedong that the Wall was again given serious attention. Once, back in the thirties of the XX century, Mao Zedong said that one who was not on the Wall cannot consider himself a good fellow (or, in another translation, a good Chinese). These words later became a very popular proverb among the people.
But large-scale work to restore the Wall began only after 1949. True, during the years of the "cultural revolution" these works were interrupted - on the contrary, the so-called hongweipings (members of school and student communist detachments), dismantled some sections of the Wall and made pigsties and other "more useful", in their opinion, from the building materials obtained in this way, objects.
In the seventies, the Cultural Revolution ended, and soon Deng Xiaoping became the next leader of the PRC. With his support, in 1984, a program was launched to restore the Wall - it was financed by large companies and ordinary people. And three years later, the Great Wall of China was included in the UNESCO list as a world heritage site.
Not so long ago widespread had a myth that the Wall can really be seen from near-Earth orbit. However, real testimonies of astronauts refute this. For example, the famous American cosmonaut Neil Armstrong said in an interview that he basically does not believe that any artificial structure can be seen from orbit. And he added that he did not know a single guy who would admit that he could see with his own eyes, without special devices, the Great Wall of China.
Features and dimensions Walls
If you count together with the branches created in various periods of Chinese history, then the length of the Wall will be more than 21,000 kilometers. Initially, this object looked like a network or a complex of walls, which often did not even have a connection with each other. Later they were united, strengthened, demolished and rebuilt, if necessary. As for the height of this grandiose structure, it varies from 6 to 10 meters.
On the outer side of the wall, you can see simple rectangular battlements - this is another feature of this design.
It is worth saying a few words about the towers of this magnificent Wall. There are several types of them, they differ in architectural parameters. The most common are rectangular two-story towers. And in the upper part of such towers there are loopholes.
Interestingly, some towers were built by Chinese craftsmen even before the construction of the Wall itself. Such towers are often smaller in width than the main structure, and their locations seem to be chosen at random. The towers that were built along with the Wall are almost always located two hundred meters from each other (this is the distance that an arrow fired from a bow cannot overcome).
As for the signal towers, they were arranged approximately every ten kilometers. This allowed a person on one tower to see a fire lit on another, neighboring tower.
In addition, 12 large gates were created to enter or enter the Wall - over time, full-fledged outposts grew around them.
Of course, the existing landscape did not always contribute to the easy and quick construction of the Wall: in certain places it goes along the mountain range, bending around the ridges and spurs, rising to the heights and descending into deep gorges. This, by the way, reveals the uniqueness and originality of the described structure - the Wall is very harmoniously inscribed in the environment.
Wall at present
Now the most popular section of the Wall among tourists is the already mentioned Badaling, located not far (about seventy kilometers) from Beijing. It is better preserved than other sites. For tourists, it became available in 1957, since then excursions have been constantly held here. Badaling today can be reached directly from Beijing by bus or train express - it does not take much time.
At the 2008 Olympics, the Badaling gate served as the finish line for cyclists. And in China, every year a marathon for runners is organized, the route of which passes through one of the sections of the legendary Wall.
For long history everything happened during the construction of the Wall. For example, builders sometimes rioted because they did not want or did not want to work anymore. In addition, often the guards themselves let the enemy pass the Wall - out of fear for their lives or for a bribe. That is, in many cases, it really was an ineffective protective barrier.
Today in China, the Wall, despite all the failures, difficulties and failures that arose during its construction, is considered a symbol of the fortitude and diligence of ancestors. Although among ordinary modern Chinese there are those who treat this building with genuine respect, and those who, without hesitation, will throw garbage near this attraction. At the same time, it was noted that Chinese residents go on excursions to the Wall just as willingly as foreigners.
Unfortunately, time and the vagaries of nature are working against this architectural structure. For example, in 2012, the media reported that heavy rains in Hebei completely washed away a 36-meter section of the Wall.
According to experts, a significant segment of the Great Wall of China (literally thousands of kilometers) will be destroyed before 2040. First of all, it threatens the segments of the Wall in the province of Gansu - their condition is very dilapidated.
Documentary film of the Discovery channel “Blowing up history. The great Wall of China"
Despite the fact that the height of the Great Wall of China is about ten meters, climbing it is much easier than descending. The ascent is cheerful, fun, fervently, but the descent is a real torture. All steps have different heights - from 5 to 30 centimeters, so you need to look extremely carefully under your feet. Descending from such a height, the main thing is not to stop, since it will be extremely difficult to continue the descent after a stop. Nevertheless, the Great Wall of China is the place where every tourist wants to visit.
