The longest defensive structure in the world is the Great Chinese Wall. Interesting facts about her today are quite numerous. This masterpiece of architecture is fraught with many mysteries. It causes fierce debate among various researchers.
The length of the Great Wall of China has not yet been established precisely. It is only known that it stretches from Jiayuguan, located in Gansu Province, to (Liaodong Bay).
Wall length, width and height
The length of the structure is about 4 thousand km, according to some sources, and according to others - more than 6 thousand km. 2450 km is the length of a straight line drawn between its end points. However, it must be taken into account that the wall does not go straight anywhere: it bends and turns. The length of the Great Wall of China, therefore, should be at least 6 thousand km, and possibly more. The height of the structure is on average 6-7 meters, reaching 10 meters in some areas. The width is 6 meters, that is, 5 people can walk along the wall in a row, even a small car can easily pass. On its outer side there are “teeth” made of large bricks. Internal wall protects a barrier, the height of which is 90 cm. Previously, there were drains in it, made through equal sections.
Start of construction
The Great Wall of China began during the reign of Qin Shi Huang. He ruled the country from 246 to 210. BC e. It is customary to associate the history of the construction of such a structure as the Great Wall of China with the name of this creator of a unified Chinese state - the famous emperor. Interesting facts about it include a legend according to which it was decided to build it after one court soothsayer predicted (and the prediction came true many centuries later!) that the country would be destroyed by barbarians coming from the north. In order to protect the Qin Empire from nomads, the emperor ordered the construction of defensive fortifications, unprecedented in scale. They subsequently turned into such a grandiose structure as the Great Wall of China.
Facts indicate that the rulers of various principalities located in Northern China erected similar walls along their borders even before the reign of Qin Shi Huang. By the time of his accession to the throne, the total length of these ramparts was about 2 thousand km. The emperor first only strengthened and united them. This is how the unified Great Wall of China was formed. Interesting facts about its construction, however, do not end there.
Who built the wall?
Real fortresses were built at checkpoints. Intermediate military camps for patrolling and garrison service, and watchtowers were also built. "Who built the Great Wall of China?" - you ask. Hundreds of thousands of slaves, prisoners of war and criminals were rounded up to build it. When workers became scarce, mass mobilizations of peasants also began. Emperor Shi Huang, according to one legend, ordered a sacrifice to the spirits. He ordered that a million people be immured in the wall under construction. This is not confirmed by archaeological data, although isolated burials were found in the foundations of towers and fortresses. It is still unclear whether they were ritual sacrifices, or whether they simply buried dead workers in this way, those who built the Great Wall of China.
Completion of construction
Shortly before Shi Huangdi's death, the construction of the wall was completed. According to scientists, the reason for the impoverishment of the country and the turmoil that followed the death of the monarch was precisely the enormous costs of building defensive fortifications. The Great Wall stretched through deep gorges, valleys, deserts, along cities, across the whole of China, turning the state into an almost impregnable fortress.
Protective function of the wall
Many later called its construction pointless, since there would have been no soldiers to defend such long wall. But it should be taken into account that it served to protect against the light cavalry of various nomadic tribes. In many countries they were used against steppe inhabitants similar structures. For example, this is the Trajan Wall, built by the Romans in the 2nd century, as well as the Serpentine Walls, built in the south of Ukraine in the 4th century. Large detachments of cavalry could not overcome the wall, since the cavalry needed to break through a breach or destroy a large area to pass. And without special devices it was not easy to do this. Genghis Khan managed to do this in the 13th century with the help of military engineers from Zhudrjey, the kingdom he conquered, as well as local infantry in huge numbers.
How different dynasties cared for the wall
All subsequent rulers took care of the safety of the Great Wall of China. Only two dynasties were an exception. These are the Yuan, the Mongol dynasty, and also the Manchu Qin (the latter, which we will talk about a little later). They controlled the lands north of the wall, so they did not need it. The history of the building went through different periods. There were times when the garrisons guarding it were recruited from pardoned criminals. The tower, located on the Golden Terrace of the Wall, was decorated in 1345 with bas-reliefs depicting Buddhist guards.
