Since Qin Shihuang, almost all dynasties that ruled the Central Plains have built the Great Wall. There are more than ten dynasties such as Han, Jin, Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Song, Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing, all of which have built the Great Wall of different scales. Judging from the ruling nationalities who built the Great Wall, besides the Han nationality, many dynasties in which ethnic minorities ruled China also built the Great Wall, more than those ruled by the Han nationality.
During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, although the construction of the Great Wall was stopped on a large scale, it was later built in some places. It can be said that from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Qing Dynasty, the construction of the Great Wall has never stopped for more than two thousand years. According to historical documents, more than 20 vassal states and feudal dynasties built the Great Wall. If you add up the Great Wall built in different times, it is more than 10 in Wan Li, and the length of the Great Wall in Qin, Han and Ming dynasties exceeds 1 Wan Li.
Extended data:
Affect meaning
1, sideband development
From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, many passes along the Great Wall became places or centers for ethnic transactions in the two major economic and cultural systems of agriculture and animal husbandry, and some gradually developed into important towns along the Great Wall.
The Great Wall not only ensures the normal development of agricultural economy, culture and animal husbandry economy and culture, but also provides a place and convenience for their exchange and complementarity. It also plays an important role in mediating the two economies and making the agriculture and animal husbandry economy develop in the direction of mutual assistance.
Therefore, the Great Wall not only plays the role of isolating the two economies and cultures, but also shoulders the heavy responsibility of closely linking the two economies and cultures.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were nearly ten million soldiers and civilians. While building the Great Wall, Qin Shihuang began to strengthen the development and construction of border areas, which opened the prelude to stationing farmland to defend the border and developing the border areas. Because it took a long time to build the Great Wall in the Han Dynasty, many people put forward suggestions on immigration, which were adopted and implemented by the Han government.
Immigrants and soldiers guarding the Great Wall cultivated wasteland together, which not only accelerated the economic development of the border region, saved a lot of government military expenditure, but also greatly reduced the pain of long-distance transportation and made Chinese culture spread farther and wider.
2. National integration
Culturally, the Great Wall has also played an important role in the formation and development of the pluralistic and integrated pattern of the Chinese nation. On the contrary, the construction and defense of the Great Wall and the war in the Great Wall area promoted the extensive integration of the Han nationality in ancient China and a dozen ethnic minorities. ?
In the third year of Ganlu (5 1 year ago), the southern Xiongnu returned to Han, which realized the intersection of the Han nationality in China and the northern animal husbandry nationality in the Central Plains agricultural area, and was the beginning of the formation of the Chinese nation. After the founding of New China, the archaeological discovery of the Han Dynasty castle site in Yinshan, Inner Mongolia showed that the peaceful communication between Han and Xiongnu was not completely blocked by the Great Wall of Wan Li and the military fortress. In the Tang Dynasty, after Emperor Taizong defeated the Turkish army, he let hundreds of thousands of people live along the border Great Wall, set up six viceroy offices, and appointed Turks as viceroy.
The Turks accepted the advanced economy and culture of the Han nationality and further accelerated the pace of national integration. In the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, this historical law was reflected in the fact that "mulberry does not grow, hemp does not grow" outside Yanmenguan, and later "where people come from, they are not mulberry horses". The opening of the "Horse Market" along the Great Wall in Ming Dynasty showed the close relationship of interdependence and gradual integration between Han and Mongolia. The Qing government adopted the policy of Huairou, which further promoted the great ethnic integration around the Great Wall.
3. Military significance
The Great Wall is the greatest military defense project in the ancient history of the world. It is not a simple isolated first-line wall, but from point to line, from line to surface, connecting the passes, military fortresses, Guancheng and military towns along the Great Wall into a tight network, forming a complete defense system. The system of military fortress, Guancheng and military town has many functions, such as fighting, command, observation, communication, concealment and so on, and it is equipped with point, line and surface defense engineering of the resident army.
