115-507: China Wall may refer to: Great Wall of China Perth (China Wall) Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery Nickname of Johnny Bower , professional ice hockey goaltender See also [ edit ] Chinawal , a village in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra state, India Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
230-551: A bourgeois revolution . In the 1920s, the Nationalist Party issued a theory of three political stages based on Sun Yatsen 's writings: The most obvious criticism is the near-identical nature of "political tutelage" and of a "constitutional democracy" consisting only of the one-party rule until the 1990s. Against this, Chen Shui-bian proposed his own four-stage theory . Postmodern interpretations of Chinese history tend to reject narrative history and instead focus on
345-405: A cyclical pattern . In this view, a new dynasty is founded by a morally upright founder, but his successors cannot help but become increasingly corrupt and dissolute. This immorality removes the dynasty's divine favor and is manifested by natural disasters (particularly floods ), rebellions, and foreign invasions. Eventually, the dynasty becomes weak enough to be replaced by a new one, whose founder
460-659: A "two-tracked or multi-tracked world history". Tanigawa reviewed the applications of these theories in Japanese writings about Chinese history and then tested them by analyzing the Six Dynasties 220–589 CE period, which Marxist historians saw as feudal. His conclusion was that China did not have feudalism in the sense that Marxists use, that Chinese military governments did not lead to a European-style military aristocracy. The period established social and political patterns which shaped China's history from that point on. There
575-399: A great effort was made by official historians to establish a legitimate precursor whose fall allowed a new dynasty to acquire its mandate. Similarly, regardless of the particular merits of individual emperors, founders would be portrayed in more laudatory terms, and the last ruler of a dynasty would always be castigated as depraved and unworthy – even when that was not the case. Such a narrative
690-503: A historical norm for this region, and of dynasties successively reigning on the Son of Heaven's throne allowed Chinese elites describing historical process in China in simplified categories providing the basis for the concept of modern "unitary China" within the borders of the former Qing Empire, which was also ruled by Chinese emperors. However, deeper analysis reveals that, in fact, there was not
805-404: A new dynasty would employ scholars to compile a final history from the records of the previous one, using a broad variety of sources. Around the turn of the millennium, father–son imperial librarians Liu Xiang and Liu Xin edited and catalogued a large number of early texts, including each individual text listed by name above. Much transmitted literature surviving today is known to be ultimately
920-479: A new type of historiography that Liang regarded as more scientific. Liu Yizheng published several specialized history works including History of Chinese Culture . This next generation became professional historians, training and teaching in universities. They included Chang Chi-yun , Gu Jiegang , Fu Sinian , and Tsiang Tingfu , who were PhDs from Columbia University ; and Chen Yinke , who conducted his investigations into medieval Chinese history in both Europe and
1035-404: A palace fire in the preceding centuries narrowed the sources available for this work. Because of this highly praised and frequently copied work, Sima Qian is often regarded as the father of Chinese historiography . The Twenty-Four Histories , the official histories of the dynasties considered legitimate by imperial Chinese historians, all copied Sima Qian's format. Typically, rulers initiating
1150-451: A small subset of Chinese history, particularly the daily lives of ordinary people in particular locations or settings. Zooming out from the dynastic cycle but maintaining focus on power dynamics, the following general periodization, based on the most powerful groups and the ways that power is used, has been proposed for Chinese history: From the beginning of CCP rule in 1949 until the 1980s, Chinese historical scholarship focused largely on
1265-609: A strong orientalist bent, regarding all Asian states as generally the same while finding reasons for European polities not fitting the pattern. While Wittfogel's theories were not popular among Marxist historians in China, the economist Chi Ch'ao-ting used them in his influential 1936 book, Key Economic Areas in Chinese History, as Revealed in the Development of Public Works for Water-Control . The book identified key areas of grain production which, when controlled by
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#17327795727601380-436: A strong political power, permitted that power to dominate the rest of the country and enforce periods of stability. Convergence theory, including Hu Shih and Ray Huang 's involution theory, holds that the past 150 years have been a period in which Chinese and Western civilization have been in the process of converging into a world civilization. Such a view is heavily influenced by modernization theory but, in China's case, it
1495-573: A succession of dynasties ruled the same unitary China, but there were different states in certain regions of East Asia, some of which have been termed by later historiographers as the Empire ruled by the Son of the Heaven. As early as the 1930s, the American scholar Owen Lattimore argued that China was the product of the interaction of farming and pastoral societies, rather than simply the expansion of
1610-535: A total length of more than 10 km (6 mi), believed to be part of the Great Wall, were discovered along the border of Ningxia autonomous region and Gansu province. Before the use of bricks, the Great Wall was mainly built from rammed earth, stones, and wood. During the Ming, however, bricks were heavily used in many areas of the wall, as were materials such as tiles, lime , and stone. The size and weight of
1725-817: Is figurative in a similar manner to the Greek and English myriad and simply means "innumerable" or "immeasurable". Because of the wall's association with the First Emperor's supposed tyranny , the Chinese dynasties after Qin usually avoided referring to their own additions to the wall by the name "Long Wall". Instead, various terms were used in medieval records, including "frontier(s)" ( 塞 , Sài ), "rampart(s)" ( 垣 , Yuán ), "barrier(s)" ( 障 , Zhàng ), "the outer fortresses" ( 外 堡 , Wàibǎo ), and "the border wall(s)" ( t 邊 牆 , s 边 墙 , Biānqiáng ). Poetic and informal names for