After the Yuan dynasty was defeated, during the reign of the next (Ming) in 1368-1644, work was carried out to strengthen the wall and maintain defensive structures in proper condition. Beijing, the new capital of China, was only 70 kilometers away, and its safety depended on the safety of the wall.
During the reign, women were used as sentries on the towers, monitoring the surrounding area and, if necessary, giving an alarm signal. This was motivated by the fact that they treat their duties more conscientiously and are more attentive. There is a legend according to which the legs of the unfortunate guards were cut off so that they could not leave their post without an order.
Folk legend
We continue to expand on the topic: “The Great Wall of China: Interesting Facts"The photo of the wall below will help you imagine its greatness.
Folk legend tells about the terrible hardships that the builders of this structure had to endure. The woman, whose name was Meng Jiang, came here from a distant province to bring warm clothes to her husband. However, upon reaching the wall, she learned that her husband had already died. The woman was unable to find his remains. She lay down near this wall and cried for several days. Even the stones were touched by the woman’s grief: one of the sections collapsed Great Wall, revealing the bones of Meng Jiang's husband. The woman took the remains of her husband home, where she buried them in the family cemetery.
Invasion of the “barbarians” and restoration work
The wall did not save the “barbarians” from the last large-scale invasion. The overthrown aristocracy, fighting with the rebels representing the Yellow Turban movement, allowed numerous Manchu tribes into the country. Their leaders seized power. They founded a new dynasty in China - the Qin. From that moment on, the Great Wall lost its defensive significance. It completely fell into disrepair. Only after 1949 did restoration work begin. The decision to start them was made by Mao Zedong. But during the “cultural revolution” that took place from 1966 to 1976, the “red guards” (Red Guards), who did not recognize the value of ancient architecture, decided to destroy some sections of the wall. She looked, according to eyewitnesses, as if she was subject to an enemy assault.
Now it was not only forced laborers or soldiers who were sent here. Service on the wall became a matter of honor, as well as a strong career incentive for young people from noble families. The words that one who was not there cannot be called a fine fellow, which Mao Zedong turned into a slogan, became a new saying right then.
The Great Wall of China today
Not a single description of China is complete without mentioning the Great Wall of China. Local residents say that its history is half the history of the entire country, which cannot be understood without visiting the building. Scientists have calculated that from all the materials that were used during the Ming Dynasty during its construction, it is possible to build a wall whose height is 5 meters and thickness is 1 meter. It is enough to encircle the entire globe.
The Great Wall of China has no equal in its grandeur. This building is visited by millions of tourists from all over the world. Its scale still amazes today. Anyone can purchase a certificate on the spot, which indicates the time of visiting the wall. The Chinese authorities were even forced to restrict access here in order to ensure better preservation of this great monument.
Is the wall visible from space?
For a long time it was believed that this was the only man-made object visible from space. However, this opinion has recently been refuted. Yang Li Wen, China's first astronaut, sadly admitted that he could not see this monumental structure, no matter how hard he tried. Perhaps the whole point is that during the first space flights the air over Northern China was much cleaner, and therefore the Great Wall of China was visible earlier. The history of its creation, interesting facts about it - all this is closely connected with many traditions and legends that surround this majestic building even today.
The Great Wall of China is a unique structure; it looks like the body of a long dragon, spread across northern China. The length is more than 6400 km, the thickness of the wall is about 3 meters, and the height can reach seven meters. It is believed that it was in the 3rd century BC that the construction of the wall began, and ended only in the 17th century AD. It turns out that according to the accepted historical version, this construction lasted almost 2000 years. Truly a unique building. History does not know such long-term construction. Everyone is so accustomed to this historical version that few people think about its absurdity.
Any construction project, especially a large one, has a specific practical purpose. Who today would think of starting a huge construction project that can only be completed in 2000 years? Of course, no one! Because it's pointless. Not only will this endless construction put a heavy burden on the population of the country, the building itself will be constantly destroyed and will have to be restored. What happened to the great Chinese wall.
