Great Wall of China on the map. The Great Wall of China is the longest man-made structure

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, cheerful, fervent, but the descent is real torture. All steps have different heights - from 5 to 30 centimeters, so you need to look at your feet extremely carefully. When descending from such a height, the main thing is not to stop, since it will be extremely difficult to continue the descent after stopping. Still great Chinese Wall- This is the place where every tourist wants to visit.

Despite such difficulties, vivid impressions the tourist will be provided for for the rest of his life, and he will be able to feel like a 100% local resident. It’s not for nothing that the Chinese love to repeat the words of Mao Zedong: whoever has not climbed the Wall is not Chinese. The Great Wall of China from space is also a frequently requested request from tourists as grandiose building has a unique view from space.

The Great Wall of China is the largest architectural monument ever built by human hands. Its total length (including its branches) is almost nine thousand kilometers (however, some researchers claim 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? Construction of the wall officially began in the third century BC by order of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. The original purpose of 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 thereby contributed to the formation of a single state. It was also intended for the Chinese themselves, since it was not supposed to allow them to leave the country, return to a semi-nomadic way of life and merge with the barbarians.

The Great Wall of China is also interesting because it fits extremely organically into the surrounding landscape and one can even argue that it forms an integral composition with it. And all because during construction it smoothly skirted mountains, spurs, hills, and deep gorges.

Nowadays, the Great Wall of China and its length leaves tourists with an ambiguous opinion about itself. 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 - a rare event, it is completely abandoned, and the few travelers who get there have to wade through dense bushes, crumbling steps and areas that are dangerous to such an extent that you have to almost crawl through them (otherwise you can fall).

The height of the walls of this amazing structure is on average about seven and a half meters (if you take into account the rectangular battlements - then all nine), the width at the top is 5.5 m, at the bottom - 6.5 m. Towers of two types are built into the wall, mainly - rectangular shape:

• The towers that existed before construction are smaller in width than the wall;
• The towers, which were built simultaneously with it, were placed every two hundred meters.

There are signal towers in the wall - from them the soldiers watched the enemies and transmitted signals.

Where does the wall begin

The Great Wall of China begins in the northern city of Shanhai-guan (located on the shores of the Bohai Bay of the Yellow Sea) and is the easternmost point of the Long Wall (that is what the Chinese call this structure).

Considering that for the Chinese the Great Wall of China symbolizes the earthen dragon, its head is the Laoluntou Tower (Dragon Head), 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 where it directly extends 23 meters into the bay.

Where does the wall end

From Laolongtou, the Great Wall of China zigzags across half the country into the center of China and ends near the city of Jiayuguan - this is where it is best preserved. Despite the fact that the fortpost here was built back in the 14th century, it was constantly restored and strengthened, thanks to which over time it became the best outpost of the Celestial Empire.

According to one legend, the craftsmen so accurately calculated the amount of material needed for the construction of the walls 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 of the outer wall of the gate facing the west.

The outpost was erected near Jiayuyoshan Mountain and it consists of a semicircular outer adobe wall in front of the main gate, a moat, a compacted earthen 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 inner walls you can see carved bas-reliefs of heavenly kings and Buddhist texts.

Lost section of wall

Several years ago, on the border with Mongolia, scientists found a fragment of a wall that was built during the Han Dynasty, about which researchers had no idea before. Five years later, its continuation was discovered in neighboring Mongolia.

Building a wall

One Chinese legend it is said that the solution used to fasten the stones together was made from 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 until the Qin dynasty, any available materials were used in the construction of walls. To do this, layers of clay and small stones were laid between the rods, and sometimes unfired bricks dried in the sun were used. It was because of the use of such building materials that the Chinese nicknamed their wall the “earth dragon.”

When representatives of the Qin dynasty came to power, they began to use stone slabs to build the wall, which were laid end-to-end on compacted 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 compacted 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 to protect cities that had become 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:

1. Kingdom of Wei - around 352 BC;
2. Kingdoms of Qin and Zhao - around 300 BC;
3. Yan Kingdom - around 289 BC

Emperor Qin Shi Huang: Construction begins

After Shi Huangdi united the warring kingdoms into one country, the Celestial Empire became an extremely powerful power. It was then that the commander Meng Tian received orders 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 areas. At the same time, the walls separating the kingdoms were torn down.

They built the wall over the course of ten years, and the work was extremely difficult: difficult terrain for such work, lack of adequate food and water, numerous epidemics and hard work. As a result, more than one thousand people died here (that’s why this wall is unofficially called the longest cemetery on the planet).

The Chinese had an entire funeral ceremony specifically designed for those who lost their lives during construction work. While the relatives of the deceased were carrying the coffin, there was a cage on it with a white rooster in it. According to legend, the bird's cries 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 country began to be ruled by the Han Dynasty (206 BC -220 AD), construction continued to the west, and thus reached Dunhuang. In addition, at this 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 existing walls and added 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 representatives of 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 during 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 defensive structure

Despite the fact that the Chinese managed to build a wall of impressive proportions, it was no good as a defensive structure: enemies easily found poorly fortified areas, or, as a last resort, simply bribed the guards.

An example of the effectiveness of this structure as a defensive structure can well be 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 certainly attack from the west. They easily destroyed walls, climbed over them and robbed - whatever they wanted and wherever they wanted. When they left, the walls began to be built again.

