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The Great Wall of China By Shanti Can you imagine carrying a heavy, humongous stone that weighs 100 to 300 pounds!? Well, the Great Wall is made out of millions of these stones and other types of materials. Each one of the stones have to be in an exact shape or the enemies can take control and break in. Construction • The Great Wall is made mostly out of granite and bricks. • Bricks were used most often because its light weight made the construction much quicker. • In the Gobi Desert, the workers would create pounded earth to continue building the wall. However, these parts were destroyed much easier than other parts of the wall. Construction • The Great Wall was constructed with natural materials such as stone and compacted soil. • Before the use of bricks, workers would use stone, compacted soil, and rarely wood because it will catch on fire very easily. • The Great Wall took up 3 million cubic meters of earth work. Beliefs of the Great Wall • The belief of the Great Wall is that it is told that the Chinese made the Great Wall twist and turn not only to protect China but to make it represent the long back of the mighty dragon! • By making the Great Wall like the dragon’s back, it would be a good omen and will lead the Chinese to victory! Purpose of the Great Wall • The main reason why the Chinese built the Great Wall was to prevent troops from the north invading Chinese territory. • Another great reason is to defend China from attacking Mongols. • It was also built as a defense against ferocious nomadic tribes. • The Great Wall also embodies a great deal of protection during a battle. Purpose of the Great Wall • The Great Wall even helps safeguard the Silk Road so nothing would go wrong. • An important purpose of the Great Wall was to house troops. • Housing troops was important because, if the Great Wall was under attack, soldiers could just come out and defend China. Parts of the Great Wall • A part of the wall is the watch tower. • Watch towers were at regular intervals of 180 meters on the wall. • Watch towers hold weapons, house troops, and can also create fire signals to warn China of an attack being held. • Most signal towers were built on hilly areas for visibility. Parts of the Great Wall • Beacon towers were spaced at intervals of 15 to 30 miles along the wall. • Beacon towers could send messages faster than horse riding. • Signal towers contained approximately 3 people to create a fire. • Some parts of the wall were connected and made tougher for further attacks. Construction During the Qin Dynasty • The Qin dynasty first constructed the wall with just loose stone. • Then the wall was constructed by a wooden rectangular frame filled with loose soil. • After the frame was filled, workers would arrive and stomp on the soil until it was four inches thick. • This unusual process had to be repeated many times, because it would only ascend 4 inches each time it was done. History • An important part to this process was detritus. • Detritus was added to the loose soil because it wasn’t solid. • By adding detritus to the loose soil, it would become more solid and sturdy. • In this period of time, the wall was only created by compacted soil. History • The Han dynasty extended the wall and made it more durable. • They even constructed the wall in the Gobi Desert. • The Han’s process of making the wall started in 206 B.C. Construction During the Han Dynasty • First, workers would lye down red willows followed by reeds and twigs. • Next, a layer of water and gravel was added and stomped. • Once the stomping was finished, more reeds and gravel would be added. • This process would then be repeated many times until the proper height was reached. • This process of the Han’s was much quicker and faster than the way of the Qin. History • The Ming dynasty added the most modifications to the Great Wall. • The Ming dynasty also added major adjustments to the wall. • Workers even made little holes in the watch towers for look out. • The Ming dynasty added the two ways of the Qin and the Han dynasty’s process to construct the Great Wall. Construction During the Ming Dynasty • First, the workers would add tampered earth. • Next, around the tampered earth, they would add a layer of bricks. • This genius method of making the wall was such a success that it could even be built on steep mountains and sometimes on inclines of up to seventy degrees! • As you can see, the Great Wall is a great part of my history and yours. • I hope you learned a lot about the Great Wall, because I know I did.