Despite such difficulties, the tourist will be provided with vivid impressions for a lifetime, and he will be able to feel like a 100% local resident. After all, it is not for nothing that the Chinese like to repeat the words of Mao Zedong: whoever has not climbed the Wall is not a Chinese. The Great Wall of China from space is also a frequently requested tourist request, as the grandiose structure has a unique view from space.
The Great Wall of China is the largest architectural monument that has ever been erected by human hands. Its total length (including branches) is almost nine thousand kilometers (however, some researchers argue that the length of the Great Wall of China actually exceeds 21 thousand km). The width of the wall is from 5 to 8 meters, the height is about ten. Some facts say that at one time it was used as a road, and in some places additional fortifications and fortresses were erected near it.
Who built the Great Wall of China and how did it happen? Officially, the construction of the wall began in the third century BC by order of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. The original purpose of the construction was to protect the country from barbarian raids. It fixed the borders of the Chinese empire, which at that time consisted of several conquered kingdoms, and thus contributed to the formation of a single state. It was also intended for the Chinese themselves, since it was supposed to prevent them from leaving the country, returning to a semi-nomadic way of life and merging with the barbarians.
The Great Wall of China is also interesting in that it fits extremely organically into the surrounding landscape and can even be argued that it forms an integral composition with it. And all because during construction it smoothly went around mountains, spurs, hills, deep gorges.
In our time, the Great Wall of China and its length leaves tourists with an ambiguous opinion about themselves. On the one hand, restoration work has been carried out in some places, lighting and illumination have been added. On the other hand, in places where tourists are a rare occurrence, it is completely abandoned, and the few travelers who get on it have to wade through thick bushes, crumbling steps and areas that are dangerous to such an extent that you almost need to crawl through them (Otherwise you can break).
The height of the walls of this amazing structure is on average about seven and a half meters (if we take into account rectangular shape teeth - then all nine), the width at the top is 5.5 m, at the bottom - 6.5 m. Two types of towers are built into the wall, mainly rectangular in shape:
- The towers that existed before construction are less wide than the wall;
- The towers that were built at the same time as it were erected every two hundred meters.
The wall provides for the presence of signal towers - from them the soldiers watched the enemies and transmitted signals.
Where does the wall start?
The Great Wall of China begins in the northern city of Shanhai-guan (it is located on the shores of the Bohai Bay of the Yellow Sea) and is the most eastern point Long wall (that's what the Chinese call this building).
Considering that for the Chinese the Great Wall of China symbolizes an earthen dragon, its head is the Laoluntou (Dragon's Head) tower, from which this grandiose structure originates. Moreover, it is interesting that Laoluntou is not only the beginning of the Great Wall of China, but also the only place in China where it is washed by the sea, and it itself goes directly 23 meters into the bay.
Where does the wall end
From Laoluntou, the Great Wall of China zigzags across half the country to the Center of China and ends near the city of Jiayuguan - this is where it is best preserved. Despite the fact that the fortpost was built here in the XIV century, it was constantly restored and strengthened, thanks to which, over time, it became the best outpost of the Celestial Empire.
According to one of the legends, the craftsmen calculated the amount of material needed for the construction of the walls so accurately that when the construction was completed, only one brick remained, which, as a symbol of respect for the ancient builders, was subsequently placed on the arch. outer wall gate to the west.
An outpost was erected near Jiayuyoshan Mountain and it consists of a semicircular outer adobe wall in front of the main gate, a moat, an earthen rammed embankment and an inner wall. As for the gates, they are located on the eastern and western sides of the outpost. Here is the Yuntai Tower - it is interesting because on its internal walls you can see carved bas-reliefs heavenly kings and Buddhist texts.
Lost section of wall
A few years ago, on the border with Mongolia, scientists found a fragment of a wall that was erected during the Han Dynasty, about which the researchers had no idea before. Five years later, its continuation was discovered already in the territory of neighboring Mongolia.
building a wall
One Chinese legend it is said that the mortar with which the stones were fastened together was made from a powder prepared from the bones of people who died while working at a construction site. Naturally, this is not true: ancient masters prepared mortar from ordinary rice flour.