Despite all the criticism, in our time the Chinese have given their wall a new meaning - it has come to symbolize the indestructibility, endurance and creative power of the nation.

What breaks down the wall

Fragments of the wall, which are significantly removed from the tourist pilgrimage, are in terrible condition. At the same time, it is not only time that destroys them. Facts say that in Gansu Province, due to the irrational way of conducting Agriculture almost all underground springs have dried up, so recently this area has become the site of the emergence 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.

Several years ago, in Hebei province, a section of the wall, the length of which was about thirty-six meters, collapsed due to days of rain. Quite often the wall is dismantled local residents, when they are going to build a village where it passes, or simply need building stone to build their houses.

Other facts indicate that the wall is being destroyed during the construction of a highway, railway and so on. Some “artists” raise their hand to paint the walls with graffiti, which also does not contribute to the integrity of the image.

The Great Wall of China is a chain of defensive structures stretching across Northern China from the Liaodong Bay of the Yellow Sea to the sands of the Gobi Desert.

The length of the Chinese wall in a straight line, from edge to edge, is 2450 km, and if we take into account all the bends and branches, then, according to different estimates, it turns out from 6000 to 8850 km. The most visited sections of the wall by tourists - Badaling and Simatai - are located in the vicinity of Beijing. This grand fortification is the most recognizable symbol of China. The inscription made by Mao Tse-Tung at the entrance to the reconstructed part of the monument reads: “If you have not visited the Great Wall, you are not a real Chinese.” In the Chinese imagination, the winding stone fortress resembles a flying dragon in its outline, which helps turn the Chinese wall into a national symbol.

Construction of the Millennium

The idea of ​​creating the Great Wall of China is attributed to Emperor Qin Shi Huang. He united the disparate kingdoms warring among themselves, establishing sole dominance in the territory of China. Since the rulers of small kingdoms fought with each other for many centuries (475-221 BC), they were the first to build defensive structures. And although the dictator Qin Shi Huang erased the borders of states from the face of the Earth, their walls remained, and then he conceived the construction of the millennium. According to the emperor's plan, the Great Wall of China was supposed to clearly define the borders Chinese civilization, strengthen the won unity and protect China from raids by nomads from the north.

Construction, which began in 210 BC, continued with minor interruptions until the end of the Ming dynasty, that is, until the 1640s. At this time, the Chinese Wall acquired its modern appearance through reconstruction - raw stone boulders in some areas were replaced with bricks and stone slabs.

The Chinese Wall - the pride of ancient China

Winding between mountains and valleys, the Great Wall of China stretches for more than 6,000 km. According to legend, the winged horse of Emperor Shi Huang ran exactly this distance in one day. In those places where the horse hit the ground with its hoof, watchtowers appeared. In reality, the towers were built at regular intervals; each of them was equal to two flights of an arrow fired from a bow. Thus, the Chinese could shoot at any section of the wall, which ensured good border security. Garrison and signal towers were also installed, from which, in the event of an attack, warning signals were sent by fire or drumming. The news of an enemy invasion from one end of the wall to the other could be transmitted in just 24 hours! Average height the wall reached 7.8 meters, and its width allowed five infantrymen to march in a row or five horsemen to ride in a line.

"Wall of Bones"

It is impossible to estimate how many people died building the Great Wall of China. The Chinese say: “Every stone in the wall is someone’s life.” About 1 million people worked at the legendary construction site. Offending workers were executed on the spot, and their bodies were buried at the base of an earthen rampart. Many years later, archaeologists have repeatedly discovered human remains here. Perhaps the chilling findings gave rise to the legend that the court sorcerer predicted to Shi Huang that the Great Wall of China would be completed only when 10,000 inhabitants of the Celestial Empire were buried under it or one man named Wang died. Then the emperor ordered to find a man with that name, kill him and wall him up in the wall. The same fate befell the Chinese who died at a construction site from exhaustion. They were buried in a vertical position under the wall. There is a belief that if you put your ear to the wall, you can hear the plaintive moans and cries of people who died at a construction site.