1840-772: Is "sixty days' travel" from Zeitun (modern Quanzhou ) in his travelogue Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling . He associated it with the legend of the wall mentioned in the Qur'an , which Dhul-Qarnayn (commonly associated with Alexander the Great ) was said to have erected to protect people near the land of the rising sun from the savages of Gog and Magog . However, Ibn Battuta could find no one who had either seen it or knew of anyone who had seen it, suggesting that although there were remnants of
1955-563: Is 7.8 m (25 ft 7 in) high and 5 m (16 ft 5 in) wide. One of the most striking sections of the Ming Great Wall is where it climbs extremely steep slopes in Jinshanling . There it runs 11 km (7 mi) long, ranges from 5 to 8 m (16 ft 5 in to 26 ft 3 in) in height, and 6 m (19 ft 8 in) across the bottom, narrowing up to 5 m (16 ft 5 in) across
2070-707: Is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic groups from the Eurasian Steppe . Several walls were built from as early as the 7th century BC, with selective stretches later joined by Qin Shi Huang (220–206 BC), the first emperor of China . Little of the Qin wall remains. Later on, many successive dynasties built and maintained multiple stretches of border walls. The best-known sections of
2185-413: Is able to rectify many of society's problems and begin the cycle anew. Over time, many people felt a full correction was not possible, and that the golden age of Yao and Shun could not be attained. This teleological theory implies that there can be only one rightful sovereign under heaven at a time. Thus, despite the fact that Chinese history has had many lengthy and contentious periods of disunity,
2300-520: Is also strongly influenced by indigenous sources such as the notion of Shijie Datong or "Great Unity". It has tended to be less popular among more recent historians, as postmodern Western historians discount overarching narratives, and nationalist Chinese historians feel similar about narratives failing to account for some special or unique characteristics of Chinese culture. Closely related are colonial and anti-imperialist narratives. These often merge or are part of Marxist critiques from within China or
2415-759: Is less confining than it may first appear in that the Marxist historical framework is surprisingly flexible, and it is a rather simple matter to modify an alternative historical theory to use language that at least does not challenge the Marxist interpretation of history. Partly because of the interest of Mao Zedong , historians in the 1950s took a special interest in the role of peasant rebellions in Chinese history and compiled documentary histories to examine them. There are several problems associated with imposing Marx's European-based framework on Chinese history. First, slavery existed throughout China's history but never as
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#17327795727602530-582: Is no more conspicuous than many other human-made objects. Veteran US astronaut Gene Cernan has stated: "At Earth orbit of 100 to 200 miles [160 to 320 km] high, the Great Wall of China is, indeed, visible to the naked eye." Ed Lu , Expedition 7 Science Officer aboard the International Space Station , adds that, "It's less visible than a lot of other objects. And you have to know where to look." In October 2003, Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei stated that he had not been able to see
2645-529: Is only exceeded by the Chinese Wall, which makes a considerable figure upon the terrestrial globe , and may be discerned at the Moon." The claim was also mentioned by Henry Norman in 1895 where he states "besides its age it enjoys the reputation of being the only work of human hands on the globe visible from the Moon." The issue of "canals" on Mars was prominent in the late 19th century and may have led to
2760-565: Is published in the People's Republic of China is based on a Marxist interpretation of history . These theories were first applied in the 1920s by Chinese scholars such as Guo Moruo , and became orthodoxy in academic study after 1949. The Marxist view of history is that history is governed by universal laws and that according to these laws, a society moves through a series of stages, with the transition between stages being driven by class struggle. These stages are: The official historical view within
2875-1009: Is rapidly evolving, with much new scholarship, often based on the realization that there is much about Chinese history that is unknown or controversial. For example, an active topic concerns whether the typical Chinese peasant in 1900 was seeing his life improve. In addition to the realization that there are major gaps in our knowledge of Chinese history is the equal realization that there are tremendous quantities of primary source material that have not yet been analyzed. Scholars are using previously overlooked documentary evidence, such as masses of government and family archives, and economic records such as census tax rolls, price records, and land surveys. In addition, artifacts such as vernacular novels, how-to manuals, and children's books are analyzed for clues about day-to-day life. Recent Western scholarship of China has been heavily influenced by postmodernism , and has questioned modernist narratives of China's backwardness and lack of development. The desire to challenge
2990-720: Is the western terminus of the Ming Great Wall. From Jiayu Pass the wall travels discontinuously down the Hexi Corridor and into the deserts of Ningxia , where it enters the western edge of the Yellow River loop at Yinchuan . Here the first major walls erected during the Ming dynasty cut through the Ordos Desert to the eastern edge of the Yellow River loop. There at Piantou Pass ( t 偏 頭 關 , s 偏 头 关 , Piāntóuguān ) in Xinzhou , Shanxi province,
3105-656: The Goguryeo tombs in Chinese territory. The absolute independence of Goguryeo is a central aspect of Korean identity, because, according to Korean legend, Goguryeo was independent of China and Japan, compared to subordinate states such as the Joseon dynasty and the Korean Empire . The legacy of Genghis Khan has been contested between China, Mongolia, and Russia, all three states having significant numbers of ethnic Mongols within their borders and holding territory that