We will never know what the first sections of the wall, allegedly built before our era, looked like. They, of course, collapsed. And those sections that have survived to this day were mainly built during the Ming Dynasty, that is, allegedly, in the period from the 14th to the 17th centuries AD. Because in that era, the building materials were bricks and stone blocks, which made the structure more reliable. So historians are still forced to admit that this “wall,” which anyone can see today, appeared no earlier than the 14th century AD. But even 600 years is a fairly respectable age for a stone building. It is still not clear why this structure is so well preserved.
In Europe, for example, medieval defensive structures grew old and fell apart over time. They had to be dismantled and new, more modern ones built. The same thing happened in Rus'. Many medieval military fortifications were rebuilt in the 17th century. But in China, for some reason these natural physical laws do not apply...
Even if we assume that the ancient Chinese builders had some kind of secret, thanks to which they created such a unique structure, historians do not have a logical answer to the most important question: “Why did the Chinese build a stone wall with such tenacity for 2000 years? Who did they want to protect themselves from? - historians answer: “The wall was built along the entire border of the Chinese empire to protect against the attacks of nomads...”
Such a wall, as much as 3 meters thick, was not needed against the nomads. Russians and Europeans began to build such structures only when cannons and siege weapons appeared on the battlefields, that is, in the 15th century.
But the point is not even in its thickness, but in its length. The wall, stretching for several thousand kilometers, could not protect China from raids.
Firstly, in many places it passes at the foot of mountains and nearby hills. It is quite obvious that the enemy, having climbed onto the neighboring peaks, could easily shoot all the defenders on this section of the wall. From arrows flying from above, the Chinese soldiers would simply have nowhere to hide.
Secondly, along the entire length of the wall, watchtowers were built every 60-100 meters. Large military detachments were constantly supposed to be in these towers and monitor the appearance of the enemy. But back in the 3rd century BC, under Emperor Qin Shihuang Di, when 4,000 km of the wall had already been built, it became clear that if the towers were installed so often, it would not be possible to ensure effective defense of the wall. All the armed forces of the Chinese Empire will not be enough. And if you place a small detachment on each tower, then it will become easy prey for the enemy. A small detachment will be destroyed before neighboring detachments have time to come to its aid. If the defensive detachments are made large, but placed less frequently, then too long and unprotected sections of the wall are formed, through which the enemy can easily penetrate deep into the country.
It is not surprising that the appearance of such a fortification did not protect China from raids. But its construction greatly depleted the state, and the Qin dynasty lost its throne. The new Han dynasty no longer had much hope for the great wall and returned to the system of maneuver warfare, but, according to historians, the construction of the wall, for some reason, continued. Strange story...
It is also interesting that until the end of the 17th century, apart from the Great Wall of China, not a single large stone structure was built in China. But scientists claim that the Chinese population waged constant wars among themselves. Why didn’t they fence themselves off from each other with walls and build stone kremlins in their cities?
With such experience as the construction of the Great Wall of China, the entire country could be covered with defensive structures. It turns out that the Chinese spent all their resources, strength and talents only on the construction of the, in general, useless from a military point of view - the Great Wall of China.
But there is another historical version of the construction of the Great Wall of China. This version is not as popular among historians as the first, but it is more logical.
The Great Wall was indeed built along the border of China, but not to protect against nomads, but to mark the border between the two states. And its construction began not 2000 years ago, but much later, in the 17th century AD. That is, the famous wall is no more than 300 years old. An interesting historical fact speaks in favor of this version.
According to the official historical version, by the middle of the 17th century, the northern lands of China were severely depopulated and in order to protect these lands from settlement by Russians and Koreans, in 1678, Emperor Kangxi ordered this border of the empire to be surrounded by a special fortified line. Its construction continued until the end of the 80s of the 17th century.
The question immediately arises: why did the emperor need to build some kind of new fortified line, if a huge stone wall had stood on the entire northern border of China for a long time?
