LANDMARKS

By Maya and Ariella

HOW THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

WAS BUILT

The Great Wall of China

started out with big mounds

of dirt. Then they put on

bamboo over the mounds to

shape them. After shaping

the mounds they took clay

and shaped bricks. Lastly,

they placed the bricks on top

of the mounds.

It took approximately 500,000 people

to build the great wall convicts, forced

labors, and soldiers all contributed to

it’s construction. Hundreds of

thousands of people all helped build

the wall. This number may have even

climbed up to a million during some

periods of time. Even some regular

citizens were forced to build the wall

because there was such a desperate

need for labor

In the Qin dynasty, the wall was made

by certain methods. The laborers

would put a thick layer of raw earth on

the bottom. This was used as a

foundation of sorts. On top of that they

would put a layer of sand and silt

known as loess. After this foundation

had been built, rammed earth was

used to build up the wall developed.

Bricks and stones were made stronger

by cement formed with rice and lime.

WHY WAS THE GREAT WALL OF

CHINA BUILT

The Great Wall of China was

built about 2,000 years ago,

by several different Chinese

emperors , starting in BC

475, to protect the people

from their enemies, also

emperors wanted to protect

their border. The effort was

costly in materials and

manpower.

Over 1 million people died in its

construction. The wall had to be kept

well-guarded the expense of the

emperor. The wall also became useful

as a barrier when a battle was fought

at the border. Therefore, more then

one motive caused the building of the

wall. Since it was used to prevent

northern bandit tribes from crossing

the border, it was a point for the

emperor’s soldiers to gather and

defend. It was also a barrier to prevent

enemies from crossing the border.

 

It took over 1,700 years to

build the Great Wall. The

Great Wall at the end looked

surprisingly different from

the wall at the beginning.