3220-559: The Han people . Lattimore did not accept the more extreme Sino-Babylonian theories that the essential elements of early Chinese technology and religion had come from Western Asia , but he was among the scholars to argue against the assumption they had all been indigenous. Both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China hold the view that Chinese history should include all
3335-673: The Liaodong province, protecting it against potential incursions by Jurchen-Mongol Oriyanghan from the northwest and the Jianzhou Jurchens from the north. While stones and tiles were used in some parts of the Liaodong Wall, most of it was in fact simply an earth dike with moats on both sides. Towards the end of the Ming, the Great Wall helped defend the empire against the Manchu invasions that began around 1600. Even after
3450-630: The Moon . Even though the myth is thoroughly debunked, it is still ingrained in popular culture. The apparent width of the Great Wall from the Moon would be the same as that of a human hair viewed from 3 km (2 mi) away. One of the earliest known references to the myth that the Great Wall can be seen from the moon appears in a letter written in 1754 by the English antiquary William Stukeley . Stukeley wrote that, "This mighty wall [ Hadrian's wall ] of four score miles [130 km] in length
3565-675: The National Cultural Heritage Administration states that 22% of the Ming Great Wall has disappeared, while 1,961 km (1,219 mi) of wall have vanished. In 2007 it was estimated that more than 60 km (37 mi) of the wall in Gansu province may disappear in the next 20 years, due to erosion from sandstorms . In some places, the height of the wall has been reduced from more than 5 m (16 ft 5 in) to less than 2 m (6 ft 7 in). Various square lookout towers that characterize
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3680-609: The Nationalist period . A significant amount of new writing includes texts written for a general (as opposed to only academic) audience. There has been an increasingly nuanced portrayal of Chiang Kai-shek , particularly in more favorably evaluating his leadership during the Second Sino-Japanese War and highlighting his position as one of the Big Four allied leaders. Recently released archival sources on
3795-552: The Qin dynasty ("Qin Shi Huang") in 221 BC. Intending to impose centralized rule and prevent the resurgence of feudal lords, he ordered the destruction of the sections of the walls that divided his empire among the former states. To position the empire against the Xiongnu people from the north, however, he ordered the building of new walls to connect the remaining fortifications along the empire's northern frontier. "Build and move on"
3910-463: The Shang dynasty ( c. 1600–1046 BC). Many written examples survive of ceremonial inscriptions, divinations and records of family names, which were carved or painted onto tortoise shell or bones . The uniformly religious context of Shang written records makes avoidance of preservation bias important when interpreting Shang history. The first conscious attempt to record history in China may have been
4025-406: The T'ung-chih [ Tongzhi ] Restoration demonstrated with a rare clarity that even in the most favorable circumstances there is no way in which an effective modern state can be grafted onto a Confucian society. Yet in the decades that followed, the political ideas that had been tested and, for all their grandeur, found wanting, were never given a decent burial." In a different view of modernization,
4140-678: The Warring States period between the 3rd and 1st centuries BC. The first systematic Chinese historical text, the Records of the Grand Historian ( Shiji ), was written by Sima Qian ( c. 145 or 135–86 BC) based on work by his father, Sima Tan , during the Han dynasty . It covers the period from the time of the Yellow Emperor until the author's own lifetime. Two instances of systematic book-burning and
4255-650: The ethnic groups of the lands held by the Qing dynasty during its territorial peak , with these ethnicities forming part of the Zhonghua minzu (Chinese nation). This view is in contrast with Han chauvinism promoted by the Qing-era Tongmenghui . This expanded view encompasses internal and external tributary lands, as well as conquest dynasties in the history of a China seen as a coherent multi-ethnic nation since time immemorial, incorporating and accepting
4370-614: The imperial examination . Some world-systems analysts , such as Janet Abu-Lughod , claim that analysis of Kondratiev waves shows that capitalism first arose in Song dynasty China, although widespread trade was subsequently disrupted and then curtailed. The Japanese scholar Tanigawa Michio , writing in the 1970s and 1980s, set out to revise the generally Marxist views of China prevalent in post-war Japan . Tanigawa writes that historians in Japan fell into two schools. One held that China followed
4485-504: The rampart which surrounded traditional Chinese cities and was used by extension for these walls around their respective states ; today, however, it is much more often the Chinese word for "city". The longer Chinese name "Ten-Thousand Mile Long Wall" ( t 萬里長城, s 万里长城, Wànlǐ Chángchéng ) came from Sima Qian's description of it in the Records , though he did not name the walls as such. The AD 493 Book of Song quotes
4600-564: The three ages of the Greek poet Hesiod , the oldest Chinese historiography viewed mankind as living in a fallen age of depravity, cut off from the virtues of the past, as Confucius and his disciples revered the sage kings Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun . Unlike Hesiod's system, however, the Duke of Zhou 's idea of the Mandate of Heaven as a rationale for dethroning the supposedly divine Zi clan led subsequent historians to see man's fall as
4715-450: The 13th and 14th centuries, such as Giovanni da Pian del Carpine , William of Rubruck , Marco Polo , Odoric of Pordenone and Giovanni de' Marignolli , mentioned the Great Wall. The North African traveler Ibn Battuta , who also visited China during the Yuan dynasty c. 1346 , had heard about China's Great Wall, possibly before he had arrived in China. He wrote that the wall
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4830-657: The Great Wall at great cost to defend themselves against northern invaders. The Tang and Song dynasties did not undertake any significant effort in the region. Dynasties founded by non-Han ethnic groups also built their border walls: the Xianbei -ruled Northern Wei , the Khitan -ruled Liao , Jurchen -led Jin and the Tangut -established Western Xia , who ruled vast territories over Northern China throughout centuries, all constructed defensive walls but those were located much to
