When was the Great Wall of China built?
Construction of the Great Wall of China was begun during the third century B.C. by Emperor Shih Huang-ti (c. 259–210 B.C.) of the Ch’in dynasty (family of rulers). The immense structure was built as a protective barricade against invasion and was expanded over many centuries. The wall now stretches 1,500 miles, ranging in heights between 20 and 50 feet (6.1 and 15 meters), and is 15 to 25 feet (4.6 to 7.6 meters) thick. Guard stations and watchtowers are placed at regular intervals, but successive invasions of China from the north have proved the wall to be fairly ineffectual. Since 1949 a section of the wall in North Peking has been reconstructed and opened to visitors. Further Information: Fisher, Leonard Everett. The Great Wall of China. New York: Macmillan, 1986; Great Wall of China.
The Great Wall of China is not one but a series of walls built over many Dynasties. The first wall was completed by the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. During the Qin Dynasty (221 BC until 206 BC), he extended and connected walls built by several kingdoms during the Spring & Autumn Period (8th century – 5th century BC) and Warring States Period (5th century – 221 BC). During the Han Dynasty, from 206 BC until 220 AC, another portion of the Great Wall was built that ran parallel to and further west than the first. New portions of the Great Wall were built over several later dynasties, and the wall as we think of it today was built starting in the Ming Dynasty to fend off Mongol and later Manchu invaders, from 1368-1644.
Yet the Great Wall is unique. It was first built in the 7th century B.C. when China was still divided into many small states. After the unification of China in 221 B.C., the first emperor of Qin Dynasty (you must have heard of his teracotta army) linked the walls of the three states in the north and formed the first “Wan Li Chang Cheng” (ten thousand li Great Wall, li is a Chinese length unit, 2 li = 1 km). Since then, the Great Wall was rebuilt, modified or extended throughout Chinese history for over 2,000 years. Most of the Great Wall we see today was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). In some areas, two walls built in two different dynasties can be seen running side by side. For more information about Great Wall, please click to see: http://www.chinatravel.com/focus/great-w…
The construction of the wall began during the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC) and Warring States period (475-221 BC) during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Ducal states at that time built walls to defend their own territories. After the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty crushed all rival states, he founded the first centralized and unified dynasty in Chinese history. To consolidate the country and ward off invasion by ethnic minority tribes in the north, he had the walls linked and extended, giving rise to the 5,000-kilometer-long Qin Great Wall. Later dynasties from Han (206 BC – AD 220) to Ming (1368-1644) kept building and improving the wall, extending it more than 1,000 kilometers to today’s scale. The Great Wall we see today mostly dates back to the Ming Dynasty.
