The historical story of the Great Wall

The Great Wall is a world cultural heritage and one of the seven wonders. The Great Wall was built more than 2,000 years ago during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It is a great miracle created by the working people of ancient my country and a witness to China's long history. The Great Wall was built in the Zhou Dynasty. King Zhou You's beacon-fire play on the princes is the earliest allusion to the Great Wall. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period in the 7th century BC, the Chu State was the first to build the "Chu Fang City" to defend against invasion by other countries, which opened the curtain on the construction of the Great Wall recorded in Chinese history. Let’s take a look at the historical stories of the Great Wall.

The Origin of the Great Wall

The Great Wall is an extremely majestic defensive construction project in ancient China. According to historical records, since the Warring States Period, more than 20 vassal states and feudal dynasties have built the Great Wall. Among them, the length of the Great Wall built by the Qin, Han, and Ming dynasties has exceeded 10,000 miles. If the length of the Great Wall built in each era is added to Up, it’s about 100,000 miles or more.

The name "Great Wall" began in the Qin Dynasty. From the time when Qin Shihuang sent Meng Tian to attack the Xiongnu in the 33rd year of Qin Shihuang (214 BC), to the time when Qin II sent Meng Tian and Fu Su to die after the death of Qin Shi Huang (210 BC), it took 5 years to build the tomb. .

According to historical records, after Qin unified the six kingdoms, the First Emperor sent General Meng Tian to lead 300,000 people to attack the Huns in the north. After Meng Tian expelled the Xiongnu, he used the land south of the Yellow River as 44 counties to build the Great Wall. Taking advantage of the terrain, he set up barrier fortresses along the Yellow River and Yin Mountain. The north and east were along the old Great Wall of Zhao and Yan, and the west was connected by the old Great Wall of King Zhao of Qin. It started from Lintao (today's Tao River in southern Gansu Province) in the west to Liaodong in the east, stretching for more than 10,000 miles. This Qin Great Wall is far north of today's Great Wall.

The Great Wall of Qin was built using rammed earth. It can be seen from the ruins of the Qin Great Wall in the north of Lintao that the bottom layer is raw soil, and there is a layer of very solid loess on top of the soil. A city wall with a rammed earth layer was built on the loess. The rammed earth layer is yellow clay mixed with gravel. . Although this was an early ramming method, it created a miracle in the history of human architecture.

In the Han Dynasty, due to the frequent invasions of the Huns from the north, Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty continued to repair the Qin Great Wall starting from Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty. Finally, a Great Wall with a total length of nearly 20,000 miles was built starting from Dayuan Ershi City in the west, passing through Qiuci, Cheshi (all in today's Xinjiang), Juyan (in today's Inner Mongolia), and ending on the north bank of Heilongjiang. The castles are connected and the beacons are connected. Hope, forming a solid line of defense.

From the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Yuan Dynasty, many dynasties built the Great Wall, but the scale was not as large as that of the Qin and Han Dynasties.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the original rulers of the Yuan and Mongolian nobles fled back to Mongolia and continued to harass and plunder southward. The Jurchen tribe emerged in the northeast, so the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to northern defense. During the more than 200 years of the Ming Dynasty, the construction and defense of the Great Wall almost never stopped. Finally, the Great Wall was built with a total length of more than 12,700 miles, starting from the Yalu River in the east and reaching Jiayuguan in the west, which is the Great Wall we see today. The characteristics of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty are that several layers of walls were built at important pass places, especially in the areas of Juyongguan, Shanhaiguan and Yanmenguan, some of which reached more than 20 layers. Many castles and smoke piers (beacon towers) were built in the north and south of the Great Wall to observe the enemy's situation and send warnings.

The construction of the Great Wall will also help develop and protect farmland, promote the development of production in remote areas, and ensure the safety of communications and business travel. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were wide straight roads and galloping roads in the northern region. During the Han Dynasty, the transportation highway in the Western Regions was opened up. The delivery of documents, envoys and business travelers all needed to be protected. The Great Wall beacons were built along this highway.

