The Great Wall of China = the Greatest Curse

Throughout history, the Great Wall of China is always the symbol for the nation. The world look at it as one of the greatest things that man ever make, however, not very many people know the dark story behind the Great Wall. In this article, I will cover a couple of things. First, the basic knowledge and history of the Great Wall, and secondly, how the Great Wall is operate during ancient time. Finally, I will explain why I said the Great Wall is the greatest curse to the Chinese people.

Let the story begin...

The story is started about 221 BCE, when the Qin emperor, Win Shi Huang Di, successfully unified the six kingdoms of China into one. Even after accomplishing that, the emperor still want to protect China from the barbarians and tribes up in the north so he decided to recruit people to build a wall along the border. That is when that Great Wall was born. In Chinese, the wall is also known as "Wan Li Chang Cheng" which means "The wall of 10,000 li." (10,000 li = 5,000 km)

Even though, the Qin emperor started the wall, he died before it was finished. As a matter of fact, the wall has taken a total of three dynasties to finish it. Those dynasty were (drum roll, please), the Qin (221-207 BCE), the Han (206 BC -220 AD), and the Ming (1368- 1644).

When the Great Wall of China was finished, it is actually about 6,000 km or more, which is longer than 10,000 li. The height of the wall is roughly about 4.5m to 9m.

You may ask, "Yeah, that's nice but how is it work?" Well, every wall tower is equipped with dry straw mix and animal dung as an alarm system, which will be use when the enemies. If 100 enemies attack, then 1 column of straw will be lid; if 500 enemies attack, then 2 columns will be lid, and so forth.

In theory, the wall will able to keep the barbarians at bay, but in reality it is useless. If you ever see the wall in person, you will notice that the wall is not continuously built. Sometimes, there were big enough spaces in between walls, because of that there were cases the barbarians were able to ride around it, climb over it (yes, climb over), and even knock some sections down easily.

I guess that is what happens when something is made in China. (Please, don't sue me)

Dat "The myth buster"

I just watch the show myth buster on the TV the other day. I thought I should do a quick segment here. A lot of books said that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made object that can be seen in space or moon. True or false? Place your bet, but with the economic as it is you should bet carefully (hehe).

The answer is false. Due to the fact that the wall is only 30 feet thick, its color blend in with the surrounding and with extreme weather about 1/2 of the wall is slowly decade over time. It is impossible to see with normal human eyes.

Back to the main topic

The Great Wall of China is make up by stone, brick, soil, sand, wood, and human bones. That's right, you read correctly "and human bones." The first emperor of China was known to be a tyrant. Every day, he forced thousands of men anywhere from 13 to 70 year old to build his wall. When a male got enlisted for the service, he knew for sure that he will not see his family again. He will work until he dies. Even when a worker died, his body was not send back to his home village but buried within the wall.

This act is going against everything that Chinese people believe in. After a person has passed away, people believe that he needs to have a proper bury back home with his ancestor. If not, the soul will be lost and wander the land without rest.

Due to the construction of the Great Wall, there were over 2 to 3 million people had died and it had taken over a century to finish. So where did all the bodies go? Those bodies are right under your feet. After knowing this fact, don't you agree with me that the Great Wall is also a greatest curse for the Chinese people?

Thank you for joining me today. Personally, when you visit the Great Wall of China, do try to be respectfully. Have a great time. From where I am and wherever you are, have a good night and good luck everybody.

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