History of The Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a two-handed marvel of our ancestors. In my eyes, there is nothing like her in the world. In my mind, the Great Wall is the soul, the Great Wall is God, and the Great Wall is the foreign body. I think of you.
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History
Represents "time and space", the so-called time spans two thousand years. The so-called universe spans over 10,000 miles. The more I touch, the more subtle and indescribable my feelings become. Either way, I don't think it needs fancy adjectives to justify its size.
When the famous German archaeologist Mr. Silliman climbed the Great Wall of China in 1860, he was shocked. He admired the Great Wall of China, saying that the Great Wall was like "a mythical work of art made by giants before the Great Flood" and that the Great Wall was "the greatest work mankind ever made", said it was. Such kind words make the people who live here in our time proud and at the same time very ashamed.
However, it is not an exaggeration to praise the Great Wall of China. An ancient military defense system, the system integrates various scientific disciplines such as architecture, military science, political science, geography, anthropology and meteorology, while at the same time using the most advanced technology and tools of its time in the construction process, pioneered its use ethnology, philosophy.
As history spreads, people have given the Great Wall many new meanings, its political influence has continued to grow, and its economic value has been unearthed more and more. And artists have drawn inspiration for sculpture, painting, and music from the Great Wall. Not to mention literature and poetry.
The epic of the Great Wall is already an integral part of our homeland. However, we often hear horrific incidents in the media and are amazed at the unprecedented ability of humans today to destroy the natural environment.
Not to mention other things. I have seen with my own eyes the trees at the edge of the Great Wall cut down and the streams gradually polluted and dried up completely. Being trampled by tourists who came with longing.
In fact, many conscientious photographers are always striving to represent and share the lesser-known parts of the world. Photography is vivid and intuitive and is considered the best and most versatile means of communication, not limited by language, writing or knowledge.
But when I look up at the Great Wall, I often can only blame my camera, my hands, and my photography. I never thought, nor could I accept, that spreading and sharing the beauty that I captured and expressed would lead to destruction.
I saw part of the Great Wall being restored. But the only effect of the simple and crude restoration is that the Great Wall loses its history and soul at the same time. I just love photographing the real, unfinished Great Wall of China integrated with its natural surroundings. Because this is history, the language of beauty, and the wealth our ancestors left us.
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Jiankou Great Wall
I was still in the Jiankou Great Wall and saw our brothers and sisters hired by foreign friends to pick up the garbage on the Great Wall and carry it down the mountain. At that time, I was stimulated by an indescribable mental state and was made to think about various things. I would like to use the precious space of China National Geographic to make the following two points.
- First of all, dear photographer friends, could you please bring the most beautiful pictures from the Great Wall and at the same time bring the film boxes and other trash to the foot of the mountain?
- Second, the relevant parties will select a suitable site for the construction of a viewing platform in an area that is not open to tourism on the Great Wall but is highly decorative, allowing visitors to enjoy the changes and splendor of the Great Wall.
The Great Wall of China has a strong will and great power. Embraced by the Great Wall, I have always felt small. No matter what angle I shoot the Great Wall of China, I feel like I look up and adore it. And when I come to foreign countries to show the works of the Great Wall, a sense of pride flows into my heart, like the sons and daughters of the Great Wall, because the Great Wall gives me courage and confidence , a joke pops out in my mind.
Around this time last year, I was invited to participate in the photo exhibition "The Great Wall - The Oldest Internet" in the United States, and at the same time gave a special lecture on this subject. At the end of the lecture, an old professor who had seen my film exhibition six times came up to me and took my hand, and said,
"The Great Wall and your photographic art are wonderful. You must go to China and see this wonderful film with your own eyes. Cultural heritage!"
Clearing up the fog of the Great Wall
For the Chinese, it is unthinkable to know their own history without knowing the Great Wall. For foreigners to understand China, the Great Wall is an outside-in access point.
The Great Wall of China is known around the world for its long history, majestic engineering, and in many ways. However, people's understanding is not without misunderstandings.
- When did the Great Wall of China begin and end?
- Is the Great Wall 10,000 miles or 100,000 miles?
- Why do foreigners believe that China's Ming Great Wall is only 3,000 kilometers long?
- Its function was to protect the Central Plains from nomadic invasions. Why did ethnic minorities build the Great Wall after reaching the Central Plains?
- What is the relationship between the economic development of ancient northwest China and the construction of the Great Wall?
- Without the Great Wall, would the "Silk Road culture" and "Dunhuang culture" still shine?
- Can the Great Wall really protect itself from the invasion of mighty enemies?
- Why was the Ming dynasty unable to resist the Manchu invasion while building the Great Wall, the strongest in Chinese history?
Through years of research, I have sought to uncover and answer every conceivable question that has been buried in the dust of the years and attempt to put the familiar and unknown Great Wall back in good shape. A real one face.