The Great Wall of China stretches across Northern China: from the desert regions of the Northwest (the city of Jiayuguan, Gansu Province) to the northeastern coast (Liaodong Bay of the Yellow Sea, the city of Shanhaiguan).
The total length of the wall is 8851.8 km, if you count the branches from the main wall. According to other sources, the length of the structure is 21,196 km. According to a number of experts, the total length of sections of the wall built in different eras is about 50 thousand km. Meanwhile, the Chinese name for the Great Wall translates to “10,000 li Long Wall.”
The first sections of the wall were built in the 3rd century. BC e., during the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang of the Qin dynasty (259-210 BC), who brought an end to the Warring States era (475-221 BC). Then he ordered the construction of new fortifications in addition to those erected earlier in order to protect his possessions from the raids of the nomadic Xiongnu people.
Subsequently, the wall was also used for customs control of goods transported along the Great silk road, to protect trade caravans from raids by nomads and track population migration. The latter was extremely important for the emperors of China: the wall was supposed to serve as the extreme northern line of settlement of the Chinese themselves, so that they would not adopt the nomadic lifestyle of their neighbors. The structure was supposed to remain a visible and majestic border of Chinese civilization, helping to unite the conquered kingdoms into a single empire.
Initially, the wall was not made of stone along its entire length, and its individual sections were constructed of wood and compacted earth. Construction conditions were extremely difficult: exclusively manual labor was used. The exact number of people who died during construction and died from epidemics is unknown. In folklore legends of that time, the Great Wall of China was called nothing less than the “wailing wall.”
Construction work continued for many more centuries and ended during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), when China separated from the Mongol Yuan Empire. At this time, bricks and stone blocks were already used, thanks to which these structures are best preserved.
The design elements of the Great Wall of China include, in addition to the wall itself, quadrangular watchtowers that stood every 200 m, within the visibility range of two adjacent towers. The distance from the tower to the tower was strictly equal to two arrow flights - thus, the entire space between them was shot through.
Barracks, casemates and signal towers were also built on and inside the wall to transmit messages using smoke, fire or sound. In addition, the upper part of the wall served as a road: two carts could pass each other on it.
Despite the seeming primitiveness of defense with the help of a fortress wall, in ancient times the structure was indeed a serious obstacle to those wishing to penetrate into China.
Europeans learned about the existence of the Great Wall of China only in the 16th century. The first European to describe the Great Wall of China (in the book Decalogy of Asia, published in 1563) was the Portuguese historian and writer João de Barros (1496-1570).
Along the entire length of the Great Wall of China, located in Northern China, guard casemates were built, watchtowers were erected, and fortresses were built at the main passes through the mountains. Not all buildings have survived to this day. Thanks to restoration work, the section of the wall northwest of the capital of China, in the Badaling area, is the best preserved. It has become a kind of “gateway to Beijing”.


In the 17th century The Ming dynasty was in decline. Its weakening was facilitated by droughts, and as a consequence, crop failures and the economic crisis. The officials committed arbitrariness, and the war with the Manchus (1618-1644), which was won by the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644-1911), undermined the strength of the dynasty. The Manchus were helped by an alliance with the Chinese military leader Wu Sangui, who in 1644 opened the gates of the Shanhaiguan outpost of the Great Wall of China to their army.
The Manchus did not need the Great Wall of China, so they did not care about its safety. During the three centuries of the Qing dynasty, the fortification was severely destroyed under the influence of time, in addition, residents of the surrounding lands gradually dismantled the wall for materials for building houses. The structure was in such poor condition that it was easy to believe reports that appeared in American newspapers in 1899, which said that the wall would be completely demolished and a highway would be built in its place. Fortunately, these were only rumors.
Currently, the most famous surviving section of the Great Wall of China lies 75 km northwest of Beijing, in the Badaling area. It was built during the Ming Dynasty, and restoration began in the 1950s, during the reign of Mao Zedong (1893-1976). In 1957, this section of the wall was the first to be opened to tourists. According to the idea of ​​the “Great Helmsman”, the wall near Badaling was supposed to become the “gateway to Beijing” and business card new communist China.
Since 1984, in China, on the initiative of the Chinese politician and reformer Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997), a program for the restoration of the Great Wall of China was launched. Certain sections of the upper part of the wall were paved and serve as highways.
In 1987, the Great Wall of China was included in the World Heritage List cultural heritage UNESCO.
In 2009, British scientist William Lindsay, one of China's most respected foreign explorers of the wall, discovered a significant section (290 km) that was attributed to the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD). .). In 2012, the search for further fragments of the wall by the expedition of William Lindsay culminated in the discovery of another lost section of the wall on the border of China and Mongolia, about 100 km long, the mention of which was preserved in the description of the battles of Genghis Khan in the 12th century. The search for lost sections of the wall is complicated by the fact that they are all largely buried under the sediment of sandstorms.
Additional factors in the destruction of the remains of the wall are China's intensive agricultural practices. Since the 1950s. they have led to the depletion of groundwater, and the range of sandstorms, as well as their scale and severity, has increased significantly. As a result of this, more than 40 km of the wall have already disappeared, the height of some of its sections has decreased from five to two meters. A 70 km long section of the wall in Minqin County, Gansu Province is subject to active erosion, and in 2012, a section of the wall in Hebei Province collapsed due to heavy rains. Many sections of the Great Wall that remain from its early history were built of compressed clay rather than stone and brick, increasing the risk of erosion.
Nevertheless, the Chinese population is confident that the wall will be restored and preserved for the sake of future generations of Chinese. At the place where you can climb the restored part of the Great Wall of China, there is an inscription left by Mao Zedong: “He who has not been to the Great Wall of China is not a real Chinese.”

general information

Location: Northern China.

Base - 6.5 m, top part - 5.5 m.

Highest point: 1050 m above sea level (Babalow, Badaling site)

Attractions

■ Architectural: elements of the wall (wall, towers, casemates, barracks, signal towers, fortresses, branches from the main wall), “Head of the Old Dragon” (wall and structure “First Passage Under Heaven” - the extreme eastern fortification, the outskirts of the city of Shanhaiguan, on the banks of the Yellow sea), Badaling (the best preserved section of the wall, 75 km from Beijing), reconstructed sections (north of Mutianyu - 100 km, northeast of Simatai and Jinshanling - 110 km), "Sky Bridge" and "Sky Staircase" (Simatai ), sections of the wall made of purple marble (Jianan City, Yanyshan Mountains).