The architecture of the Great Wall matches the military defense system. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, there were military management areas called towns along the Great Wall. The general soldiers and guards command the troops and horses along the Great Wall under the jurisdiction of the town. Some towns also have "roads" under them, which are stationed at important Guancheng locations. The leaders of the roads are called "guards". For example, on Shanhaiguan Road, the garrison is stationed in Shanhaiguan City and manages more than a dozen nearby passes.

Guans are passes and passes. They are important strongholds on the Great Wall line and are usually in dangerous places. The narrow passage between the two mountains is called a pass. Building a wall at the pass to block the passage is called a pass. Important passes are guarded by guards, and minor passes are guarded by General Qian. Along the Great Wall there are also defensive buildings such as castles, forts, barriers, and moats. The city is a defensive city closely connected with the Great Wall. It is different from state and county cities in that it is small in area and is separated by dozens of miles. A barrier is a small city smaller than a city, mainly for garrisoning troops, but may also have residents. The fort is where the garrison guards live, and is guarded by a "Baizong" or "General Guard". The number of guards ranges from dozens to hundreds. Some forts have beacon towers. A quarry is a simple building specially used for keeping watch.

There are also beacon towers (also known as Yandun Towers) on both sides of the Great Wall. Some are close to both sides of the Great Wall, and some extend beyond the Great Wall. There were a few guards on the stage, burning smoke during the day and setting fires at night. The beacon tower is an independent high platform. On the platform, there are equipment for watching houses and lighting smoke and setting fires. Under the platform, there are houses where soldiers live, sheep and horse pens, other buildings and other buildings. There is a beacon tower about ten miles away. The height of the walls of the Great Wall depends on the terrain. If the terrain is steep, it will be shorter, and if the terrain is gentle, it will be higher. There is a circular arch not far away from the inside of the wall. There is a masonry ladder in the door leading to the top of the city wall, which can be used by the defenders to go up and down. The outside of the top of the wall is built with crenellations, ancient battlements, with lookout openings and shooting eyes. There is a platform protruding out of the wall at regular intervals on the city wall, called a wall platform, or an enemy platform. The wall platform is where the city guards usually keep sentries.

The enemy tower is a wall-mounted pier, where city guards can live and weapons can be stored.

The construction of the Great Wall mainly made use of the terrain and local materials. Where there were mountains, steep ridges were used as much as possible. The outside was steep and straight, and the inside was gentle. And the rocks were taken from the mountain and cut into neat strips of stones, filled with soil and lime, which were very solid. Loess areas are mainly built with rammed earth. In the desert area, reeds and tamarisk branches are used to lay layers of sand and pebbles. The Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty was built with bricks in important areas, and kilns were opened on site to burn bricks and tiles, and quarry stones to burn lime. The labor force for building the Great Wall was mainly the garrison troops, followed by the civilian men who were forcibly recruited, and the third one was the prisoners sent to the army.

When the Great Wall was built in the Ming Dynasty, there were no construction and transportation machinery, so it was mainly carried by manpower. A large stone weighed more than 2,000 kilograms, and a large city brick weighed more than 30 kilograms. It contained sand and gravel and was very hard. The knife cannot move. The transportation method is mainly to pass in long queues, and simple tools such as hand carts, rolling logs, crowbars, and winches are also used. Sometimes animals were used, but a lot of the work was still done by humans, so I don’t know how many people died in building the Great Wall.

Meng Jiangnu cried at the Great Wall

This story happened a long time ago

At that time, Qin Shihuang was recruiting 800,000 migrant workers to build the Great Wall. The government arrested people everywhere to work as migrant workers

The arrested people worked day and night to build the Great Wall

They were exhausted to death.

