China is not the only country in history that has built a wall on its boundary. Athens, Rome, Denmark and Korea also did the same in the past. The Hadrian’s Wall in Northern England was also built to separate the Romans from barbarians. All were built for the purpose of defending their country against its invaders. The China Wall was no exception to this.
The Great Wall of China was first built in the 7th century, B.C. Before 221 B.C., three Chinese states in the North of China, called Qi, Yan and Zhao, constructed their own fortifications to defend their borders. However, in 221 B.C. the Qin Shi Huang who the first emperor of Qin dynasty, unified China, and linked the walls of the three states. He formed the first ‘Wan Li Chang Cheng’, Wall of China. This wall was 10,000 Li in length (2Li=1km.). Later, Emperor Han of West Han dynasty (206 B.C. to 25 A.D.) extended the Great Wall to 10000 km. Sui of Sui dynasty (581-618 A.D.) also built the Great Wall. Since then, the Great Wall was rebuilt, modified and extended for about 2000 years. Most of the Great Wall of China was built in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), where it was extended by about 6000 km.
Some of the functions of the Great Wall also considered as being reasons for its existence are:
1. The Great Wall was not just a wall, but many forts; beacon towers were built along the wall to house soldiers, and store grain and weapons, and it was used to transmit military information.
2. As it was built out of clashes between agricultural and nomadic economies, it served as protection to the economic development and cultural progress.
3. It safeguarded the trading routes, and secured the transmission of information and transportation.
4. A few parts of the Great Wall have become a tourist attraction, which was not really the intended function for it.
The primary purpose of building the Great Wall of China was always to protect the Chinese Empire from the Mongolians, and other invaders.
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