Curious facts

■ The Chinese name for the Great Wall translates to “Long Wall of 10,000 Li.” The generally accepted value for the length of one li - the Chinese measure of length - is 500 m. Therefore, it turns out to be 5,000 km, which is not far from the truth.
■ To strengthen the wall, stone blocks were coated with sticky rice porridge with the addition of slaked lime.
■ According to ancient Chinese sources, there were 25 thousand watchtowers on the wall.
■ The track and field marathon is held annually in China. Great Wall", during which athletes run part of the distance along the crest of the wall.
■ The width of the wall, 5.5 m, is specially designed for ten warriors to walk along it in a row or five horsemen to ride along it.

■ Exists large group skeptics who doubt that the Great Wall of China even existed. There are versions according to which the wall and its branches are initially a ridiculous structure, absolutely ineffective from the point of view of defense, and also that the wall runs along the ridges of the already inaccessible mountains and hills where nomads on horseback could not climb.
■ The first Chinese “taikonaut” (as cosmonauts are called in China) Yang Liwei in 2003, and subsequently his followers Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, returning to Earth, reported that it is impossible to see the Great Wall of China from orbit without special optical instruments, unarmed eye.
■ In the Qing Empire, the city of Shanhaiguan was called the “key to the capitals”: ​​at that time the road connecting Beijing and Mukden passed through it.
■ In the Simatai area, where the restored section of the wall is located, there is a “Sky Bridge”, which in its upper part narrows to 30 cm, and a “Sky Staircase”, whose elevation angle reaches 85°.
■ In 1986, magician David Copperfield “walked through” the Great Wall of China. For a long time, even the most experienced specialists could not expose this trick.

■ At the Jinshanling site, next to the Huding Tower, there are bricks in the wall, signed with hieroglyphs, from which you can find out the date of manufacture of the brick and the department involved in the construction of each individual section.
■ Three sections of the wall are built of purple marble: two in Jiang'an City, one in the Yanyshan Mountains.
■ During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Badaling section served as the finish line for the cycling race.
■ The last battle of the Great Wall of China took place in 1938, during the Sino-Japanese War.
■ On February 24, 1972, during a historic trip to China, 37th US President Richard Nixon inspected the Great Wall of China at a site near Beijing.
■ In the jargon of managers of large companies, a “Chinese wall” is an imaginary information barrier between various departments of a company, designed to block the exchange of data and prevent the leakage of confidential information.

East is a delicate matter. This is what Vereshchagin said in the legendary “White Sun of the Desert”. And he turned out to be right, more than ever. The thin line between reality and the mystery of Chinese culture encourages tourists to go to the Celestial Empire in order to unravel the mysteries.

In northern China, along winding mountain paths, rises the Great Wall of China - one of the most famous and extraordinary architectural structures peace. At least once, each of the people more or less interested in history looked for what the Great Wall of China looks like on the map, and whether it is so majestic.

The beginning of the Great Wall of China is near the city of Shanhaiguan, Hebei Province. The length of the Great Wall of China, taking into account the “branches,” reaches 8851.9 km, but if measured in a straight line, the length will be about 2500 km. The width varies, according to various estimates, from 5 to 8 meters. Scientists claim that it was built so that a patrol of 5 horsemen could easily pass through it. Rising to a height of up to 10 meters, protected observation towers and loopholes, the wall protected the eastern power from attacks by nomadic peoples. The end of the Great Wall of China, which even bypasses the outskirts of Beijing, is located near the city of Jiayuguan, Gansu Province.

Construction of the Great Wall of China - a historical approach

Historians around the world agree that the Great Wall of China began to be built around the 3rd century BC. Due to military historical events, global construction was interrupted and leaders, architects and the approach to it as a whole changed. On this basis, there are still debates on the topic: who built the Great Wall of China?

Archives and research give reason to believe that the Great Wall of China began to be created on the initiative of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. The ruler was prompted to such a radical decision by the period of the Warring States, when, during long battles, the 150 states of the Celestial Empire were reduced by 10 times. The increased danger of wandering barbarians and invaders frightened Emperor Qin, and he assigned the general Meng Tian to lead the large-scale construction of the century.

Despite bad mountain roads, potholes and gorges, the first 500 workers headed to the northern part of China. Hunger, lack of water and hard physical labor exhausted the builders. But, according to all Eastern severity, those who disagreed were severely punished. Over time, the number of slaves, peasants and soldiers who built the Great Wall of China increased to a million people. They all worked day and night, following the Emperor’s orders.

During construction, twigs and reeds were used, held together with clay and even rice porridge. In some places the earth was simply compacted or mounds of pebbles were created. The peak of the building achievements of that period were clay bricks, which were immediately dried in the sun and laid out row after row.

After the change of power, Qin's initiatives were continued by the Han dynasty. Thanks to their assistance, in 206-220 BC, the wall stretched another 10,000 km, and watchtowers appeared in certain areas. The system was such that from one such “tower” one could see two standing next to each other. This is how communication between the guards was carried out.

Video - History of the construction of the Great Wall of China

The Ming Dynasty, which came to the throne, starting in 1368, replaced some of the worn-out and not particularly strong building materials with durable brick and massive stone blocks. Also, with their assistance, in the area of ​​​​the current city of Jian'an, the wall was restored with purple marble. This change also affected the section near Yanshan.

But not all Chinese rulers supported this idea. The Qing Dynasty, having come to power, simply abandoned construction. The imperial family did not see the practicality of a block of stone on the outskirts of the state. The only part they were worried about was the erected gate near Beijing. They were used for their intended purpose.

