Why was the Great Wall of China built?

Posted by Keshav Jain on


    The Great Wall of China was built in the Third Century B.C. to keep out the raiding Tartars of Mongolia. It is 20 to 30 feet high and 15 to 25 feet wide at the top, with towers 60 feet high every few hundred yards.



   The wall stretches from Shamhaikwan on the yellow Sea to the borders of Kansu and Sinkiang in the west, crossing high mountains and deep valleys. Probably over 500,000 workers were employed to build it. Even today, the wall is in a wonderful state of preservation.



    This marvelous structure is constructed of brick and stones. The sides have battlements-parapets with openings or embrasures through which weapons could be discharged.



   All large cities of China were provided with similar walls, and the gates were closed at night to give the citizens protection against surprise attack. For China has been envied by her neighbors throughout history. Many times these neighbors have invaded the country, seized the capital and begun a new dynasty.



Picture credit: google


Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

Comments

Display comments as Linear | Threaded

No comments

Add Comment

Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (*word*), underscore are made via _word_.
Standard emoticons like :-) and ;-) are converted to images.
E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications.
To leave a comment you must approve it via e-mail, which will be sent to your address after submission.