Who built the Great Wall of China?
Answer to: Who built the Great Wall of China?
The Great Wall of China was built for numerous reasons. The wall kept
enemies out, controlled immigration and emigration, and allowed the
government to impose tax on goods. It was also used as a communication and
transportation route. It is the longest
man-made structure in the world and measures thousands of miles between
Shanhaiguan in the East to Lop Lake in the West.
There is some disagreement about how long exactly the wall is, because of
all the branches and what constitutes the actual Wall. There may even be
some undiscovered part. They discovered a 180-mile branch as late as 2009.
Anyway, the Great Wall of China was not built by one emperor or one dynasty.
It was a work in progress over many centuries. The three main periods of
building the Great Wall of China are as follows:
Approx 700 BC To 500 BC, Different Chinese States (Qi, Qin, Wei, Zhao, and
Zhongshan) all built their own Walls to protect their borders.
Approx 200 BC, Qin Shi Huang conquered all the states and formed the Qin
Dynasty. At this time they destroyed all the walls that divided the states,
but added a wall to protect China from the north.
Approx. 1400 AD, The Ming Dynasty picked up where the Qin Dynasty left off
and finished building the Great Wall of China that we know today.
PS. They say that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure you
can see from space. We have seen no pictures or proof of this. Please let us
know if you have.
Above picture: Multiple watchtowers along a section of the Great Wall.
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