Interesting facts say that up to the era of the reign of the Qin dynasty, any materials at hand were used in the construction of walls. To do this, layers of clay, small pebbles were laid out between the rods, sometimes unbaked, sun-dried bricks were used. It is precisely because of the use of such building materials The Chinese called their wall "Earth Dragon".
When the representatives of the Qin dynasty came to power, stone slabs were used to build the wall, which were laid back to back on the rammed earth. True, the stone was used mainly in the east of the country, since it was not difficult to get it there. In the western lands, it was difficult to access, so the walls were built from a rammed embankment.
pre-construction
The construction of the Long Wall began in the third century BC, even before the unification of the kingdoms into one empire, when they fought with each other. More than one million people took part in its construction, which was 1/5 of the total Chinese population.
First of all, it was needed in order to protect the cities, which turned into large shopping centers, from nomads. The first walls were adobe structures. Since at that time a single Celestial Empire did not yet exist, several kingdoms began to build them around their possessions at once:
- Kingdom of Wei - circa 352 BC;
- The kingdoms of Qin and Zhao - about 300 BC;
- Yan Kingdom - circa 289 BC
Emperor Qin Shi Huang: Beginning of construction
After Shi Huangdi united the kingdoms at war with each other into one country, the Celestial Empire became an extremely powerful power. It was then that the commander Meng Tian received the order to begin construction (primarily near the ridge of the Yingshan mountain range).
For the construction, first of all, existing walls were used: they were strengthened and connected to new sections. At the same time, the walls separating the kingdoms were demolished.
They built the wall for ten years, and the work was extremely difficult: difficult terrain for such work, lack of proper food and water, numerous epidemics and hard work. As a result, more than one thousand people died here (therefore, this wall is unofficially called the longest cemetery on the planet).
The Chinese had a whole funeral ceremony specially designed for those who lost their lives on construction work. While the relatives of the deceased were carrying the coffin, there was a cage with a white rooster in it. According to legend, the cries of the bird kept the spirit of a dead person awake until the funeral procession crossed the Long Wall. If this is not done, then the spirit of the deceased will wander along the structure that destroyed him until the end of the century.
Researchers claim the construction of the wall played an important role in the overthrow of the Qin dynasty.
Construction during the Han Dynasty
When the Han Dynasty (206 BC -220 AD) began to rule the country, construction continued to the west, and thus reached Dunhuang. In addition, at that time it was connected to watchtowers located in the desert (their main purpose was to protect caravans from nomads).
Representatives of the Han Dynasty reconstructed the already existing walls and completed about ten thousand kilometers more (which is twice as much as their predecessors). About 750 thousand people took part in the construction.
Construction during the Ming Dynasty
Sections of the wall that have been well preserved to this day, from 1368 to 1644. built by the Ming Dynasty. To do this, they used brick and stone blocks, which made the structure much stronger and more reliable than before. It was at this time that the Great Wall of China was built in Shanhaiguan and connected to the western outpost of Yumenguan.
The effectiveness of the wall as a defense structure
Despite the fact that the Chinese managed to build a wall of impressive proportions, it was no good as a defense structure: the enemies easily found poorly fortified areas, in extreme cases, they simply bribed the guards.
An example of the effectiveness of this structure as a defensive structure can well serve as the words of the medieval historian Wang Sitong, who said that when the authorities announced the construction of a wall in the east of the country, the barbarians would attack from the west. They easily destroyed the walls, climbed over them and robbed - what they wanted and where they wanted. When they left, the walls began to be built again.
Despite all the criticisms, in our time, the Chinese have given their wall a new meaning - it has come to symbolize the invincibility, endurance and creative power of the nation.
What breaks down the wall
Fragments of the wall, which are far from the tourist pilgrimage, are in a terrible state. At the same time, it is not only time that destroys them. The facts say that in Gansu province, due to the irrational way of conducting Agriculture nearly all dried up underground springs, so in Lately this area became the site of the strongest sandstorms. Because of this, about forty kilometers of the wall (out of fifty) have already disappeared from the face of the earth, and the height has decreased from 5 to 2 meters.
A few years ago, in Hebei province, a section of the wall, the length of which was about thirty-six meters, fell apart due to days of heavy rain.
Quite often, the wall is dismantled by local residents when they are going to build a village where it passes, or they simply need building stone to build their houses. Other facts indicate that the wall is being destroyed during the construction of the highway, railway etc. Some "artists" raise their hands to paint the walls with graffiti, which also does not contribute to the integrity of the image.