There was a scholar in Suzhou named Fan Xiliang

In order to escape the pursuit of the government

he had to hide everywhere. One day

He escaped to the Meng family garden

He accidentally met Meng Jiangnu. Meng Jiangnu is a very smart girl

She hid Fan Xiliang with her parents. The two old men liked Fan Xiliang very much, so they betrothed Meng Jiangnu to him as his wife.

Less than three days after the wedding

Fan Xiliang was arrested by the official to build the Great Wall. Meng Jiangnu cried like a tearful person

waiting miserably for her husband to return. Half a year has passed

There is no news about Fan Xiliang. It is late autumn now

The north wind is blowing

The reed flowers are turning white

The weather is getting colder day by day. Meng Jiangnu remembered that her husband was far away in the north building the Great Wall

It must be very cold

So she sewed cold clothes with her own hands

and set off on the road

Determined to Go to the Great Wall to find Fan Xiliang.

On the way

I don’t know how many hardships Meng Jiangnu went through

How much hardship she endured

before she reached the foot of the Great Wall. Unexpectedly, the migrant workers building the Great Wall told her that Fan Xiliang was dead and his bones were filled into the city wall. After hearing this heartbreaking news

Meng Jiangnu felt that the sky was dark and the earth was dark

She fainted and fell to the ground

When she woke up

she was sad The earth began to cry bitterly

The sky and the earth were so sad that they cried so miserably

The sun and the moon had no light. I don’t know how long I cried

Suddenly I heard a loud noise that shook the earth

The Great Wall collapsed for dozens of miles

Exposing countless bones . Meng Jiangnu bit her finger

and dripped blood on the bones

She secretly prayed in her heart: If it were her husband's bones

the blood would seep into the bones.

If not

blood would flow in all directions. Finally

Meng Jiangnu used this method to find Fan Xiliang's bones. She hugged the pile of bones and cried sadly again.

Qin Shihuang saw that Meng Jiangnu was very beautiful

and wanted to force her to become a concubine. Meng Jiangnu pretended to agree to him

but asked Qin Shihuang to do three things first: ask the monk to recite the Forty-nine Heavenly Sutras to Fan Xiliang

and then bury him properly; Qin Shihuang must personally lead The Minister of Civil and Military Affairs cried in memory of Fan Xiliang; after burying Fan Xiliang

Meng Jiangnu wanted to go sightseeing

It would take three days to get married. Qin Shihuang had no choice but to agree to Meng Jiangnu's request. After completing the three things

Meng Jiangnu scolded Qin Shihuang

and then jumped into the rolling sea

Stories and legends of the Great Wall— - "Yumen Pass"

In ancient times

To the west of Xiaofang City in Gansu Province

there was a post station called "Ma Mi Rabbit"

And It's called "Ma lost its way". Caravans transporting jade from Khotan on the border to the Central Plains must pass through this place. The terrain here is very complex: swamps, ravines, forests, and overgrown weeds. Whenever caravans transporting jade are on the road in hot weather

In order to avoid heatstroke during the day, humans and animals always like to cool off at night and travel.

Therefore

Every time the cavalry comes here

it is always dark

Can't tell the direction

Even if they often go back and forth on this road The old horse will also become dizzy

Difficult to know the way

This is how the name "horse lost its way" came to be.

There is a caravan that specializes in selling jade and silk.

They travel on this road all year round.

They often get lost in the "horse lost way". Once the caravan got lost as soon as it entered the "horse lost road". When people were extremely anxious

Suddenly a lone goose fell not far away. A young man in the caravan quietly caught the wild goose

He was kind-hearted

He held it in his arms

After preparing to take it out of "Ma Lost" Let it go again. After a while

I saw the wild goose crying to the young man and saying: "Gulu gulu"

Give me food gulu gulu

Nengtai is lost. "After hearing this, the young man suddenly realized.

He knew that the wild geese fell behind because they were too hungry to fly.