Only decades later, in 1984, the Chinese authorities decided to restore the Great Wall of China. Little by little from the world - and construction began to boil again. With money collected from caring sponsors and philanthropists around the world, destroyed stone blocks in several sections of the wall were replaced.

What does a tourist need to know?

After reading history books and looking at photographs, you may feel an irresistible desire to go and challenge yourself to climb the Great Wall of China. But before you imagine yourself as an Emperor on top of a rock massif, you need to consider a few points.

First of all, it's not that simple. The problem is not only the amount of paperwork. You will have to submit copies of both passports, an application form, photographs, copies of round-trip tickets and a copy of your hotel reservation. Also, you will be asked for a certificate from your place of work, where your salary should not be less than 5,000 hryvnia. If you are unemployed, you must have a certificate from the bank about the status of your personal account. Please note - it must be worth at least 1500-2000 dollars. If you have collected all the necessary forms, copies and photographs, then you will be provided with a visa for up to 30 days without the possibility of extension.

Secondly, it is advisable to plan a visit to the Great Wall of China in advance. It’s worth deciding on the miracle of architecture and how to spend time there. You can go from the hotel to the wall on your own. But it is better to book a planned excursion and follow the plan provided by the guide.

The most popular tours offered in China take you to several sections of the wall that are open to the public.

The second option is the Mutianyu site. Here the price reaches 450 yuan (1740 hryvnia), for which after visiting the wall you will be taken to Forbidden City, greatest palace complex Ming dynasty

Also, there are a lot of one-time and shortened excursions, in the context of which you can either walk along the hundreds of steps of the Great Wall of China, or take a funicular ride, or simply admire the picturesque view from the tops of the towers.

What else is worth knowing about the Great Wall of China?

The Great Wall of China, like everything else in the Celestial Empire, is shrouded in legends, beliefs and mysteries.

There is a legend among the Chinese people that even at the beginning of the construction of the wall, the lover Meng Jiangui accompanied her newly-made husband to the construction. However, after waiting for him for three years, she could not stand the separation and went to the wall to see her beloved and give him warm clothes. It was only after going through a difficult path that she found out at the wall that her husband had died of hunger and hard work. Overwhelmed by grief, Maine fell to her knees and sobbed, causing part of the wall to crumble down, and the body of her deceased husband appeared from under the stones.

Local residents support such legends with superstitions. They believe that if you put your ear to the stones of the wall, you can hear the moans and cries of those workers who were buried during the construction of the Great Wall of China.

Video - The Mesmerizing Great Wall of China

Other storytellers claim that the mass graves of slave construction workers are a tribute to higher powers. Because as soon as Emperor Qin ordered the construction of a defensive structure, a court magician came to him. He told the emperor that the Great Wall would be completed only when 10,000 inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom were buried under the boulders, and a Chinese man named Wang was dead. Inspired by the sorcerer’s speeches, the emperor ordered to find a subject with that name, kill him and wall him up within the walls.

There is also a more mundane story, which to most seems only a myth. The fact is that in 2006 V. Semeiko published an article in one of the scientific journals. In it, he suggested that the authors and builders of the stone border were not the Chinese, but the Russians. The author reinforces his idea by the fact that the towers are directed towards China, as if observing the eastern state. And the fact that the general style of construction is more typical of Russian defensive walls allegedly unconditionally testifies to the Slavic roots of the architectural phenomenon.

And, be that as it may, the Great Wall of China, with all its ambiguity and mystery, is the best symbol of the massiveness, strength and greatness of the Celestial Empire. Its sublimity and successful symbiosis of innovation and mysticism.

Today it is believed that the Chinese began building their Great Wall of China as early as the 3rd century BC. e. Built for protection from northern nomads. Current state The walls are shown in Fig. 37 and 38. Regarding this, N.A. Morozov wrote:

“One thought is that the famous Chinese Wall, 6 to 7 meters high and up to three thick, stretching for THREE THOUSAND KILOMETERS, began construction back in 246 BC by Emperor Shi Hoang Ti (aka Shi Huang Di - Initial Venerable Emperor - Auto.) and WAS FINISHED ONLY AFTER 1866 YEARS, BY 1620 AD, is so absurd that it can only cause annoyance to a serious historian-thinker. After all, every large building has a predetermined practical purpose... Who would have thought of starting a huge construction that could only be completed in 2000 years, and until then would only be a useless burden for the population... And the Chinese Wall would be preserved as well as it is now could only if it was no more than several hundred years old”, vol. 6, p. 121–122.

Rice. 37. The Great Wall of China. Taken from, vol. 6, p. 121.

They will tell us that the Chinese took care of and constantly repaired their Wall for two thousand years in a row. Doubtful. It only makes sense to repair a building that is not very old, otherwise it will become hopelessly outdated and simply fall apart. This is what we are seeing, by the way, in Europe. Old defensive walls dismantled and new, more powerful ones were built in their place. For example, many military fortifications in Rus' were rebuilt in the 16th century.

Rice. 38. Great Wall of China modern form. Taken from, vol. 21.

But in China everything was supposedly completely different. We are told that the Chinese Wall was built and stood for TWO THOUSAND YEARS. Historians don’t say that “a modern wall was recently built on the site of an ancient one.” No, they claim that today we see exactly the same wall that conscientious Chinese workers built two thousand years ago. In our opinion, this is extremely strange, to say the least.