The colossal defense structures known today as the Great Wall of China were built by those who thousands of years ago possessed technologies that we have not yet grown up to. And it was clearly not the Chinese ...
In China, there is another material evidence of the presence in this country of a highly developed civilization, to which the Chinese have nothing to do. Unlike the Chinese pyramids, this evidence is well known to everyone. This is the so-called The great Wall of China.
Let's see what orthodox historians have to say about this largest piece of architecture, which has recently become a major tourist attraction in China. The wall is located in the north of the country, stretching from the sea coast and going deep into the Mongolian steppes, and, according to various estimates, has a length, taking into account the branches, from 6 to 13,000 km. The thickness of the wall is several meters (on average 5 meters), the height is 6-10 meters. The wall is said to have included 25,000 towers.
Short story building a wall today looks like this. The construction of the wall allegedly began yet in the 3rd century BC during the dynasty Qin to defend against the raids of nomads from the north and clearly define the border of Chinese civilization. The initiator of the construction was the famous "collector of Chinese lands" Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di. He drove about half a million people to the construction, which, with 20 million total population is a very impressive figure. Then the wall was a structure mainly from the earth - a huge earthen rampart.
During the reign of the dynasty Han(206 BC - 220 AD) the wall was expanded to the west, strengthened with stone and built a line of watchtowers that went deep into the desert. Under the dynasty Min(1368-1644) the wall continued to be built further. As a result, it stretched from east to west from the Bohai Bay in the Yellow Sea to the western border of the modern provinces of Gansu, entering the territory of the Gobi Desert. It is believed that this wall was already built by the efforts of a million Chinese from bricks and stone blocks, which is why these sections of the wall have survived to this day in the form in which a modern tourist is already accustomed to seeing it. The Ming dynasty was replaced by the Manchu dynasty Qing(1644-1911), who did not build the wall. She limited herself to maintaining in relative order small area near Beijing, which served as the "gateway to the capital".
In 1899, American newspapers started a rumor that the wall would soon be demolished and a highway built in its place. However, no one was going to demolish anything. Moreover, in 1984, a wall restoration program initiated by Deng Xiaoping and led by Mao Tse Tung was launched, which is still being carried out and financed by Chinese and foreign companies, as well as individuals. How many drove Mao to restore the wall is not reported. Several sections were repaired, in some places they were erected altogether anew. So we can assume that in 1984 the construction of the fourth wall of China began. Usually, tourists are shown one of the sections of the wall, located 60 km northwest of Beijing. This is the area of Mount Badaling (Badaling), the length of the wall is 50 km.
The wall makes the greatest impression not in the Beijing area, where it was erected on a not very high mountains and in remote mountainous areas. There, by the way, it is very clearly seen that the wall, as a defensive structure, was made very thoughtfully. Firstly, five people in a row could move along the wall itself, so it was also a good road, which is extremely important when it is necessary to transfer troops. Under cover of the battlements, the guards could stealthily approach the area where the enemies planned to attack. The signal towers were located in such a way that each of them was within sight of the other two. Some important messages were transmitted either by drumming, or by smoke, or by the fire of bonfires. Thus, the news of the enemy's invasion from the most distant frontiers could be transmitted to the center per day!
During the restoration process, the walls were opened Interesting Facts. For example, its stone blocks were fastened together with adhesive rice porridge with an admixture of slaked lime. Or what loopholes on its fortresses looked towards China; that on the north side the height of the wall is small, much less than on the south, and there are stairs. The latest facts, for obvious reasons, are not advertised and are not commented on by official science - neither Chinese nor world. Moreover, when reconstructing towers, they try to build loopholes in the opposite direction, although this is not always possible. These photos show the south side of the wall - the sun is shining at noon.
However, on this oddity with Chinese wall do not end. Wikipedia has complete map walls where different color shows a wall which we are told was built by every Chinese dynasty. As you can see, the great wall is not alone. Northern China is often and densely dotted with "great Chinese walls" that go into the territory of modern Mongolia and even Russia. Shed light on these oddities A.A. Tyunyaev in his work "The Chinese Wall - a great barrier from the Chinese":
“It is extremely interesting to trace the stages of the construction of the “Chinese” wall, based on the data of Chinese scientists. It can be seen from them that Chinese scientists, who call the wall "Chinese", are not very concerned about the fact that the Chinese people themselves did not take any part in its construction: every time the next section of the wall was built, the Chinese state was far from the construction sites.