The military defense thought embodied in The Great Wall occupies an important position in the history of military development. The birth and development of the Great Wall is in step with the whole military development in ancient China, which is of great significance to the study of the formation and development of ancient military operational thought. Qin Huang and Wu Han, including the early Ming Dynasty, built the Great Wall when they took the initiative to attack and gained overwhelming military superiority. It can be seen that building the Great Wall is not only an active defense, but also a strategy of accumulating strength and continuing to forge ahead.
Building the Great Wall is a positive measure to the northwest military situation, and it is a defense from passive to active. It should be emphasized that the defensive function of the Great Wall is not "self-defeating" as most people think; Its real use lies in that the invaders may concentrate on breaking through one or two passes occasionally and breaking into the mainland, but as long as the whole Great Wall has strong troops stationed, the invaders will always be in danger of being blocked and ambushed and unable to go home;
In particular, the Great Wall has seized the traffic arteries of Yanshan Mountain and the northern branch of Taihang Mountain. Even if the nomadic cavalry broke through the customs, they could only harass the mainland, and their logistics could not be transported through the customs and could not stand on the mainland, thus shaking the foundation of the Chinese empire. No matter how serious scabies are, they can't be invaded, which is the fundamental significance of the existence of the Great Wall.
4. Cultural significance
For more than two thousand years since the appearance of the Great Wall, the cultural exchange between North and South has never stopped. During the Warring States Period, King Wuling of Zhao built the Great Wall of Zhao, calling on Chinese people to learn "Khufu riding and shooting" and carry out cultural exchanges between the North and the South. During the Qin and Han dynasties, there was an unprecedented dialogue and exchange between the northern and southern cultures of the Great Wall. Qin Quan and imperial edicts found along the Great Wall, murals of Han tombs in Helinger, Inner Mongolia, Khan and Wadang, and the well-known tomb of Zhaojun, all witnessed the cultural exchange and integration between North and South.
On the cultural belt of the Great Wall, there are many places of interest, such as Dunhuang, Yungang Grottoes, Maijishan and Wanfo Hall Grottoes, murals and sculptures. Yuntai in Juyongguan in Yuan Dynasty, Lugou Bridge in Jin Dynasty, sites and unearthed cultural relics in Jinzhong and Yuandadu all embody the characteristics of cultural exchange and record the cultural glory in the history of the Chinese nation.
The Great Wall plays an irreplaceable role for the world to understand China and China to go global. As early as the Han Dynasty, the Great Wall also played a great role in promoting and protecting cultural exchanges between China and the West. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian to the western countries, relying on the Great Wall Fortress, it has opened up and maintained a traffic trunk road with a total length of more than 20,000 miles from Chang 'an (now Xi 'an), the capital of the Han Dynasty, to Daqin (now the eastern Mediterranean). This is the famous "Silk Road".
For thousands of years, Chinese and foreign friendship missions have frequently exchanged visits on this ancient road of cultural integration and exchange between China and foreign countries, and they are still playing a role today. Many foreigners know that China started from the Great Wall, which is the best entry point for people from other countries in the world to understand China's history, China's culture and the Chinese nation.
The Great Wall of Wan Li is a magnificent building, which has condensed the wisdom and strength of the Chinese nation for thousands of years and left a precious legacy in human history. From 65438 to 0987, UNESCO officially designated the Great Wall of Wan Li as a world cultural heritage, which proved that the historical, cultural and humanistic values of the Great Wall have been recognized by the world. The Great Wall belongs to both China and the world.
With its majestic momentum and profound cultural connotation, the Great Wall has attracted China literati and international celebrities. Many China literati have created a large number of poems, songs, art, music and other literary works with the theme of the Great Wall, especially the frontier poems in the Tang Dynasty.
For example, Li Bai's "Harmony with the wind, which has traveled thousands of miles, beats on the battlements of Yumenguan", Wang Changling's "The bright moon in Qin Dynasty is about Han, and people haven't returned on the Long March", Wang Wei's "Advise you to have a glass of wine, and people have no reason to go out to bask in the sun", and Cen Can's "Like a spring breeze, a dead tree and a pear flower come at night" have all been recited for thousands of years. The lyrics of Meng Jiangnv's Cold Clothes are widely sung.
In Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing and modern times, many famous poets and poets passed by or boarded the Great Wall, felt the construction and function of the Great Wall and the magnificent rivers and mountains on both sides of the Great Wall, and wrote famous works that are still widely circulated today, greatly enriching the treasure house of the Great Wall culture. ?
5. Symbolic significance
The Great Wall of Wan Li has become a symbol of the unity of the Chinese nation since the day it was built. For more than two thousand years, no one can split the Great Wall of Wan Li cognitively, so it is impossible to split the Chinese nation. For China people, the Great Wall is a symbol of will, courage and strength, and symbolizes the great will and strength of the Chinese nation. March of the Volunteers's long-term singing has sublimated the Great Wall into an industrious, intelligent, indomitable and indestructible national spirit and will in people's minds, and enhanced the pride, self-confidence and patriotic enthusiasm of the Chinese nation. ?
As a symbol of the Chinese nation, the Great Wall was naturally formed in the historical process, and was recognized and accepted by the world in the struggle of China people against imperialist aggression, especially in the struggle of the whole nation against Japanese imperialism. In the face of national life and death, the Great Wall, a symbol of national defense and national unity, has naturally been promoted to the symbol of the whole Chinese nation, arousing the anti-Japanese war consciousness of the whole nation. 1933 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the Great Wall, shocked China and foreign countries and opened the first heroic chapter in the history of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. "Vowing to live and die with the Great Wall" has become an unchangeable oath of anti-Japanese soldiers.
"Get up, people who don't want to be slaves, and build our flesh and blood into our new Great Wall!" March of the Volunteers sang the voice of all the people of China; Ballad of the Great Wall also aroused the patriotic enthusiasm of hundreds of millions of people in China with its unique artistic appeal. March of the Volunteers later became the national anthem of the people of China. People can always feel a patriotic passion when they hear or sing it, just because the Great Wall can arouse the patriotic enthusiasm of hundreds of millions of people in China.
197 1 year, the 26th United Nations General Assembly restored People's Republic of China (PRC)'s legal status in the United Nations. China presented a large tapestry of the Great Wall of Wan Li to the United Nations General Assembly, which once again shows that the people and the government of China have regarded the Great Wall of Wan Li, which marks the splendid culture for thousands of years, as a symbol of the Chinese nation, and this symbolic significance has also been recognized and accepted by the whole world.
In the two-way historical evolution, the military practical function of the Great Wall has gradually faded, and the role of cultural spirit has been continuously enhanced. On the one hand, it constantly shows the wisdom and creativity of the Chinese nation to the world, on the other hand, it also shows the strong will and majestic spirit of mankind. The Great Wall is not only a symbol of the Chinese nation, but also a symbol of human civilization and peace on earth. All mankind will benefit from this precious cultural heritage.
length
Due to the long history, most of the Great Wall in the early dynasties was incomplete, and the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty was well preserved, so people generally refer to the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty, and the length of the Great Wall is also the length of the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty.
National Cultural Heritage Administration and the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping jointly announced on April 8, 2009 that the Great Wall of Ming Dynasty starts from Hushan, Liaoning Province in the east and ends at Jiayuguan, Gansu Province in the west, and passes through Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, Beijing, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu and Qinghai provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) 156 counties from east to west, with a total length of 80. After passing through the trench of 359.7 kilometers, the natural natural barrier is 2232.5 kilometers.
On June 5th, 20 12, National Cultural Heritage Administration announced at Juyongguan Great Wall in Beijing that after nearly five years' investigation, the total length of the Great Wall in China was 2196.18km, including the Great Wall, trenches, single buildings, enclosed castles and related facilities. This is the first time that China has scientifically and systematically investigated and appraised the Great Wall.
References:
Baidu Encyclopedia-Great Wall (the first military project in ancient China)