4945-541: The Great Wall of China. In response, the European Space Agency (ESA) issued a press release reporting that from an orbit between 160 and 320 km (100 and 200 mi), the Great Wall is visible to the naked eye. The image was actually a river in Beijing. Leroy Chiao , a Chinese-American astronaut, took a photograph from the International Space Station that shows the wall. It was so indistinct that
5060-573: The Great Wall splits in two with the "Outer Great Wall" ( t 外 長城 , s 外 长城 , Wài Chǎngchéng ) extending along the Inner Mongolia border with Shanxi into Hebei province, and the "Inner Great Wall" ( t 內 長城 , s 內 长城 , Nèi Chǎngchéng ) running southeast from Piantou Pass for some 400 km (250 mi), passing through important passes like the Pingxing Pass and Yanmen Pass before joining
5175-460: The Great Wall. A formal definition of what constitutes a "Great Wall" has not been agreed upon, making the full course of the Great Wall difficult to describe in its entirety. The defensive lines contain multiple stretches of ramparts, trenches and ditches, as well as individual fortresses. In 2012, based on existing research and the results of a comprehensive mapping survey, the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China concluded that
5290-521: The Great Wall. Perhaps the first recorded instance of a European actually entering China via the Great Wall came in 1605, when the Portuguese Jesuit brother Bento de Góis reached the northwestern Jiayu Pass from India. Early European accounts were mostly modest and empirical, closely mirroring contemporary Chinese understanding of the Wall, although later they slid into hyperbole, including
5405-448: The Japanese historian Naito Torajiro argued that China reached modernity during its mid-Imperial period , centuries before Europe. He believed that the reform of the civil service into a meritocratic system and the disappearance of the ancient Chinese nobility from the bureaucracy constituted a modern society. The problem associated with this approach is the subjective meaning of modernity. The Chinese nobility had been in decline since
5520-632: The Nationalist era, including the Chiang Kai-shek diaries at Stanford University 's Hoover Institution , have contributed to a surge in academic publishing on the period. In China, historical scholarship remains largely nationalist and modernist or even traditionalist. The legacies of the modernist school (such as Lo Hsiang-lin ) and the traditionalist school (such as Qian Mu (Chien Mu) ) remain strong in Chinese circles. The more modernist works focus on imperial systems in China and employ
5635-523: The Opium wars and continues through the May Fourth period. In the 1950s, several of Fairbank's students argued that Confucianism was incompatible with modernity . Joseph Levenson and Mary C. Wright , and Albert Feuerwerker argued in effect that traditional Chinese values were a barrier to modernity and would have to be abandoned before China could make progress. Wright concluded, "The failure of
5750-505: The Outer Great Wall at Sihaiye ( 四海 冶 , Sìhǎiyě ), in Beijing's Yanqing County . The sections of the Great Wall around Beijing municipality are especially famous: they were frequently renovated and are regularly visited by tourists today. The Badaling Great Wall near Zhangjiakou is the most famous stretch of the wall, for this was the first section to be opened to the public in the People's Republic of China, as well as
5865-510: The People's Republic of China associates each of these stages with a particular era in Chinese history. Because of the strength of the CCP and the importance of the Marxist interpretation of history in legitimizing its rule, it was for many years difficult for historians within the PRC to actively argue in favor of non-Marxist and anti-Marxist interpretations of history. However, this political restriction
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#17327795727605980-579: The Qin dynasty, and while the exams were largely meritocratic, performance required time and resources that meant examinees were still typically from the gentry . Moreover, expertise in the Confucian classics did not guarantee competent bureaucrats when it came to managing public works or preparing a budget. Confucian hostility to commerce placed merchants at the bottom of the four occupations , itself an archaism maintained by devotion to classic texts. The social goal continued to be to invest in land and enter
6095-559: The United States. Other historians, such as Qian Mu , who was trained largely through independent study, were more conservative but remained innovative in their response to world trends. In the 1920s, wide-ranging scholars, such as Guo Moruo , adapted Marxism in order to portray China as a nation among nations, rather than having an exotic and isolated history. The ensuing years saw historians such as Wu Han master both Western theories, including Marxism, and Chinese learning. Like
6210-406: The belief that long, thin objects were visible from space. The claim that the Great Wall is visible from the moon also appears in 1932's Ripley's Believe It or Not! strip. A more controversial question is whether the wall is visible from low Earth orbit (an altitude of as little as 160 km (100 mi)). NASA claims that it is barely visible, and only under nearly perfect conditions; it
6325-404: The bricks made them easier to work with than earth and stone, so construction quickened. Additionally, bricks could bear more weight and endure better than rammed earth. Stone can hold under its own weight better than brick, but is more difficult to use. Consequently, stones cut into rectangular shapes were used for the foundation, inner and outer brims , and gateways of the wall. Battlements line
6440-472: The building and maintenance of large-scale systems of irrigation, the need for such systems made bureaucratic despotism inevitable in Oriental lands. When Wittfogel published his Oriental Despotism: A Comparative Study of Total Power , critics pointed out that water management was given the high status China accorded to officials concerned with taxes, rituals, or fighting off bandits. The theory also has
