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Many people imagine the Great Wall to be one long
uninterrupted structure. In reality it is more a 13,000 miles
(21,000 km) network of walls that reflect the rise and fall
of numerous kingdoms and dynasties. As such the story of
the Great Wall is also the story of China as the nation we
recognize today.
In the 3rd Century B.C., Emperor Qin Shi Huang conquered
his six neighboring kingdoms, establishing the Qin Dynasty
and becoming the first Emperor of China. As well as linking
together the many defensive walls the smaller kingdoms
had built, he ordered the building of a new northern wall to
protect his new empire from marauding tribes.
The following dynasties extended the wall further, but it
was during the Ming Dynasty that much of the wall that we
recognize today was constructed. In a period that stretched
over 100 years, over 5,500 miles (8,850 km) of wall was
added. Unlike the first walls that had often been built using
compacted earth or wood, these latest sections were made
of carved stone or brick. Forts, flanking towers and ramparts
were added to create a formidable defensive line.
The end of the Ming Dynasty in 1644 also signaled the end
of any construction or maintenance of the Great Wall. This
would continue until sections of the wall were restored and
opened to the public by the government of the People's
Republic of China in the 1950s.
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