The Great Wall of China was one of the
greatest constructions of the Antiquity. The Chinese, who have always been a sedentary people, were constantly
threatened by the nomadic tribes from the steppes of North and Central Asia who
frequently invaded and plundered Chinese towns and villages. In order to
protect the Chinese civilization, the first emperor, Qin Shi Huang (260- 210
BC) ordered the first stretch of the Great Wall to be built. All the walls were
built using a widespread construction technique in northern China, which
consisted in pressing loess mud inside a wooden mould with the shape and
thickness of the wall.
On the other hand, when we talk about the Great Wall, we should bear in
mind that there is not one single Great Wall but many of them, because almost
every dynasty built new stretches of wall or extended the old ones. Thus, the
typical Great Wall of China made of bricks that anyone can see on postcards and
TV documentaries, belongs to the last stretch of walls that was built in China
under the power of the Ming emperors (1368-1664) who decided to cover the walls
with bricks in order to make it impregnable.
National Geographic Documentary about the Great Wall of China
Documentary about the Great Wall of China (Spanish)
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