Most likely, there was no wall there yet, so in order to protect their lands, the Chinese began building a line of fortifications, because it was at that time that China was fighting border wars with Russia. And only in the 17th century both sides agreed where the border between the two states would be.
In 1689, a treaty was signed in the city of Nerchinsk, which fixed the northern border of China. Probably the Chinese rulers of the 17th century attached great importance to the Treaty of Nerchinsk, which is why they decided to mark the border not only on paper, but also on the ground. So a border wall appeared along the entire border with Russia.
On the map of Asia of the 18th century, made by the Royal Academy in Amsterdam, two states are clearly visible, China and Tartary. China's northern border runs approximately along the 40th parallel, and the Chinese Wall runs exactly along the border. Moreover, it is highlighted with a bold line and the inscription: “Muraille de la Chine” - which translated from French means: “Wall of China”. The same thing can be seen in many other maps produced after the 17th century.
Of course, one can assume that the ancient Chinese foresaw 2000 years ago where the Russian-Chinese border would be, and in 1689, the two states simply drew the border along the wall that stood here, but in this case, this would definitely have been indicated in the treaty, but in the Nerchinsk Treaty there is no mention of the wall.
For several decades now, scientists around the world have been sounding the alarm. One of the seven wonders of the world, the Great Wall of China, is rapidly collapsing! And indeed, in some places, the height of the wall has decreased to two meters, in some places the observation towers have completely disappeared, several tens of kilometers of the wall have been completely lost, and hundreds of kilometers continue to rapidly collapse. And this despite the fact that over the past few centuries, the wall has been repaired and restored several times, why was it not destroyed at such a rate before? Why, after standing for more than two thousand years, did the wall quickly begin to turn into ruins?
Scientists blame climate, ecology, Agriculture and, of course, tourists. Every year 10 million people visit the wall. They go where they can and where they can’t. They want to see even those parts of the wall that are closed to the public. But the matter is most likely something else...
The Great Wall of China is being destroyed in a completely natural way, just like all similar structures were destroyed. 300 years is a very respectable age for a stone building, and the version that the great Chinese long-term construction is as long as 2000 years old is a MYTH. As is much of Chinese history itself.
P.S. There is also another version circulating on the Internet that the Great Wall of China was not built by the Chinese at all. In those days, in China, practically nothing was built of stone except this wall. Moreover, the loopholes on the old, unrestored sections of the wall are located only on the south side. Unfortunately, I have not been to China and cannot say with certainty whether this is actually true. Photographs that determine the south side based on the sun's shadow cannot be taken as evidence. As you know, the wall does not go in a straight line, the directions are completely different, the sun can shine from both the southern and northern sides of the wall, roughly speaking.
A group of British archaeologists, led by William Lindsay, managed to make a sensational discovery in the fall of 2011: a part of the Great Wall of China was discovered, which is located outside of China - in Mongolia. The remains of this huge structure (100 kilometers long and 2.5 meters high) were discovered in the Gobi Desert, located in southern Mongolia. Scientists have concluded that the find is part of a famous Chinese landmark. The materials of the wall section include wood, earth and volcanic stone. The building itself dates back to between 1040 and 1160 BC. Back in 2007, on the border of Mongolia and China, during an expedition organized by the same Lindsay, a significant section of the wall was found, which was attributed to the reign of the Han Dynasty. Since then, the search for the remaining fragments of the wall has continued, which finally ended in success in Mongolia. The Great Wall of China, let us remind you, is one of the largest architectural monuments and one of the most famous defensive structures of antiquity. It passes through Northern China and is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
It is generally accepted that it began to be built back in the 3rd century BC. to protect the state of the Qin dynasty from the attacks of the “northern barbarians” - the nomadic Xiongnu people. In the 3rd century AD, during the Han Dynasty, construction of the wall was resumed and it was expanded westward. 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 parts of it that have survived to this day were built mainly in the 15th – 16th centuries. During the three centuries of the Manchu Qing dynasty (from 1644), the defensive structure became dilapidated and almost everything was destroyed, since the new rulers of the Celestial Empire did not need protection from the north. Only in our time, in the mid-1980s, did restoration of sections of the wall begin as material evidence of the ancient origin of statehood in the lands of Northeast Asia.