When and against whom was the Wall built? It's easy to give an approximate answer. As we have already said, “Chinese” history up to the 15th century AD. e. actually unfolded IN EUROPE. Therefore, the Chinese Wall could only have been created NO EARLIER than the 15th CENTURY AD. That is, when Chinese history“settled” already in modern China. And the Wall was built, of course, not against arrows and spears with copper or even stone tips of the 3rd century BC. Against which a three-meter thick stone wall is simply not needed. Walls such as the Chinese Wall were already built against battering rams and firearms. And they began to be built no earlier than the 15th century, when GUNS appeared on the battlefields, including SIEGE WEAPONS. In Fig. 39 we show another image of the Chinese Wall. It is very interesting that ancient authors also called it the WALL OF GOG AND MAGOG, vol. 1, p. 294. This was stated, for example, by Abulfeda.

Who was the wall built against? We cannot yet answer for sure. This requires additional research.

However, we will express the following thought, which will simultaneously indicate our proposed dating of the Wall.

Apparently, the Great Wall of China was built primarily as a structure marking the BORDER between China and Russia. And it was only partially conceived as a military-defensive structure - and it was hardly ever used in this capacity. Defend the 4000-kilometer wall, p. 44, from an enemy attack is SENSELESS. Even if it stretches “only” one or two thousand kilometers. The wall in its current form is only slightly short of 4 thousand kilometers.

L.N. Gumilyov wrote: “The wall stretches for 4 thousand km. Its height reached 10 meters, and watchtowers rose every 60-100 meters. But, when the work was completed, it turned out that all of China’s armed forces were not enough to organize an effective defense on the wall (as if this could not have been realized BEFORE construction began - Auth.). 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.

Rice. 39. The Great Wall of China. It turns out that it was also called “The Wall of Gog and Magog”, vol. 1, p. 293–294. Taken from, vol. 1, p. 293.

If large detachments are spaced out less frequently, gaps will form through which the enemy can easily and unnoticed penetrate deep into the country. A FORTRESS WITHOUT DEFENDERS IS NOT A FORTRESS”, p. 44.

How does our point of view differ from the traditional one? We are told that the Wall separated China from the nomads in order to secure the country from their raids. But, as A.N. correctly noted. Gumilev, this explanation does not stand up to criticism. If the nomads wanted to cross the Wall, they could easily do so. And more than once. And anywhere.

We offer a completely different explanation. We believe that the Wall was built primarily to MARK THE BORDER BETWEEN TWO STATES. And it was built when an agreement was reached on this border. Apparently in order to eliminate border disputes in the future. And there probably were such disputes. Today, the parties to the agreement draw the border ON THE MAP (that is, on paper). And they think that this is enough. And in the case of Russia and China, the Chinese side apparently attached such great importance to the agreement that they decided to immortalize it not only on paper, but also on the ground itself, by drawing the Wall along the agreed border. This was more reliable and, as the Chinese probably thought, should have eliminated border disputes for a long time.

The length of the Wall itself speaks in favor of this assumption. Four thousand kilometers may well be the LENGTH OF THE BORDER between the two states. But for a purely military structure such a length is meaningless.

But the northern border of China has changed many times over its supposedly more than two-thousand-year history that has passed since the construction of the Wall. What the historians themselves tell us about. China was either united or divided into separate states, lost and gained some lands, etc.

But then we are given a wonderful opportunity not only to test our idea that the Wall was from the very beginning the BORDER of China, but also to supposedly DATE the construction of the Wall. Because if we manage to find a RELIABLE DATED ancient map, on which the BORDER OF CHINA GOES EXACTLY ALONG THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA, then this will mean that, most likely, THE WALL WAS BUILT AT THIS TIME.

Today the Chinese Wall is INSIDE China. Was there a time when she passed EXACTLY ALONG THE BORDER? And when was this? By answering these questions we will get an approximate dating of the Wall.

Let's try to find a GEOGRAPHICAL MAP on which the Chinese Wall runs EXACTLY ALONG THE NORTHERN BORDER OF CHINA. It turns out that SUCH CARDS REALLY EXIST. Moreover, there are many of them. These are maps of the 17th–18th centuries AD.

Take, for example, an 18th-century map of Asia produced by the Royal Academy in Amsterdam. The map is part of a rare 18th-century atlas. The inscription on the map reads: L"Asie, Dresse sur les observations de l"Academie Royale des Sciences et quelques autres et Sur les memoires les plus recens. Par G. de l "Isle Geographe a Amsterdam. Ches R. & J. Ottens, Geographes dans le Kalverstraat au Carte du Monde. See Fig. 40.

On this map we see two large states in Asia: Tartarie and China. See Figure 41 and our drawing of the map in Figure 42. China's northern border runs approximately along the 40th parallel. THE CHINA WALL IS VERY CLOSE TO THIS BORDER. Moreover, on the map the Wall is MARKED as a thick line with the inscription Muraille de la Chine, that is, “high wall of China” translated from French.

We see the same Chinese Wall, with the same inscription on it, on another map of 1754 - Carte de l "Asie, which we took from a rare atlas of the 18th century. See Fig. 43. Here the Chinese Wall goes EXACTLY along the border between China and Great Tartary. See Fig. 44 and drawing in Fig. 45.