When you enter Luo Zhewen's house, you will see the "Great Wall of China", a book about 0.5 meters wide and as tall as a human being. It turns out that his house has so many books that he has nowhere to store them and has to pile them up in the aisle.
He casually picks up a book and opens a black-and-white photograph of the Great Wall of China. At first, I didn't think it was anything special, but as the conversation deepened, I became more and more fascinated by this 400-year-old map of the Great Wall drawn by a foreigner.
When did foreigners learn about the Great Wall?
The Great Wall of China was already built during the Qin and Han dynasties. Marco Polo lived in Dadu (now Beijing) for many years during the Yuan dynasty. He was a former civil servant and loved to travel, so why didn't he mention the Great Wall in Marco Polo's Travels?
At that time, there was no Great Wall near Dadu. Many of China's famous Great Walls, such as Juyongguan, Badaling, and Gubeikou, were built during the Ming Dynasty. Although the Yuan Dynasty overtook Juyongguan and built Yuntai Pagoda and pagoda on the pass, it is still different from the Juyongguan Great Wall as we understand it today. The so-called ignorant person does not speak.
Ancient Egyptian pyramids have long been considered a wonder of the world. During the Han Dynasty, the Great Wall of China was built in the Western Regions as a major project of human construction.
The reputation of the Great Wall must have spread abroad through various channels. Why didn't Westerners know about it until the Ming and Qing dynasties?
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were created in the 2nd century BC. built. At that time, a very learned traveler named Antibertelle discovered the "Seven Wonders of the World" (the "seven" is said to mean the Big Dipper in the sky) namely the Egyptian Pyramids and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. I made a list.
Temple of Zeus in Olympia, Temple of Diana in Ephesus, Mausoleum of Halicarnas, Romania on the Aegean Sea. The statue Alexandria and the Great Lighthouse of Alexandria. At that time, there were no major exchanges between China and the rest of the world, so the Great Wall of China, which was said to be a wonder of the world at the time, was not considered.
Around the 15th century, few of the seven wonders of the world existed outside of the pyramids. That's why some travelers have created a new list of the Seven Wonders of the World, including the Colosseum in Rome, the Crypt of Alexandria, and the Great Wall of China.
These include Stonehenge in England, Nanjing's glass tower in China, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, St. Sophia's Cathedral, etc. These are called the 7 Wonders of the Medieval World, but the original ones are called the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World.
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How did foreigners at that time know about the Great Wall?
From the mid-Ming Dynasty onward, European missionaries and explorers gradually came to China. This was when China overtook the Great Wall, and it was also when the most spectacular Great Wall we see today was built.
Until the invention of photography, Westerners could only use oil paintings, sketches, or other methods to depict the Great Wall, and the images presented were very close to realistic oil paintings and photographs.
The description of this realistic engraving tells us that the landscape of the painting depicts the Great Wall of Ming China before the Qing army entered the past and has a history of nearly 400 years. What part of the Great Wall is shown in this image? Does it convey any message beyond the Great Wall?
According to the original English description, the Great Wall in this image is about 50 kilometers north of Beijing. Specifically, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors on the right side of Badaling Pass. , the highest point in the distance should be his eighth floor, the steepest north of Badaling. T
he location of the scene in this painting, which was also painted by the painter himself, is also very interesting. From the lower left corner of the painting, a person can be clearly seen sitting on a rock with a drawing board on his lap, observing and drawing the Great Wall.
I have heard many foreigners say that the Great Wall is 2,500 or 3,000 kilometers long. So far, this figure is still cited by some foreign publications. Why does the Great Wall of China, which is taken for granted by Chinese people, "shrink" when seen by foreigners?
Because foreigners use rulers to map the length of the Great Wall of China in the Ming dynasty, which is clearly not true. This is because the Great Wall of China is not built in a straight line, but is built along its shape with twists and turns. The actual length of the Ming Great Wall from Shanhaiguan to Jiayuguan is 5,130 kilometers or over 10,000 miles, and the Great Wall lives up to its name. But in reality, the Great Wall of China is well over 10,000 miles.
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In the history of China, more than a dozen dynasties built the Great Wall of China. A new line has been selected according to the situation. At that time.
For example, the most famous Great Wall of China from the Qin, Han, and Ming dynasties has different starting and ending points, and the distance between them can be hundreds, even thousands of kilometers. Some places in the center were used for repairs and construction by latecomers, but not to a large extent.
For example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty built the "Outer Great Wall" in addition to restoring and utilizing the Great Wall of the Qin Dynasty north of the silver mine.
Use this as a defensive outpost inside the Great Wall. Another example is that the middle section of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall runs south of the Ordos Plateau, while the Qin and Han Dynasty Great Walls were built along the Yinshan Mountains, between the north and north. has a difference of 400-500 kilometers between the north and the South.
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