6555-567: The commanding Ming general, Wu Sangui , who formed an alliance with the Manchus, hoping to use the Manchus to expel the rebels from Beijing. The Manchus quickly seized Beijing, and eventually defeated both the Shun dynasty and the remaining Ming resistance , consolidating the rule of the Qing dynasty over all of China proper . Under Qing rule, China's borders extended beyond the walls and Mongolia
6670-481: The contributions and cultures of non-Han ethnicities. The acceptance of this view by ethnic minorities sometimes depends on their views on present-day issues. The 14th Dalai Lama , long insistent on Tibet's history being separate from that of China, conceded in 2005 that Tibet "is a part of" China's " 5,000-year history " as part of a new proposal for Tibetan autonomy. Korean nationalists have virulently reacted against China's application to UNESCO for recognition of
6785-580: The creation of the New History of the Five Dynasties , which covered five dynasties in over 70 chapters. Toward the end of the Qing dynasty in the early 20th century, scholars looked to Japan and the West for models. In the late 1890s, although deeply learned in the traditional forms, Liang Qichao began to publish extensive and influential studies and polemics that converted young readers to
6900-558: The driving force behind its recent history are still common. Such studies may consider the First Opium War as the starting point for China's modern period. Examples include the works of H.B. Morse , who wrote chronicles of China's international relations such as Trade and Relations of the Chinese Empire . The Chinese convention is to use the word jindai ("modern") to refer to a timeframe for modernity which begins with
7015-406: The dual challenges of interactions with the outside world and modernization in the post-1700 era. Long abandoned as a research focus among most Western scholars due to postmodernism's influence, this remains the primary interest for most historians inside China. The late 20th century and early 21st century have seen numerous studies of Chinese history that challenge traditional paradigms. The field
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#17327795727607130-602: The east. This section was one of the first to be renovated following the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution . At the edge of the Bohai Gulf is Shanhai Pass , considered the traditional end of the Great Wall and the "First Pass Under Heaven ". The part of the wall inside Shanhai Pass that meets the sea is named the "Old Dragon Head". 3 km (2 mi) north of Shanhai Pass is Jiaoshan Great Wall ( t 焦山 長城 , s 焦 山 长城 , Jiāoshān Chángchéng ),
7245-455: The edge of the Mongolian steppe ; spanning 21,196.18 km (13,170.70 mi) in total. Today, the defensive system of the Great Wall is generally recognized as one of the most impressive architectural feats in history. The collection of fortifications known as the Great Wall of China has historically had a number of different names in both Chinese and English. In Chinese histories ,
7360-464: The erroneous but ubiquitous claim that the Ming walls were the same ones that were built by the first emperor in the 3rd century BC. When China opened its borders to foreign merchants and visitors after its defeat in the First and Second Opium Wars , the Great Wall became a main attraction for tourists. The travelogues of the later 19th century further enhanced the reputation and the mythology of
7475-508: The exact length and course of the Qin walls. Most of the ancient walls have eroded away over the centuries, and very few sections remain today. The human cost of the construction is unknown, but it has been estimated by some authors that hundreds of thousands of workers died building the Qin wall. Later, the Han , the Northern dynasties and the Sui all repaired, rebuilt, or expanded sections of
7590-431: The floods of the Yellow River . The hydraulic empire produces wealth from its stability; while dynasties may change, the structure remains intact until destroyed by modern powers. In Europe abundant rainfall meant less dependence on irrigation. In the Orient natural conditions were such that the bulk of the land could not be cultivated without large-scale irrigation works. As only a centralized administration could organize
7705-431: The former Soviet Union, or are postmodern critiques such as Edward Said 's Orientalism , which fault traditional scholarship for trying to fit West, South, and East Asia's histories into European categories unsuited to them. With regard to China particularly, T.F. Tsiang and John Fairbank used newly opened archives in the 1930s to write modern history from a Chinese point of view. Fairbank and Teng Ssu-yu then edited
7820-466: The frontier general Tan Daoji referring to "the long wall of 10,000 miles", closer to the modern name, but the name rarely features in pre-modern times otherwise. The traditional Chinese mile ( 里 , lǐ ) was an often irregular distance that was intended to show the length of a standard village and varied with terrain but was usually standardized at distances around a third of an English mile (540 m). However, this use of "ten-thousand" ( wàn )
7935-415: The gentry, ideas more like those of the physiocrats than those of Adam Smith . With ideas derived from Marx and Max Weber , Karl August Wittfogel argued that bureaucracy arose to manage irrigation systems . Despotism was needed to force the people into building canals , dikes , and waterways to increase agriculture . Yu the Great , one of China's legendary founders, is known for his control of
8050-433: The history of China from 403 BC to the beginning of the Song dynasty in 959. This style broke the nearly thousand-year tradition of Sima Qian, which employed annals for imperial reigns but biographies or treatises for other topics. The more consistent style of the Zizhi Tongjian was not followed by later official histories. In the mid 13th century, Ouyang Xiu was heavily influenced by the work of Xue Juzheng . This led to
8165-422: The indigenous underdogs of frontier history". Scholarly interest in writing about Chinese minorities from non-Chinese perspectives is growing. So too is the rejection of a unified cultural narrative in early China. Historians engaging with archaeological progress find increasingly demonstrated a rich amalgam of diverse cultures in regions the received literature positions as homogeneous. Most Chinese history that
8280-457: The influential volume China's Response to the West (1953). This approach was attacked for ascribing the change in China to outside forces. In the 1980s, Paul Cohen , a student of Fairbank's, issued a call for a more "China-Centered history of China". The schools of thought on the 1911 Revolution have evolved from the early years of the Republic. The Marxist view saw the events of 1911 as
