What is the Importance of the Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is the world's longest man-made structure, with estimates as of April 2009 placing it about 5,500 miles long. Besides an architectural marvel, the wall also secured China's northern border in ancient times and, today, tells a history of more than a thousand years of Chinese dynasties.

History

The Great Wall's construction began under the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty following the unification of China in 221 B.C. The individual states of northern China already had been building their own walls for several centuries, and the emperor ordered them linked.

Time Frame

Construction of the Great Wall spanned nearly two millennia, continuing until the Ming Dynasty in the 1500s. Over that time, more than 20 dynasties built the wall according to the technology of their time, and the Ming Dynasty built most of the wall that remains today.

Function

The Chinese used the Great Wall primarily for defense. The Himalayas protect China to its south, the Tibetan Plateau to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east, but the northern border is mostly open, except for some natural defenses such as mountains and rivers that the Chinese built in as part of the wall.

Significance

The Great Wall earned its place as one of the seven medieval wonders of the world, alongside the Colosseum in Rome and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and The United Nations named it a World Heritage Site in 1987. The Chinese themselves have a well-known saying that translates to: "If you haven't climbed the Great Wall, you're not a real man."

Misconceptions

A popular myth states the Great Wall is the only man-made structure visible from space or the moon. The Great Wall is barely discernible from low orbit, where numerous other man-made structures are visible, and no man-made structures are visible from the moon.