So, the first and main part of the wall was built in the period from 445 BC. to 222 BC It runs along 41-42 ° north latitude and simultaneously along some sections of the river. Huanghe. At that time, of course, there were no Mongol-Tatars. Moreover, the first unification of peoples within China took place only in 221 BC. under the reign of Qin. And before that, there was the Zhangguo period (5-3 centuries BC), in which eight states existed on the territory of China. Only in the middle of the 4th c. BC. Qin began to fight against other kingdoms, and by 221 BC. conquered some of them.
The figure shows that the western and northern border of the state of Qin by 221 BC. began to coincide with that section of the "Chinese" wall, which began to be built even in 445 BC and was built in 222 BC
Thus, we see that this section of the "Chinese" wall was built not by the Chinese of the Qin state, but northern neighbors, but precisely from the Chinese spreading to the north. In just 5 years - from 221 to 206. BC. - a wall was built along the entire border of the state of Qin, which stopped the spread of his subjects to the north and west. In addition, at the same time, 100-200 km west and north of the first, the second line of defense from Qin was built - the second "Chinese" wall of this period.
The next construction period covers the time from 206 BC to 220 AD During this period, sections of the wall were built, located 500 km to the west and 100 km to the north of the previous ones ... from 618 to 907 China was ruled by the Tang dynasty, which did not mark itself as victorious over its northern neighbors.
In the next period from 960 to 1279 The Song Empire was established in China. At this time, China lost dominance over its vassals in the west, in the northeast (on the territory of the Korean Peninsula) and in the South - in northern Vietnam. The Sung empire lost a significant part of the territories of the Chinese proper in the north and northwest, which went to the Khitan state of Liao (part of the modern provinces of Hebei and Shanxi), the Tangut kingdom of Xi-Xia (part of the territories of modern Shaanxi province, the entire territory of modern Gansu province and Ningxia Hui autonomous region).
In 1125, the border between the non-Chinese kingdom of the Jurchens and China passed along the river. Huaihe is 500-700 km south of the places where the wall was built. And in 1141, a peace treaty was signed, according to which the Chinese Sung Empire recognized itself as a vassal of the non-Chinese state of Jin, pledging to pay him a large tribute.
However, while China itself huddled south of the river. Hunahe, 2100-2500 km north of its borders, another section of the "Chinese" wall was erected. This part of the wall built from 1066 to 1234, passes through Russian territory north of the village of Borzya near the river. Argun. At the same time, another section of the wall was built 1500-2000 km north of China, located along the Greater Khingan...
The next section of the wall was built between 1366 and 1644. It runs along the 40th parallel from Andong (40°), just north of Beijing (40°), through Yinchuan (39°) to Dunhuang and Anxi (40°) in the west. This section of the wall is the last, southernmost and most deeply penetrating into the territory of China ... During the construction of this section of the wall, the entire Amur region belonged to Russian territories. By the middle of the 17th century, on both banks of the Amur, there were already Russian fortresses-prisons (Albazinsky, Kumarsky, etc.), peasant settlements and arable lands. In 1656, the Daurskoye (later Albazinskoye) voivodeship was formed, which included the valley of the Upper and Middle Amur along both banks ... The “Chinese” wall built by the Russians by 1644 ran exactly along the border of Russia with Qing China. In the 1650s, Qing China invaded Russian lands to a depth of 1500 km, which was confirmed by the Aigun (1858) and Beijing (1860) treaties ... "
Today the Wall of China is inside China. However, there was a time when the wall meant country border. This fact is confirmed by ancient maps that have come down to us. For example, a map of China by the famous medieval cartographer Abraham Ortelius from his geographical atlas of the world Theatrum Orbis Terrarum 1602. On the map, north is on the right. It clearly shows that China is separated from the northern country - Tartary by a wall. On the map of 1754 "Le Carte de l'Asie" it is also clearly seen that the border of China with Great Tartaria runs along the wall. And even the 1880 map shows the wall as China's border with its northern neighbor. It is noteworthy that part of the wall extends far enough into the territory of China's western neighbor - Chinese Tartaria...