8395-556: The inscription on the Zhou dynasty bronze Shi Qiang pan . This and thousands of other Chinese bronze inscriptions form our primary sources for the period in which they were interred in elite burials. The oldest surviving history texts of China were compiled in the Book of Documents (Shujing) . The Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu) , the official chronicle of the State of Lu , cover
8510-440: The late imperial system and its failures. However, in the 21st century, a highly favorable revisionism has emerged in the popular culture , in both the media and social media . Florian Schneider argues that nationalism in China in the early twenty-first century is largely a product of the digital revolution and that a large fraction of the population participates as readers and commentators who relate ideas to their friends over
8625-519: The long-drawn conflict was taking a toll on the empire. The Ming adopted a new strategy to keep the nomadic tribes out by constructing walls along the northern border of China. Acknowledging the Mongol control established in the Ordos Desert , the wall followed the desert's southern edge instead of incorporating the bend of the Yellow River . Unlike the earlier fortifications, the Ming construction
8740-458: The loss of all of Liaodong , the Ming army held the heavily fortified Shanhai Pass , preventing the Manchus from conquering the Chinese heartland. The Manchus were finally able to cross the Great Wall in 1644, after Beijing had already fallen to Li Zicheng 's short-lived Shun dynasty . Before this time, the Manchus had crossed the Great Wall multiple times to raid, but this time it was for conquest. The gates at Shanhai Pass were opened on May 25 by
8855-399: The means of smoke or fire, and the fact that the path of the Great Wall also served as a transportation corridor. The frontier walls built by different dynasties have multiple courses. Collectively, they stretch from Liaodong in the east to Lop Lake in the west, from the present-day Sino–Russian border in the north to Tao River (Taohe) in the south; along an arc that roughly delineates
8970-411: The model. Such a view was common amongst European and American historians during the 19th and early 20th centuries, but is now criticized for being a Eurocentric viewpoint, since such a view permits an implicit justification for breaking the society from its static past and bringing it into the modern world under European direction. By the mid-20th century, it was increasingly clear to historians that
9085-466: The mortar or any part of the wall, contrary to what a legend states. Communication between the army units along the length of the Great Wall, including the ability to call reinforcements and warn garrisons of enemy movements, was of high importance. Signal towers were built upon hill tops or other high points along the wall for their visibility. Wooden gates could be used as a trap against those going through. Barracks, stables, and armories were built near
9200-508: The most famous images of the wall have disappeared. Many western sections of the wall are constructed from mud , rather than brick and stone, and thus are more susceptible to erosion. In 2014 a portion of the wall near the border of Liaoning and Hebei province was repaired with concrete. The work has been much criticized. A section of the wall in Shanxi province was severely damaged in 2023 by construction workers, who widened an existing gap in
9315-468: The nineteenth century, "the Great Wall of China" had become standard in English and French, although other European languages such as German continue to refer to it as "the Chinese wall". The Chinese were already familiar with the techniques of wall-building by the time of the Spring and Autumn period between the 8th and 5th centuries BC. During this time and the subsequent Warring States period ,
9430-608: The north of the other Great Walls as we know it, within China's autonomous region of Inner Mongolia and in modern-day Mongolia itself. The Great Wall concept was revived again under the Ming in the 14th century, and following the Ming army's defeat by the Oirats in the Battle of Tumu . The Ming had failed to gain a clear upper hand over the Mongol tribes after successive battles, and
9545-564: The notion of "changeless China" was untenable. A new concept, popularized by John Fairbank , was the notion of "change within tradition", which argued that China did change in the pre-modern period but that this change existed within certain cultural traditions. This notion has also been subject to the criticism that to say "China has not changed fundamentally" is tautological , since it requires that one look for things that have not changed and then arbitrarily define those as fundamental. Nonetheless, studies seeing China's interaction with Europe as
9660-534: The official Chinese-language histories of the Han-ruled Song and Ming dynasties, respectively. Recent Western scholars have reacted against the ethnically inclusive narrative in traditional and Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-sponsored history, by writing revisionist histories of China such as the New Qing History that feature, according to James A. Millward, "a degree of 'partisanship' for
9775-448: The officially sanctioned Marxist theory of class struggle . From the time of Deng Xiaoping (1978–1992) on, there has been a drift towards a Marxist-inspired Chinese nationalist perspective, and consideration of China's contemporary international status has become of paramount importance in historical studies. The current focus tends to be on specifics of civilization in ancient China, and the general paradigm of how China has responded to
9890-602: The one contained in João de Barros 's 1563 Asia . Other early accounts in Western sources include those of Gaspar da Cruz , Bento de Goes , Matteo Ricci , and Bishop Juan González de Mendoza , the latter in 1585 describing it as a "superbious and mightie work" of architecture, though he had not seen it. In 1559, in his work "A Treatise of China and the Adjoyning Regions", Gaspar da Cruz offers an early discussion of