Some Russian researchers (President of the Academy basic sciences A.A. Tyunyaev and his like-minded person, honorary doctor of the University of Brussels V.I. Semeiko) 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, Andrei Tyunyaev formulated his thoughts on this topic as follows: “As you know, to the north of the territory of modern China there was another, much more ancient civilization. This has been repeatedly confirmed by archaeological discoveries made, in particular, in Eastern Siberia. The impressive evidence of this civilization, comparable to Arkaim in the Urals, not only has not yet been studied and comprehended by world historical science, but has not even received proper assessment in Russia itself.” As for ancient wall, then, as Tyunyaev claims, “the loopholes on a significant part of the wall are directed not to the north, but to the south. And this is clearly visible not only in the most ancient, unreconstructed sections of the wall, but even in recent photographs and works of Chinese drawing.”
In 2008, at the First International Congress “Pre-Cyrillic Slavic Literature and Pre-Christian Slavic Culture” in Leningrad state university named after A.S. Pushkin Tyunyaev made a report “China is the younger brother of Rus',” during which he presented fragments of Neolithic ceramics from the territory of the eastern part of Northern China. The signs depicted on the ceramics were not similar to Chinese characters, but showed an almost complete coincidence with the ancient Russian runic - up to 80 percent.
The researcher, based on the latest archaeological data, expresses the opinion that during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages the population of the western part of Northern China was Caucasian. Indeed, throughout Siberia, right up to China, mummies of Caucasians are being discovered. 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 the story of the movement of the ancient Rus in an eastern direction - they were led by Bogumir, Slavunya and their son Scythian. These events are reflected, in particular, in the Book of Veles, which, let us make a reservation, is not recognized by academic historians.
Tyunyaev and his supporters point out that the Great Wall of China was built similarly to European and Russian medieval walls, the main purpose of which was 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.
Based on this 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 a map of the time when the border between Russian Empire and the Qing Empire passed precisely along the wall.
We are talking about a map of the Qing Empire of the second half of the 17th–18th centuries, presented in the academic 10-volume “ World history" That map shows in detail a wall running exactly along the border between the Russian Empire and the empire of the Manchu dynasty (Qing Empire).
On the map of Asia of the 18th century, made by the Royal Academy in Amsterdam, two geographical formations are indicated: in the north - Tartarie, in the south - China, the northern border of which runs approximately along the 40th parallel, that is, exactly along the wall. On this map the wall is marked with a thick line and labeled "Muraille de la Chine". Now this phrase is usually translated from French as “Chinese Wall”.
However, when translated literally, the meaning is somewhat different: muraille (“wall”) in a construction with the preposition de (noun + preposition de + noun) and the word la Chine expresses the object and belonging of the wall. That is, the “wall of China”. Based on analogies (for example, place de la Concorde - Place de la Concorde), then Muraille de la Chine is a wall named after the country that Europeans called Chine.
There are other translation options from the French phrase “Muraille de la Chine” - “wall from China”, “wall delimiting from China”. After all, in an apartment or in a house we call the wall that separates us from our neighbors the neighbor’s wall, and the wall that separates us from the street - outer wall. We have the same thing when naming borders: Finnish border, Ukrainian border... In this case, the adjectives indicate only the geographical location of the Russian borders.
It is noteworthy that in medieval Rus' there was a word “kita” - a tying of poles that were used in the construction of fortifications. Thus, the name of the Moscow district Kitay-Gorod was given in the 16th century for the same reasons - the building consisted of stone wall with 13 towers and 6 gates...
According to the opinion enshrined in the official version of history, the construction of the Great Wall of China began 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 thousand km. Its height reached 10 meters, and watchtowers rose every 60–100 meters.” He noted: “When the work was completed, it turned out that everyone armed forces There won't be enough China to mount an effective defense on the wall. In fact, if you place a small detachment on each tower, the enemy will destroy it before the neighbors have time to gather and send help. If large detachments are placed less frequently, gaps will be created through which the enemy can easily and unnoticed penetrate into the interior of the country. A fortress without defenders is not a fortress.”
