This is the Ming Dynasty Great Wall (1368 – 1644). The stone
dragon, it is the world’s longest defensive fortification. The Great Wall, one
of the greatest wonders of the world, was listed as a World Heritage by UNESCO
in 1987. It was built on 16 century, and has a history of more than 2,000 years.
The Great Wall winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and
plateaus, stretching approximately 8,851.8 kilometers (5,500 miles) from east
to west of China. Even though there are some of the sections have disappeared,
but yet there are still one of the most appealing attractions all around the
world owing to its architectural grandeur and historical significance.
The Great Wall of the MIng is, not only because of the ambitious character of the undertaking but also the perfection of its construction, an absolute masterpiece. The only work built by human hands on this planet that can be seen from the moon, the wall constitutes, on the vast scale of a continent, a perfect example of architecture integrated into the landscape.
During the Chunqiu period, the Chinese imposed their models of construction and organization of space in building the defence works along the northern frontier. The spread of Sinicism was accentuated by the population transfers necessitated by the Great Wall.
That the Great Wall bear exceptional testimony to the civilizations of ancient China is illustrated as much by the rammed-earth section of fortifications dating from the Western Han that are conserved in the Gansu province as by the admirable and universally acclaimed masonry of the Ming period.
This complex and diachronic cultural property is an outstanding and unique example of a military architectural ensemble which served a single strategic purpose for 2,000 years, but whose construction history illustrates successive advances in defence techniques and adaption to changing political contexts.
The Great Wall has an incomparable symbolic significance in the history of China. Its purpose was to protect China from outside aggression, but also to preserve its culture from the customs of foreign barbarians. Because its construction implied suffering, it is one of the essential references in Chinese literature, being found in work like the "Soldier's Ballad" of Tch'en Lin (c. 200 A.D.) or the poems of Tu Fu (712 - 770) and the popular novels of the Ming period.
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