10005-475: The period from 722 to 481 BC and are among the earliest surviving Chinese historical texts to be arranged as annals . The compilations of both of these works are traditionally ascribed to Confucius . The Zuo zhuan , attributed to Zuo Qiuming in the 5th century BC, is the earliest Chinese work of narrative history and covers the period from 722 to 468 BC. The anonymous Zhan Guo Ce was a renowned ancient Chinese historical work composed of sporadic materials on
10120-542: The photographer was not certain he had actually captured it. Based on the photograph, the China Daily later reported that the Great Wall can be seen from 'space' with the naked eye, under favorable viewing conditions, if one knows exactly where to look. Chinese historiography Chinese historiography is the study of the techniques and sources used by historians to develop the recorded history of China . The recording of events in Chinese history dates back to
10235-430: The preconception that 19th-century China was weak, for instance, has led to a scholarly interest in Qing expansion into Central Asia . Postmodern scholarship largely rejects grand narratives altogether, preferring to publish empirical studies on the socioeconomics, and political or cultural dynamics, of smaller communities within China. As of at least 2023, there has been a surge of historical writing about key leaders of
10350-521: The primary form of labor. While the Zhou and earlier dynasties may be labeled as feudal , later dynasties were much more centralized than how Marx analyzed their European counterparts as being. To account for the discrepancy, Chinese Marxists invented the term "bureaucratic feudalism". The placement of the Tang as the beginning of the bureaucratic phase rests largely on the replacement of patronage networks with
10465-757: The remainder date back to Northern Wei , Northern Qi , Sui , Tang , the Five Dynasties , Song , Liao and Xixia . About half of the sites are located in Inner Mongolia (31%) and Hebei (19%). Han fortifications starts from Yumen Pass and Yang Pass , southwest of Dunhuang , in Gansu province. Ruins of the remotest Han border posts are found in Mamitu ( t 馬 迷途 , s 马 迷途 , Mǎmítú , l "horses losing their way" ) near Yumen Pass. The Jiayu Pass , located in Gansu province,
10580-845: The remaining Great Wall associated sites include 10,051 wall sections, 1,764 ramparts or trenches, 29,510 individual buildings, and 2,211 fortifications or passes, with the walls and trenches spanning a total length of 21,196.18 km (13,170.70 mi). Incorporating advanced technologies, the study has concluded that the Ming Great Wall measures 8,850 km (5,500 mi). This consists of 6,259 km (3,889 mi) of wall sections, 359 km (223 mi) of trenches and 2,232 km (1,387 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. In addition, Qin , Han and earlier Great Wall sites are 3,080 km (1,914 mi) long in total; Jin dynasty (1115–1234) border fortifications are 4,010 km (2,492 mi) in length;
10695-591: The scientific method to analyze epochs of Chinese dynasties from geographical, genealogical, and cultural artifacts. For example, using Carbon-14 dating and geographical records to correlate climates with cycles of calm and calamity in Chinese history. The traditionalist school of scholarship resorts to official imperial records and colloquial historical works, and analyzes the rise and fall of dynasties using Confucian philosophy, albeit modified by an institutional administration perspective. After 1911, writers, historians and scholars in China and abroad generally deprecated
10810-477: The set European pattern which Marxists thought to be universal; that is, from ancient slavery to medieval feudalism to modern capitalism; while another group argued that " Chinese society was extraordinarily saturated with stagnancy, as compared to the West" and assumed that China existed in a "qualitatively different historical world from Western society ". That is, there is an argument between those who see "unilinear, monistic world history" and those who conceive of
10925-472: The showpiece stretch for foreign dignitaries. The Badaling Great Wall saw nearly 10 million visitors in 2018, and in 2019, a daily limit of 65,000 visitors was instated. South of Badaling is the Juyong Pass ; when it was used by the Chinese to protect their land, this section of the wall had many guards to defend the capital Beijing. Made of stone and bricks from the hills, this portion of the Great Wall
11040-474: The site of the first mountain of the Great Wall. 15 km (9 mi) northeast from Shanhaiguan is Jiumenkou ( t 九 門 口 , s 九 门 口 , Jiǔménkǒu ), which is the only portion of the wall that was built as a bridge. In 2009, 180 km of previously unknown sections of the Ming wall concealed by hills, trenches and rivers were discovered with the help of infrared range finders and GPS devices. In March and April 2015, nine sections with
11155-470: The states of Qin , Wei , Zhao , Qi , Han , Yan , and Zhongshan all constructed extensive fortifications to defend their own borders. Built to withstand the attack of small arms such as swords and spears, these walls were made mostly of stone or by stamping earth and gravel between board frames. King Zheng of Qin conquered the last of his opponents and unified China as the First Emperor of
11270-460: The structure, method, arrangement, sequence, caption, and commentary, dating back to the Warring States period . The Zizhi Tongjian was a pioneering reference work of Chinese historiography. Emperor Yingzong of Song ordered Sima Guang and other scholars to begin compiling this universal history of China in 1065, and they presented it to his successor Shenzong in 1084. It contains 294 volumes and about three million characters, and it narrates
11385-581: The term "Long Wall(s)" ( t 長城, s 长城, Chángchéng ) appears in Sima Qian 's Records of the Grand Historian , where it referred both to the separate great walls built between and north of the Warring States and to the more unified construction of the First Emperor . The Chinese character 城 , meaning city or fortress, is a phono-semantic compound of the "earth" radical 土 and phonetic 成 , whose Old Chinese pronunciation has been reconstructed as * deŋ . It originally referred to
11500-632: The title China Wall . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=China_Wall&oldid=874328580 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China ( traditional Chinese : 萬里長城 ; simplified Chinese : 万里长城 ; pinyin : Wànlǐ Chángchéng , literally "ten thousand li long wall")
11615-472: The top. Wangjing Lou ( t 望 京 樓 , s 望 京 楼 , Wàngjīng Lóu ) is one of Jinshanling's 67 watchtowers , 980 m (3,220 ft) above sea level. Southeast of Jinshanling is the Mutianyu Great Wall which winds along lofty, cragged mountains from the southeast to the northwest for 2.25 km (1.40 mi). It is connected with Juyongguan Pass to the west and Gubeikou to