From European experience it is known that ancient walls more than several hundred years old are not repaired, but rebuilt - due to the fact that the materials are so expensive long time They get tired and just fall apart. But in relation to the Chinese Wall, the opinion has been firmly established that the structure was built two thousand years ago and nevertheless survived.
We will not go into controversy on this issue, but simply use Chinese dating and see who built and against whom different areas walls. The first and main part of the wall was built before our era. It runs along 41–42 degrees northern latitude, including along some sections of the Yellow River.
The western and northern borders of the Qin state only by 221 BC. began to coincide with the section of the wall built by this time. It is logical to assume that this site was built not by the inhabitants of the Qin kingdom, but by their northern neighbors. From 221 to 206 BC A wall was built along the entire border of the Qin state. In addition, at the same time, a second line of defense was built 100–200 km west and north of the first wall - another wall.
It certainly could not have been built by the Qin kingdom, since it did not control these lands at that time.
During the Han Dynasty (from 206 BC to 220 AD), sections of the wall were built, located 500 km west and 100 km north of the previous ones. Their location corresponded to the expansion of territories controlled by this state. It is very difficult to say today who built these protective structures – southerners or northerners. From the point of view of traditional history, it is the state of the Han Dynasty, which sought to protect itself from the warlike northern nomads.
In 1125, the border between the Jurchen kingdom and China passed along the Yellow River - this is 500-700 kilometers south of the location of the built wall. And in 1141, a peace treaty was signed, according to which the Chinese Song Empire recognized itself as a vassal of the Jurchen state of Jin, pledging to pay it a large tribute. However, while the lands of China proper were located south of the Yellow River, another section of the wall was erected 2,100–2,500 kilometers north of its borders. This part of the wall, built from 1066 to 1234, runs through Russian territory north of the village of Borzya next to the Argun River. At the same time, another section of the wall was built 1,500–2,000 kilometers north of China, located along the Greater Khingan.
But if only hypotheses can be put forward on the topic of the nationality of the builders of the wall due to the lack of reliable historical information, then the study of the style in the architecture of this defensive structure allows us, it seems, to make more accurate assumptions.
The architectural style of the wall, now located in China, is imprinted with the “handprints” of its creators by the construction features. Elements of the wall and towers, similar to fragments of the wall, in the Middle Ages can only be found in the architecture of ancient Russian defensive structures of the central regions of Russia - “northern architecture”.
Andrey Tyunyaev proposes 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 at the top. From the wall there is an entrance leading into both towers, covered with a round arch made of the same brick as the wall with the tower. Each of the towers has two upper “working” floors. On the first floor of both towers there are round-arched windows. 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.
There are loopholes on the top (second) floor. They are made in the form of rectangular narrow grooves approximately 35–45 cm wide. The number of such loopholes in the Chinese tower is 3 deep and 4 wide, and in the Novgorod one - 4 deep and 5 wide. On the top floor of the “Chinese” tower there are square holes along its very edge. There are similar holes in the Novgorod tower, and the ends of the rafters sticking out of them, on which the wooden roof is supported.
The situation is the same in comparing the Chinese tower and the tower of the Tula Kremlin. The Chinese and Tula towers have the same number of loopholes in width - there are 4 of them. And the same number of arched openings - 4 each. On the upper floor between the large loopholes there are small ones - in the Chinese and in the Tula towers. The shape of the towers is still the same. In the Tula tower, as in the Chinese one, it was used White stone. The vaults are made in the same way: at the Tula one there are gates, at the “Chinese” one there are entrances.
