The History of the Great Wall of China - Book Report/Review Example

The Great Wall of China The Chinese wall is the world is longest human made structure, extending roughly over 6,400 kilometers from Shan Haiguan along a curve that approximately define the south, but stretches over 6,700 kilometers in total. The Wall is the largest structure built in terms of mass and surface area. To have a full understanding of the Wall, we first need to understand the reason for its construction. The author tells us in the context presented by the history that the wall was build to prevent the nomad form the north form entering their territory. To understand, nearly half of China is mountain, desert or arid plateau especially in the north. The nomads occupied the northern part and they had different languages and cultures from the Chinese. When drought hit the northern part, the nomads had to find pasture in the part occupied by the Chinese. They harassed, invaded, and even dominated their empire thus leading to conflict. The nomads were not a small group of people, rather over the centuries had grown and built powerful empires with large and well-organized armies with the aim of preying. Some were large enough to triumph over China and rule them. The culture of the nomads and Chinese observed through the lens of trade shows us how nomads treasured medicines, potter, grains, and metal tools including weapons. Chinese demand was for sheep, cattle and skins. Historians argue that when these relations ended, nomads went for the option of seizing or taking by force what they wanted. The author shows us how this brought Chinese out of their comfort zone. The First Emperor Qin Shin Huang ordered his general to start building the Great Wall to protect the empire from the northern nomads. He ordered him to demolish earlier wall part that separated his empire along the boundaries in order to be able to entail federal rule and avoid regional lords. The wall built by joining several regions states that wanted to defend themselves from the northern nomads. The main reason of the wall was to ensure the nomadic people would not cross their borders and steal their property. The defensive wall located further to the northern preserved Dynasties at various periods little remains of it today. The ancient Chinese laboring people including farmers, common people, slaves and soldiers built the first construction of the Wall. They used stamping gravel and earth between board frames to withstand attack of small arms like spears and sword. However, this wall did not last for long due to the materials used for construction. The Ming Dynasty constructed the Wall that can still been seen today using durable materials. There four major walls were, Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty, Five Dynasty and Ten Kingdoms and the Ming Dynasty. As raids continued over a period, the Ming Dynasty dedicated resources to renovate and strengthen the walls. Toward the end of the Dynasty, the Great Wall played a big role to guard the empire alongside the nomads’ invasion. The Wall is the fortune of China; it is a great and magnificent masterpiece of humankind, with its beautiful panorama and splendid construction. The materials used are different in different areas due to the different historic period in China. The Wall mainly built from the stones, earth and wood then the bricks followed. In the early period, Chinese are known, for their skills in wall building. Transportation of great quantity of resources was a challenge faced by the Chinese, formation of the Wall thus they opted to use local resources available. They used stones and woods from the mountain over mountain array, while shoved earth used for building in the plains. Solid stones were at the top of the wall and for the sides of it. During the Qin Dynasty, the wall constructed, could only withstand attack of arms like spears and sword due to their small skill of production. There is not any exact course and length of the Qin Dynasty, most of their walls have gnarled away and few parts are remaining. The Han, Northern, Sui and Jin Dynasties all rebuilt, reconstructed and tried to expand part of the Chinese wall at higher cost to protect themselves from northern invaders. The earth and the basic stones were used as building tool thus, they used by the Han Dynasty. However, the Great Wall notion, revived during the Ming Dynasty following the defeat of their army in battle came to a new level. They had failed to take over part of the Mongols and the conflict was taking a charge on the empire. They opted for a new approach to keep the Mongols nomadic away from their empire through constructing walls at the northern border. They used local materials in construction until the appearance of new materials of bricks. Unlike the other construction by the Qin, the Ming construction was more complex and strong because of the usage of stones and bricks. They also used materials such as lime and tiles. The weight and size of the bricks made it easier for the construction to quicken, bear weight thus lasting better than crushed earth. Stones can hold its mass compared to brick but on the hand very difficult to use. Attempts to produce materials locally led to the growth of furnace workshop. As I mentioned earlier bricks quickened the construction due to their small weight and size that made them suitable to carry. Bricks are also the perfect materials to hold weight so are the stones. A sample experiment conducted to experiment the importance of erosion over a number of years and it found that bricks have compressive strength, absorbency and resistance to freezing. The bricks burned and stuff into different positions to ease construction. However, stones still have its advantages. Stones cut into rectangular shapes and used for the foundation, gateways of the wall, and the inner and outer brims.hig level of productivity during the time of bricks and stones used in construction brought about the development of weapons; gunpowder become available. The writers shows us how the usage of these weapons required a stronger wall thus more solid stones and bricks were required. The materials used for construction of the Chinese wall were near the site. The Wall in Beijing built from quarried sandstone blocks, while in other locations mined brickwork. Two walls rose where such materials were, with rubble and earth fill placed to form a pavement of single unit. Some areas blocks, cemented with combination of sticky rice and egg white while in the western there was scarcity of good materials. Steps of the Chinese wall were very sharp and tall in some areas this becomes very exhausting when climbing the wall. It is evident from the books by Joseph and Claire that the wall in many locations is in disrepair and some rebuilt and preserved to act as tourist attraction. Sections of the Wall is been demolished as it stands in the way of some constructions. It is, approximated that more than 60 kilometers of the wall may disappear due to erosion from the sandstorms. The height of the Wall has reduced from five meters to two meters and the square lookout towers characterized by the most prominent images have vanished completely. The Western section of the Wall built from mud, are prone to erosion. The Wall of China protected the china from invaders of the north thus preventing them from any culture influence. The Wall acts as great attraction of tourist in the world thus promoting the tourism industry in the commerce industry. Something special about the Wall is the fact that Chinese were already familiar with the methods of building walls by the time they begun construction. The wall became a world’s heritage site in 1987. It is believe to be visible from the outer space, the moon if you know where to gaze. The wall is believed to be the seven wonder accepted by the earliest Greeks. Watch tower in the Wall are at regular intervals and acted as storage rooms for weapons and send smoke indicator. Signal tower, were found on the hilltops along the wall for visibility. The wall has battle forts that have self-protective war stations. The author tries to help us understand the Chinese architectural history through he construction of the Chinese wall. The wall protected the Chinese people from their enemies and it stills plays the same role today. The biggest effect of the wall in china’s politics lies in the hands of the government to ensure the conservation of the great wall. The Chinese government should ensure repairs, in the wall done to maintain its original worth and preserve some places to act as tourist’s attraction. The government should support the tourism sector as it boosts the economy of China due to the presence of the world’s seven wonder “The Great wall of China”. A negative effect that the author tries to show us is the death of millions of people who died during the construction. The two history books by Joseph and Claire have described the history of the Great Wall of China thus enabling the reader to have a full understanding and information concerning the Wall. They have described with full details the materials used in the construction, their form and functions played by them. Tourism has also played a major role in the growth of the china economy as it is home to one of the greatest tourism attraction in the world. Works Cited Roberts, Claire, and Geremie Barmé. The Great Wall of China. Sydney: Powerhouse Pub, 2007. Print. ONeill, Joseph R. The Great Wall of China. Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub, 2009. Internet resource. Read More