Rice. 40. Map of Asia from an 18th century atlas. Made in Amsterdam. L"Asie, dresse sur les observations de l"Academie Royale des Sciences et quelques autres, et sur les memoires les plus recens. Par G. de l'lsle Geographe. a Amsterdam. Chez R. & J. Ottens, Geographes dans le Kalverstraat au Carte du Monde. Taken from.

We see literally the same thing on another map of Asia in the 17th century, placed in the famous Blau world atlas of 1655. See Fig. 46. The Chinese Wall runs exactly along the border of China, and only its small western section is already inside China.

It is also important that the cartographers of the 18th century GENERALLY CONSIDERED IT NECESSARY TO PLACE THE CHINESE WALL ON THE POLITICAL MAP OF THE WORLD. Which indirectly suggests that the Wall HAD THE MEANING OF A POLITICAL BORDER. After all, they did not depict other wonders of the world. For example, Egyptian pyramids not on this map. And they painted the Chinese Wall.

Rice. 41. Fragment of a map of Asia from an 18th century atlas. It is clearly visible that the Chinese Wall runs exactly along the border of China. The wall is not only depicted on the map, but is also directly called the “Wall of China”: Muraille de la Chine. Taken from

The Great Wall of China is depicted on a color map of the Qing Empire in the second half of the 17th–18th centuries from the academic 10-volume World History, p. 300–301. This map shows the Great Wall in detail, with all its small curves in the terrain. Almost along its entire length it runs EXACTLY ALONG THE BORDER OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE, with the exception of a small westernmost section no more than 200 kilometers long.

Rice. 42. Our drawing of a fragment of a map of Asia in the 18th century with the image of the Great Wall of China. Map taken from.

Rice. 43. The eastern part of the map of Asia from the atlas of the 18th Bek. Taken from .

Rice. 44. Fragment of a map of Asia from an 18th century atlas. The Great Wall of China runs exactly along the border of China. It is not only depicted on the map, but also directly named “ Chinese wall": Muraille de la Chine. Taken from .

Rice. 45. Our drawing of a fragment of the map of 1754. "Carte de I" Asie. 1754. It is clearly visible that the Great Wall of China runs exactly along the northern border of China. Map taken from.

Rice. 46. ​​Fragment of a map of Asia from the Blaeu atlas of 1655. The Chinese Wall runs exactly along the border of China, and only a small western section is located inside China. Taken from .

Rice. 47. The Great Wall of China on a map supposedly from 1617, running exactly along the border between “China” (China) and Tartary. Taken from, p. 190–191.

Rice. 48. Enlarged image of the Chinese Wall, which plays the role of the border between China and Tartaria. From a map supposedly from 1617. Taken from, p. 190–191.

On a map supposedly from 1617 from the Blau Atlas, we also see the Chinese Wall, running EXACTLY ALONG THE BORDER between “China” - that is, China - and Tartaria (TARTARIA), Fig. 47 and 48.

We see exactly the same picture on the map allegedly dated 1635 from the Blaeu Atlas, p. 198–199. Here, exactly along the border between China-China (CHINAE) and Tartaria, runs the Great Wall of China, fig. 49 and 50.

Rice. 49. The Chinese Wall runs exactly along the border between China and Tartaria on a map allegedly dating from 1635. Taken from Blaeu's Atlas, p. 198–199.

Rice. 50. Enlarged fragment depicting the Chinese Wall as a border between states. Taken from, p. 199

In our opinion, all this means the following. THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA WAS PROBABLY BUILT IN THE 17TH CENTURY TO DELIVER THE STATE BORDER BETWEEN CHINA AND RUSSIA.

And if, after all these maps, someone still insists that the Chinese, they say, still built their Wall in the 3rd century BC, then we will answer this way. Maybe you're right. Let's not argue. However, in this case, we will have to admit that the “ancient” Chinese had such an amazing gift of foresight that they predicted exactly how the state border would run in the north of China in the 17th–18th centuries of the NEW ERA. That is, two thousand years after them.

They may object to us: the wall was not built along the border, but, on the contrary, the border between Russia and China in the 17th century was drawn along the ancient Wall. However, in this case, the Wall would have to be mentioned in a written Russian-Chinese treaty. But, as far as we know, there are no such references.

But if the Great Wall of China is really the border between Russia and China, then WHEN EXACTLY was it built? Apparently, in the 17th century. No wonder it is believed that its construction was “completed” only in 1620, vol. 6, p. 121. Or maybe even later. We will return to this issue in the next chapter.

And I immediately remember that EXACTLY in the 17th century there were BORDER WARS between Russia and China. See S.M. Soloviev, “History of Russia since ancient times,” vol. 12, chapter 5, . It was probably only at the end of the 17th century that the border was agreed upon. And then they built the Wall to FIX THE AGREEMENT.

Did the Wall exist in some form before the 17th century? Apparently not. As we now understand, in the XIV-XVI centuries Rus' AND CHINA STILL CONSTITUTED ONE EMPIRE. It is believed that China was conquered by the “Mongols”, after which it became part of the Great = “Mongol” Empire. Therefore, there was no need to build a border wall. Most likely, such a need arose only after the Great Troubles of the early 17th century and the seizure of power in Rus' by the pro-Western Romanov dynasty. Then Türkiye separated from the Empire and heavy wars began with it. China also separated. The Manchu dynasty needed to build a wall to secure the border of the state they created. Which is what was done.