For comparison, you can also use the Russian towers of the Nikolsky Gate (Smolensk) and the northern fortress wall of the Nikitsky Monastery (Pereslavl-Zalessky, 16th century), as well as the tower in Suzdal (mid-17th century). Conclusion: design features The towers of the Chinese Wall reveal almost exact analogies among the towers of Russian Kremlins. And what does a comparison of the surviving 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 the fact that the towers are located very often and have practically no architectural adaptations for military needs. The Beijing 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 Beijing towers show such a high similarity with the defensive towers of the Chinese Wall, as do the towers of Russian kremlins and fortress walls.
And this is something for historians to think about.
The colossal defensive 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 developed. And these were clearly not Chinese...
In China, there is another material evidence of the presence in this country of a highly developed civilization, to which the Chinese have no relation. 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 architectural monument, 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, its length, including branches, is from 6 to 13,000 km. The thickness of the wall is several meters (on average 5 meters), the height is 6-10 meters. It is alleged that the wall included 25 thousand towers.
A brief history of the construction of the wall today looks like this. They supposedly started building the wall in the 3rd century BC during the reign of the dynasty Qin, to defend against raids by nomads from the north and clearly define the border of Chinese civilization. The construction was initiated by the famous “collector of Chinese lands” Emperor Qin Shi-Huang Di. He gathered about half a million people for construction, which, considering the total population of 20 million, is a very impressive figure. Then the wall was a structure made mainly of 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 a line of watchtowers was built that went deep into the desert. Under the dynasty Min(1368-1644) the wall continued to be built. As a result, it stretched from east to west from the Bohai Gulf in the Yellow Sea to the western border of the modern province of Gansu, entering the territory of the Gobi Desert. It is believed that this wall was built by the efforts of a million Chinese from bricks and stone blocks, which is why these sections of the wall have been preserved 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), which was not involved in the construction of the wall. She limited herself to maintaining in relative order a 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 would be built in its place. However, no one was going to demolish anything. Moreover, in 1984, a program to restore the wall was launched on the initiative of Deng Xiaoping and under the leadership of Mao Zedong, which is still being carried out today, and is financed from Chinese and foreign companies, as well as individuals. It is not reported how much Mao drove to restore the wall. Several areas were repaired, and in some places they were completely rebuilt. 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, the length of the wall is 50 km.
The wall makes the greatest impression not in the Beijing region, where it was built on not very high mountains, but in remote mountainous areas. There, by the way, you can clearly see 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 transport troops. Under the cover of the battlements, the guards could secretly approach the area where the enemies were planning 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 fires. Thus, the news of an enemy invasion from the farthest borders could be transmitted to the center per day!
During the restoration of the wall, interesting facts were discovered. For example, its stone blocks were held together with adhesive rice porridge with an admixture of slaked lime. Or what the 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 there. The latest facts, for obvious reasons, are not advertised and are not commented on in any way by official science - neither Chinese nor world. Moreover, when reconstructing towers, they try to build loopholes in the opposite direction, although this is not possible everywhere. These photos show the south side of the wall - the sun is shining at midday.
However, the strangeness with the Chinese wall does not end there. Wikipedia has a complete map of the wall, where different colors shows the wall that we are told was built by every Chinese dynasty. As we see, there is more than one great wall. Northern China is often and densely dotted with the “Great Walls of China”, which extend into the territory of modern Mongolia and even Russia. Light was shed on these oddities A.A. Tyunyaev in his work “The Chinese Wall - the Great Barrier from the Chinese”:
“Tracing the stages of construction of the “Chinese” wall, based on the data of Chinese scientists, is extremely interesting. It is clear from them that the 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 another 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 at the same time along some sections of the river. Yellow River. At this time, naturally, there were no Mongol-Tatars. Moreover, the first unification of peoples within China took place only in 221 BC. under the kingdom of Qin. And before that there was the Zhanguo period (5-3 centuries BC), in which eight states existed on Chinese territory. Only in the middle of the 4th century. BC. The 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 Qin state by 221 BC. began to coincide with that section of the “Chinese” wall that began to be built in 445 BC and it was built exactly 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 Qin state, which stopped the spread of its subjects to the north and west. In addition, at the same time, 100-200 km west and north of the first, a second line of defense against 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... During the period from 618 to 907 China was ruled by the Tang dynasty, which did not mark itself with victories over its northern neighbors.