He immediately brought his own dry food and water to let the wild geese eat. After the wild geese were full

they flew into the sky

and kept circling

and led the caravan out of the "horse's lost path"

Smoothly Arriving at the destination, Xiaofangpan City. After a while

The caravan lost its way again on "Ma Lost Road"

The wild goose flew up again and shouted in the air: "Gulu Gulu"

< p> The caravan is lost. Gulu Gulu

"Screaming and flying" leads the caravan out of the way again. Only the young man who rescued the wild goose understood what the wild goose said

and told the boss of the team: "The wild goose asked us to inlay a piece of luminous dark green jade on the small square city wall

< p> From now on, the caravan will have a goal and will never get lost again. "After hearing this, the boss made a mental calculation

A piece of luminous dark green jade is worth a lot. Thousands of taels of silver

I really couldn't bear it

so I didn't agree.

Unexpectedly, the next time the caravan lost its way in "Ma lost its way"

There was no water source for several days

The camels were panting heavily with thirst.

Everyone is thirsty

Too thirsty to walk

Life is at stake

Right now

The wild goose flew back again

and shouted in the sky: "The caravan is lost

Square plate inlaid with jade

The black jade will never lead the way. "After hearing this, the young man hurriedly told the boss.

The boss panicked

and asked the young man what he should do.

The young man said: "Kneel down quickly. I swore to Dayan: 'I will definitely inlay jade

and I will never break my promise.'" The boss immediately followed the young man's words and swore to Dayan on his knees.

Dayan listened.

Spinning in the air for a moment

Leading the caravan out of the "horse astray" again

The caravan was saved. After arriving at Xiaofangpan City

The boss no longer dared to love money

He immediately picked out the largest and best piece of luminous dark green jade

and set it in the Guan Tower The top of the jade

Whenever night falls

This jade emits a dazzling light

It can be seen clearly from dozens of miles away

p>

The passing caravans have a target

They will never get lost again. From then on, Xiaofangpan City was renamed "Yumen Pass". In fact, Yumen Pass was built during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty

Therefore, it was an important transportation route from my country to the Western Regions in ancient times

This is where Khotan jade imported from the Western Regions entered the pass.

Wangjing Tower

When Qi Jiguang was the chief military officer of Ji Town

With the support of Tan Lun

he personally planned and supervised its construction Jinshanling Great Wall (located in Luanping County, Hebei Province).

The structure of this section of the Great Wall is unique

The city wall is based on huge stone strips

and is built with bricks. At the eastern end of the Jinshanling Great Wall, on Tiger Mountain that reaches into the clouds

there is a Wangjing Tower

located on the top of a thousand-meter-high mountain

on both sides of the tower It's a cliff.

People can only climb up through the cracks in the rocks. It is said that during the construction, many people were killed and injured in order to transport the stone. However, the stone still could not be transported. This incident moved the Jade Emperor

and immediately sent his nephew Erlang Shen to transport the stone. That night

Erlang Shen came to the foot of Tiger Mountain

and saw piles of stones piled there

Then he swung his magic sword

Immediately turned into a mountain whip.

He whipped the rocks with his mountain whip

At the same time, he shouted "Change"

The rocks immediately turned into big goats

Go straight to the top of the mountain. After reaching the top of the mountain, he counted them.

No more, no less.

Just enough. At this time

A soldier was urinating at the desk

Suddenly he saw Erlang Shen driving sheep

He screamed and ran back. Erlang Shen was surprised when he heard someone shouting

He kicked dozens of rocks down the mountain

and landed in the east mountain col. Erlang Shen immediately jumped into the sky.

That’s it

There are dozens of missing stones to build Wangjing Tower

. Now when you board Wangjing Tower

you will see that five of the twelve floors of foundation stones at the bottom of the building are made of gravel. And the rocks kicked down the mountain by Erlang Shen are still piled up in the mountain col. The locals call this mountain col Tiaoshi Col.