By the way, many “ancient Chinese” chronicles talk about the Great Wall. So what year were they written? It is clear that after the construction of the Wall, that is, not earlier than the 17th century AD. e.

And one more interest Ask. Are there any other powerful stone fortress structures still preserved in China that were erected earlier than the 17th century, that is, before the Manchu rule over China? And also stone palaces and temples? Or the Great Wall, before the arrival of the Manzhurs in the 17th century, stood in China in splendid isolation as the ONLY powerful stone wall in the entire country fortification? If so, then it’s very strange. Is it really possible that in the two thousand years that have supposedly passed since the construction of the Wall, the Chinese did not think of building many other structures that were even remotely comparable to the Wall? After all, we are told that the long history of China was filled with internecine wars. Why then did the Chinese not fence each other off with walls? According to the logic of historians, in two thousand years all of China should have been blocked by a wide variety of Great - and not so great - Walls. But there is nothing like it.

In Europe and Rus', for example, a lot of stone fortifications have been preserved. If the Chinese, two thousand years ago, built a gigantic stone structure, generally useless from a military point of view, then why didn’t they direct their remarkable talents to build really necessary ones? stone kremlins in your cities?

If the Wall was built, as we assume, only in the 17th century and was ONE OF THE FIRST grandiose stone buildings in China, then everything falls into place. Since the 17th century, there have been no major internecine wars in China. Until 1911, the same Manjurian dynasty ruled there. And after it, in the 20th century, no one built stone fortresses for military purposes. They are no longer needed.

Apparently, it is possible to even more accurately indicate the time of construction of the Great Wall of China.

As we have already said, the Wall was apparently built as a border between China and Russia during the border disputes of the 17th century. ARMED COLLISIONS between the two countries flared up from the middle of the 17th century. The wars went on with varying degrees of success, p. 572–575. Descriptions of the wars are preserved in Khabarov’s notes.

The treaty that secured the northern border between China and Russia was concluded in 1689 in Nerchinsk. Perhaps there were earlier attempts to conclude a Russian-Chinese treaty. Therefore, we would expect that the Great Border Wall of China was built sometime between 1650 and 1689. This expectation is justified. It is known that the Chinese Emperor (Bogdykhan) Kangxi “began the implementation of his plan to oust the RUSSIANS FROM AMUR. Having built a chain of fortifications in Manzhuria (! - Author), Bogdykhan in 1684 sent the Manjurian army to the Amur”, vol. 5, p. 312. We show a portrait of Bogdykhan Kangxi based on a drawing from the 18th century in Fig. 51.

Rice. 51. Chinese Bogdykhan. (Emperor) Kangxi (1662–1722), under whom construction of the Great Wall of China probably began. From an 18th century drawing. Taken from, vol. 5, p. 312.

What kind of fortification chain did Bogdykhan Kangxi build by 1684? In our opinion, this refers to the construction of the Great Wall of China. A CHAIN ​​OF FORTIFIED TOWERS CONNECTED BY A WALL.

Figure 52 shows an engraving from the early 18th century, which depicts the Russian embassy passing through the Great Wall of China. It is worth noting that the Wall depicted here bears little resemblance to a real military fortification. For example, both passages in the towers through which the road from Russia to China is laid are COMPLETELY DEprived of ANY GATES OR GRATINGS, Fig. 53. Both through passages through the Wall are quite high and spacious. They are not protected by anything! The thickness of the wall, judging by the drawing, is quite small. So, from a military-defensive point of view, the Wall depicted in Fig. 54 is rather meaningless.

Rice. 52. An ancient image entitled: “The Russian embassy passes through the gates of the Great Wall of China. Engraving from the book by I. Ides. Beginning of the 18th century." This Wall is not like the Chinese Wall that we are shown today. It is much narrower than modern and there is no wide passage along its top. And today in China a much thicker “ancient” Wall with a wide road along the top has already been built. Taken from, p. 143.

Rice. 53. An enlarged fragment of an ancient engraving from the 18th century depicting the passage towers of the Chinese Wall. The passage through them is wide and high. There are no gates or bars visible in the towers. Such a wall is in no way capable of serving as a serious military-defensive structure, but it may well mark the border between two states. Taken from, p. 143.

The Great Wall, which the Chinese show their guests today, is constructed significantly differently. It has become much thicker and there is now a wide road along its top, fig. 55. The question is, when was it built in this form? Isn't it in the 20th century? By the way, the road leading along the top of the modern Chinese Wall looks as if it was made for tourists to walk, and not for soldiers to run under a hail of arrows. It's a wide road that opens up beautiful views to the surrounding area. Figure 56 shows a photograph of the Wall of China, believed to have been taken in 1907. But perhaps this photograph was taken much later or was heavily retouched. It is possible that a significant contribution to the construction of the “most ancient” Chinese Wall was made in the 20th century, already under Mao Zedong, when it was necessary to create an outstanding symbol of the greatness of the “most ancient” China. The wall was completed, expanded, and in some places rebuilt from scratch... And they said that, they say, it has always been this way.

Rice. 54. The current state of the Great Wall of China. It is already made very thick and there is a wide road along its top. Probably a remake for tourists. Taken from, p. 362.

Rice. 55. Photograph of the Great Wall of China, allegedly taken in 1907 (which, however, is doubtful). Taken from, p. 122.

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