In the next period, from 960 to 1279 The Song Empire established itself in China. At this time, China lost dominance over its vassals in the west, in the northeast (on the Korean Peninsula) and in the south - in northern Vietnam. The Song 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 the modern province of Shaanxi, the entire territory of the modern province of Gansu and Ningxia-Hui autonomous region).
In 1125, the border between the non-Chinese Jurchen kingdom and China ran along the river. Huaihe is 500-700 km south of where the wall was built. And in 1141, a peace treaty was signed, according to which the Chinese Song Empire recognized itself as a vassal of the non-Chinese state of Jin, pledging to pay it 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 next to the river. Argun. At the same time, 1500-2000 km north of China, another section of the wall was built, 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, the southernmost and the deepest penetrating into the territory of China... At the time of the construction of this section of the wall, the entire Amur region belonged to Russian territories. By the middle of the 17th century, Russian fortresses (Albazinsky, Kumarsky, etc.), peasant settlements and arable lands already existed on both banks of the Amur. In 1656, the Daurian (later Albazinsky) voivodeship was formed, which included the valley of the Upper and Middle Amur on 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 1,500 km, which was secured by the Aigun (1858) and Beijing (1860) treaties...”
Today the Chinese Wall is located inside China. However, there was a time when the wall meant country border. This fact is confirmed by ancient maps that have reached 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 separating from northern country- Tartaria with a wall. On the map of 1754 "Le Carte de l'Asie" it is also clearly visible that the border of China with Great Tartary runs along the wall. And even a map from 1880 shows the wall as China's border with its northern neighbor. It is noteworthy that part of the wall extends quite far into the territory of China’s western neighbor - Chinese Tartaria...
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The first sections of the wall were built in the 7th century BC. e., at a time when China was still divided into many small states. Various princes and feudal rulers marked the boundaries of their possessions with these walls.
United Great Wall
During the reign of the Qin dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC), after the unification of various Chinese territories into one whole, the first emperor of the Celestial Empire, Qin Shi Huang, connected the walls of the three northern states - Qin, Zhao and Yan. You've probably heard of Emperor Qin Shi Huang if you know anything about the Terracotta Army. These combined areas formed the first Wan Li Chang Cheng - A wall 10 thousand li long. Li is an ancient Chinese unit of length equal to half a kilometer.
History of the Great Wall of China
Since then, for more than 2 thousand years, during the reigns of various imperial dynasties, the Great Wall of China has been destroyed, rebuilt and extended many times. To carry out these tasks, requiring titanic efforts and colossal expenditures of various resources, millions of Chinese were sent to the northern borders of the Celestial Empire. The main purpose of creating the wall was always to try to protect the Chinese empire from Mongol and other conquerors. Most of the sections of the Great Wall that we see today were built during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). In some areas you can also observe an interesting picture: two different walls, built during the reigns of different dynasties, adjoin each other.
Functions of the Great Wall of China
Military function: The Great Wall of China is not just a wall. Various defensive structures such as fortresses, passes and watchtowers were built in its area. The created military camps housed troops, stored food, ammunition and ammunition. Sections of the wall were also used as important collection and transmission points for military information.
Infrastructure and development: Clashes between China and its northern neighbors can also be seen as a confrontation between two economic systems: agricultural and nomadic. The Great Wall of China protected the economic achievements of the Celestial Empire and contributed to its economic development and cultural progress. The Great Wall protected trade routes such as the Silk Road, served as a means of collecting and transmitting information, and was an important transportation point.
Tourism and construction material: Today the world has completely changed. Some of the sections of the Great Wall of China have become some of the most significant tourist attractions in the world. The Great Wall of China no longer serves the purposes that were important in earlier times. But does this mean that now local residents can you use stone slabs from the Great Wall to build your own home? At one time this happened with Hadrian's Wall in Great Britain. This still happens today with the Great Wall of China. One of the important tasks for China is to convey to the people of the country information about the significance and value of the Great Wall of China. See section
