CHINA’S GREAT WALL

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 293, 6 September 1932, Page 2

CHINA’S GREAT WALL

Engineering Masterpiece MILES OF DEFENCE China’s Great Wall, romantic to all Who have studied geography, but usually considered significant only as a work of the dim past, was much in the news during the recent Sino-Japanese imbroglio, since it formed the frontier between Chinese and Japanese forces as it did for centuries after its construction. In a world of aeroplanes, bombs, heavy artillery, and high explosives, the Great Wall of China is of no value as an obstacle to an enemy army. Because this is true, and has been for a long time, the Great Wall has come to be looked upon by many as a prodigious folly (says a writer in the “Cape Argus”). But in its day it was of incalculable value to the peace-lov-ing Chinese, who were able for considerable periods to keep the “northern barbarians” out of their country. The Wall was effective because these enemies of the northern plains came against China with unorganised armies of cavalry, which, many times, beat ineffectively against the well-manned barrier. There are occasions, it is true, when the hordes broke through, but these successful forays and the losses that flowed from them strikingly emphasise the value of the Wall throughout the many years when it functioned successfully. Visible From the Moon? Astronomers think that the Great Wall is one of the few works of man on earth that would be discernible by the naked eye from the moon. No other single engineering accomplishment of any age compares with it in size, extent, and construction difficulties. Seldom straight and seldom level for as much as a mile, the great rampart writhes its way across Northern China like some gigantic serpent, traversing valleys, climbing steep slopes, and even cliffs, ascending to mountain crests, crossing gorges, and taking up its way again beyond great rivers. Starting at sea level at Shanhaikwan on the Gulf of Chihli, it reaches an altitude of 9909 feet among the mountains of Western China. In the intervening area it crosses several mountain ranges quite or nearly a mile high. When the Wall reached a river the usual plan was to construct parallel sections along both banks for a number of miles, thus affording an opportunity for defence of the water breach. Because parts of the Great Wall extend for hundreds of miles through country difficult of access and almost deserted it has not been carefully surveyed or measured in recent times, and its exact length is not known. Its Chinese name is “Wan-li-ch’ang-ch’eng,” which means “10,000-li-long rampart.” As the li is approximately equal to one-third mile this would indicate a length of 3333 miles. Many writers discounted this name as one of picturesqueness and estimated the Wall to be 1500 to 2000 miles long. One of the most recent investigators, however, estimates that, with all loops, cross-walls, and defensive stubs, the Wall is even longer, approximately 3900 miles. Sheer Faces of Masonry. The Great Wall is at its best in its eastern section. There its sheer faces, from 20 to 50 feet high, are constructed of carefully built masonry. In places the entire wall is of masonry, in others the space between the masonry faces is filled in with stones and earth. North of Peiping (Peking) great blocks of carefully cut granite are used held in place by mortar superior to that made by the Chinese to-day. In other localities the Wall is faced with large bricks of a liner quality than most of those now manufactured in the Western World. Good engineers designed the Wall. Rain water accumulating on the top is carried away by stone drains set at intervals of about 100 feet. The fine preservation of much of the Wall is owing to the foresight in providing these drains. More than 25,000 towers were built along the wall, at intervals, ranging from 100 yards to a mile. , The first disconnected walls along the northern frontier of China were probably constructed as early as 469 8.C., when Xerxes was invading Greece. But the ruler who macle tile Great Wall great came two and a half centuries later: Chin Shih Huang-ti, who tried to brush aside previous history, and who insisted on being called “First Emperor.” Improving existing walls and erecting new ones, Chiu created the first extensive system of defensive ramparts. Probably a thousand miles of -wall was built in 15 years under this “First Emperor” and his immediate successor. The structure has been extended and repaired at intervals during the past 2200 years. During the past 300 years no extensive repairs have been made, and many of the less carefully built sections of the long rainpart are falling into decay.