11730-411: The uppermost portion of the vast majority of the wall, with defensive gaps a little over 30 cm (12 in) tall, and about 23 cm (9.1 in) wide. From the parapets, guards could survey the surrounding land. Sticky rice mortar , consisting of sticky rice soup mixed with slaked lime , was extensively used to hold bricks together; no human bones or body parts were ever incorporated into
11845-422: The version they edited down from a larger volume of material available at the time. In 190, the imperial capital was again destroyed by arson, causing the loss of significant amounts of historical material. The Shitong was the first Chinese work about historiography. It was compiled by Liu Zhiji between 708 and 710 AD. The book describes the general pattern of the official dynastic histories with regard to
11960-462: The wall at that time, they were not significant. Soon after Europeans reached Ming China by ship in the early 16th century, accounts of the Great Wall started to circulate in Europe, even though no European was to see it for another century. Possibly one of the earliest European descriptions of the wall and of its significance for the defense of the country against the " Tartars " (i.e. Mongols) may be
12075-793: The wall included "the Purple Frontier" ( 紫 塞 , Zǐsài ) and "the Earth Dragon" ( t 土 龍 , s 土 龙 , Tǔlóng ). Only during the Qing period did "Long Wall" become the catch-all term to refer to the many border walls regardless of their location or dynastic origin, equivalent to the English "Great Wall". Sections of the wall in south Gobi Desert and Mongolian steppe are sometimes referred to as "Wall of Genghis Khan", even though Genghis Khan did not construct any walls or permanent defense lines himself. The current English name evolved from accounts of "the Chinese wall" from early modern European travelers. By
12190-421: The wall to make a shortcut for an excavator to pass through. Police described the act as causing "irreversible damage to the integrity of the Ming Great Wall and to the safety of the cultural relics". Various factoids in popular culture claim that the Great Wall can be seen (with the naked eye) from space, with questionable degrees of veracity. The Great Wall of China cannot be seen by the naked human eye from
12305-540: The wall were built by the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Apart from defense, other purposes of the Great Wall have included border controls , allowing the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road , regulation or encouragement of trade and the control of immigration and emigration. Furthermore, the defensive characteristics of the Great Wall were enhanced by the construction of watchtowers , troop barracks, garrison stations, signaling capabilities through
12420-504: The wall's inner surface. While portions north of Beijing and near tourist centers have been preserved and even extensively renovated, in many other locations the wall is in disrepair. The wall sometimes provided a source of stones to build houses and roads. Sections of the wall are also prone to graffiti and vandalism , while inscribed bricks were pilfered and sold on the market for up to 50 renminbi . Parts have been destroyed to make way for construction or mining. A 2012 report by
12535-406: The wall, faced sections of the ram-earth wall with bricks and constructed 1,200 watchtowers from Shanhaiguan Pass to Changping to warn of approaching Mongol raiders. During the 1440s–1460s, the Ming also built a so-called "Liaodong Wall". Similar in function to the Great Wall (whose extension, in a sense, it was), but more basic in construction, the Liaodong Wall enclosed the agricultural heartland of
12650-441: Was a central guiding principle in constructing the wall, implying that the Chinese were not erecting a permanently fixed border. Transporting the large quantity of materials required for construction was difficult, so builders always tried to use local resources. Stones from the mountains were used over mountain ranges, while rammed earth was used for construction in the plains. There are no surviving historical records indicating
12765-478: Was a gradual relaxation of Marxist interpretation after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, which was accelerated after the Tian'anmen Square protest and other revolutions in 1989, which damaged Marxism's ideological legitimacy in the eyes of Chinese academics. This view of Chinese history sees Chinese society as a traditional society needing to become modern, usually with the implicit assumption of Western society as
12880-584: Was annexed into the empire, so constructions on the Great Wall were discontinued. On the other hand, the so-called Willow Palisade , following a line similar to that of the Ming Liaodong Wall, was constructed by the Qing rulers in Manchuria. Its purpose, however, was not defense but rather to prevent Han Chinese migration into Manchuria. None of the Europeans who visited China or Mongolia in
12995-532: Was conquered by the Khan. The Jin dynasty tradition of a new dynasty composing the official history for its preceding dynasty/dynasties has been seen to foster an ethnically inclusive interpretation of Chinese history. The compilation of official histories usually involved monumental intellectual labor. The Yuan and Qing dynasties, ruled by the Mongols and Manchus , faithfully carried out this practice, composing
13110-541: Was employed after the fall of the empire by those compiling the history of the Qing , and by those who justified the attempted restorations of the imperial system by Yuan Shikai and Zhang Xun . Traditional Chinese historiography includes states ruled by other peoples (Mongols, Manchus, Tibetans etc.) in the dynastic history of China proper, ignoring their own historical traditions and considering them parts of China. Two historiographic traditions: of unity in East Asia as
13225-432: Was stronger and more elaborate due to the use of bricks and stone instead of rammed earth. Up to 25,000 watchtowers are estimated to have been constructed on the wall. As Mongol raids continued periodically over the years, the Ming devoted considerable resources to repair and reinforce the walls. Sections near the Ming capital of Beijing were especially strong. Qi Jiguang between 1567 and 1570 also repaired and reinforced
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