The Great Wall
Penelope Short, Group 2: Non-Fiction, Hong Lok Yuen International School
he Great Wall of China was built between the Warring States Period (476BC-221BC) and the Ming
Dynasty (1368-1644). It stretches for 5500 miles from the east to the west of China. In Chinese, it is
called
长城
‘cháng chéng’. The Great Wall was added onto the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1987.
The Wall was constructed in 220BC by Emperor Qin Shi Huang when he linked together smaller
existing walls to form the Great Wall in order to protect China from invaders from the north. The
construction continued until 1644 and the end of the Ming dynasty, by which time it was the largest fortification
in the world.
The Great Wall begins in Shanhaiguan in Hebei province in the east and ends at Jiayuguan in Gansu
province in the west. During the Ming dynasty, bricks, tiles, stone and lime were used to build the Wall, but
before bricks were used, rammed earth, stones and wood were the main materials used. During the Ming
dynasty, fortresses and beacons were added along the length of the Wall.
The Wall fell into disrepair when the Manchu invaders toppled the Ming dynasty and replaced it with the
Qing dynasty. After that, the Great Wall was never used to protect China again. Today, it has become one of
the top tourist attractions in China.
There are many legends about the Great Wall, one of the most famous is about Ming Jiangni. Her husband
was sent to be one of the thousands of labourers on the Great Wall during the Qing dynasty. She waited
anxiously for news from him. When she did not hear from him for a long time, she set out to find him. To her
great sorrow,
Ming Jiangni found out that she was too late, for her husband had died building the Wall. She was so upset
as she cried for her husband that her loud wails caused part of the Wall to collapse.
The Great Wall stands as a symbol of Chinese history, power and spirit. Yet, the legends of the Wall
remind us of the people who lost their lives constructing this legend of China.
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