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The Great Wall of China is a grandiose structure in the entire history of mankind, which performs a defensive function. The reasons for the creation of such a large-scale building were formed long before the start of a long construction. Many principalities of the north and the kingdoms of China in general built protective walls against raids of enmity and simple nomads. When all the kingdoms and principalities united (3rd century BC), an emperor named Qin Shi Huang began the centuries-old and difficult construction of the Chinese Wall with all the forces of China.
shanhai guan is the city where the Great Wall of China begins. It is from there that it stretches in wavy bends, skirting more than half of the borders of Central China. The width of the wall is on average 6 meters, and the height is about 10. At some point in time, the wall was even used as a good level road. On some sections of the wall there are fortresses and fortifications as additions.
2450 meters - this is the length of the Chinese wall, although the total length, taking into account all the branches, bends and meanders, is almost 5000 km. From such large and infinite dimensions, many legends, myths and fairy tales have long been formed, for example, one of the most common is that the wall can be seen from the Moon and Mars. In fact, the Wall of China is only visible from orbit and satellite imagery.
According to a popular legend, a huge imperial army was spent on the construction of the wall, and this is about 300,000 people. In addition, tens of thousands of peasants were accepted and involved in construction, as the number of builders decreased for various reasons, and it was necessary to compensate for this with new people. Fortunately, there are no problems with the "human resource" in China to this day.
The geographical location of the wall is very interesting in itself: it is a symbol that divides the country into two parts - the north belongs to the nomads, and the south belongs to the landowners.
Another interesting and tragic fact is the longest and largest cemetery in the world in terms of the number of burials. About how many people were buried during the construction, and for all the time in general, history is silent. But the number is certainly incredibly large. The remains of the dead are found even today.
During the entire existence of the wall, it was restored more than once: it was reconstructed from the 14th to the 16th century, and then from the 16th to the 17th. one tower to another).
As a means of defense, the wall proved to be very bad, because such a height is not a hindrance for a large enemy. Therefore, for the most part, the guards did not look at the north side, but at the south. The reason is that it was necessary to keep an eye on the peasants who wanted to leave the country, avoiding taxes.
Today, in the 21st century, the Great Wall of China is an officially recognized symbol of its country, known throughout the world. Many of its sections have been reconstructed for tourism purposes. One part of the wall passes directly next to Beijing, which is a winning option, because it is in the capital that the largest number of tourists arrive.
SOME Russian researchers (President of the Academy fundamental sciences A.A. Tyunyaev and his associate Honorary Doctor of the University of Brussels V.I. Semeyko) express doubts about the generally accepted version of the origin of the defensive structure on the northern borders of the state of the Qin dynasty. In November 2006, in one of his publications, Andrey Tyunyaev formulated his thoughts on this topic as follows: “As you know, to the north of the territory modern China there was another, much more ancient civilization. This has been repeatedly confirmed by archaeological discoveries made, in particular, on the territory Eastern Siberia. Impressive evidence of this civilization, comparable to Arkaim in the Urals, not only has not yet been studied and comprehended by the world historical science, but did not even receive a proper assessment in Russia itself.
As for the so-called "Chinese" wall, it is not quite right to speak of it as an achievement of the ancient Chinese civilization. Here, to confirm our scientific correctness, it is sufficient to cite only one fact. LOOPHOUSES on a significant part of the wall ARE NOT DIRECTIONAL TO THE NORTH, BUT TO THE SOUTH! And this is clearly seen not only in the most ancient, not reconstructed sections of the wall, but even in recent photographs and in works of Chinese drawing.
It is generally accepted that they began to build it in the 3rd century BC. to protect the state of the Qin dynasty from the raids of the "northern barbarians" - nomadic people xiongnu. In the 3rd century AD, during the Han Dynasty, the construction of the wall was resumed and it was extended to the west.
Over time, the wall began to collapse, but during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), according to Chinese historians, the wall was restored and strengthened. Those sections of it that have survived to our time were built mainly in the 15th-16th centuries.
Over the three centuries of the reign of the Manchu Qing Dynasty (since 1644), the protective structure dilapidated and almost everything collapsed, since the new rulers of the Celestial Empire did not need protection from the north. Only in our time, in the mid-1980s, restoration of sections of the wall began as material evidence of the ancient origin of statehood in the lands of Northeast Asia.
Earlier, the Chinese themselves made a discovery about the belonging of ancient Chinese writing to another people. There are already published works proving that these people were the Slavs of Aria.
In 2008, at the First International Congress "Pre-Cyrillic Slavic Writing and Pre-Christian Slavic culture» in Leningradsky state university named after A.S. Pushkina Tyunyaev made a report "China is the younger brother of Russia", during which he presented fragments of Neolithic ceramics from the territory
eastern part of northern China. The signs depicted on ceramics did not look like Chinese characters, but they showed almost complete coincidence with the ancient Russian runic - up to 80 percent.
Based on the latest archaeological data, the researcher expresses the opinion that during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, the population of the western part of Northern China was Caucasoid. Indeed, throughout Siberia, up to China, mummies of Caucasians are found. According to genetic data, this population had the Old Russian haplogroup R1a1.
This version is also supported by the mythology of the ancient Slavs, which tells about the movement of the ancient Rus in an easterly direction - they were led by Bogumir, Slavunya and their son Scythian. These events are reflected, in particular, in the Book of Veles, which, let's make a reservation, is not recognized by academic historians.
Tyunyaev and his supporters draw attention to the fact that the Great Wall of China was built in a similar way to European and Russian medieval walls, the main purpose of which is protection from firearms. The construction of such structures began no earlier than the 15th century, when cannons and other siege weapons appeared on the battlefields. Before the 15th century, the so-called northern nomads did not have artillery.
Pay attention to which side the sun is shining.
ON THE BASIS of these data, Tyunyaev expresses the opinion that the wall in eastern Asia was built as a defensive structure marking the border between two medieval states. It was erected after an agreement was reached on the delimitation of territories. And this, according to Tyunyaev, is confirmed by the map of that
the time when the border between the Russian Empire and the Qing Empire passed exactly along the wall.
We are talking about a map of the Qing Empire in the second half of the 17th-18th centuries, presented in the academic 10-volume " world history". That map shows in detail the wall that runs exactly along the border between the Russian Empire and the empire of the Manchu dynasty (the Qing Empire).
There are other translations from the French phrase "Muraille de la Chine" - "a wall from China", "a wall delimiting from China". Indeed, in an apartment or in a house, we call the wall that separates us from our neighbors a neighbor's wall, and the wall that separates us from the street - outer wall. We have the same thing with the names of the borders: the Finnish border, the Ukrainian border... In this case, the adjectives indicate only the geographical location of the Russian borders.
It is noteworthy that in medieval Russia there was the word "whale" - knitting poles, which were used in the construction of fortifications. So, the name of the Moscow district Kitay-gorod was given in the 16th century for the same reasons - the building consisted of a stone wall with 13 towers and 6 gates...
According to the opinion enshrined in the official version of history, the Great Wall of China began to be built in 246 BC. under Emperor Shi Huangdi, its height was from 6 to 7 meters, the purpose of construction was protection from northern nomads.
Russian historian L.N. Gumilyov wrote: “The wall stretched for 4,000 km. Its height reached 10 meters, and watchtowers rose every 60-100 meters. He also noted: “When the work was completed, it turned out that all armed forces China is not enough to organize an effective defense on the wall. In fact, if a small detachment is placed on each tower, then the enemy will destroy it before the neighbors have time to gather and give help. If, however, large detachments are spaced less often, then gaps are formed through which the enemy will easily and imperceptibly penetrate into the interior of the country. A fortress without defenders is not a fortress.”
Moreover, the loophole towers are located on the South side, as if the defenders repelled attacks from the NORTH ????
Andrey Tyunyaev offers to compare two towers - from the Chinese wall and from the Novgorod Kremlin. The shape of the towers is the same: a rectangle, slightly narrowed upwards. From the wall inside both towers there is an entrance blocked by a round arch, lined with the same brick as the wall with the tower. Each of the towers has two upper "working" floors. Round-arched windows were made in the first floor of both towers. The number of windows on the first floor of both towers is 3 on one side and 4 on the other. The height of the windows is approximately the same - about 130-160 centimeters.
And what does the comparison of the preserved towers of the Chinese city of Beijing with the medieval towers of Europe say? The fortress walls of the Spanish city of Avila and Beijing are very similar to each other, especially in that the towers are located very often and have practically no architectural adaptations for military needs. Peking towers have only an upper deck with loopholes, and are laid out at the same height as the rest of the wall.
Neither the Spanish nor the Peking towers show such a high resemblance to the defensive towers of the Chinese Wall, as the towers of the Russian Kremlin and fortress walls show. And this is an occasion for reflection for historians.