home

History of the origin of the Chinese wall. Who built the Great Wall of China

The Chinese wall is an amazing structure built for almost 2000 years and its length is 4 thousand kilometers! Such a long-term construction is not bad ... It is traditionally believed that the Great Wall of China began to be built in the 3rd century BC. For protection from northern nomads. On this occasion, N.A. Morozov wrote:

“One thought that the famous Chinese Wall, 6 to 7 meters high and up to 3 meters thick, stretching for THREE THOUSAND KILOMETERS, was started by the construction back in 246 BC by Emperor Shi-Hoangti and WAS FINISHED ONLY THROUGH 1866 YEARS, TO 1620 AD, is so absurd that it can only annoy a serious historian-thinker.

After all, every large building has a predetermined practical purpose ... Who would have thought of starting a huge building, which can only be completed in 2000 years, and until then it will be only a useless burden for the population ...

We will be told, - The Wall has been repaired for two thousand years. Doubtful. It makes sense to repair only a not very old building, otherwise it will become hopelessly outdated and simply fall apart. What we observe, by the way, in Europe.

The old defensive walls were dismantled and new, more powerful ones were built in their place. For example, many military fortifications in Russia were rebuilt in the 16th century.

But we are told that the Chinese Wall, as it was built, stood for TWO THOUSAND YEARS. They don't say that " modern wall built recently on the site of an ancient one.

No, they say that we see exactly the wall that was erected two thousand years ago. In our opinion, this is extremely strange, to say the least.

When and against whom was the wall built? We cannot give an exact answer. This requires additional research. However, let us express the following thought.

The Great Wall of China was built primarily as a structure marking the BORDER between two countries: China and Russia.

It is doubtful that it was built as a military defense structure. And hardly ever used in this capacity. Defend 4000- kilometer wall from an enemy attack is POSSIBLE.

LN Gumilyov quite rightly wrote: “The wall stretched for 4 thousand km. Its height reached 10 meters, and watch towers rose every 60-100 meters.

But when the work was completed, it turned out that all the armed forces of China were not enough to organize an effective defense on the wall.

In fact, if a small detachment is placed on each tower, then the enemy will destroy it before the neighbors have time to gather and give help.

If, however, large detachments are spaced less often, then gaps are formed through which the enemy will easily and imperceptibly penetrate deep into the country. A FORTRESS WITHOUT DEFENDERS IS NOT A FORTRESS

What is the difference between our point of view and the traditional one? We are told that the Wall separated China from the nomads in order to secure the country from their raids. But, as Gumilyov rightly noted, such an explanation does not stand up to scrutiny.

If the nomads wanted to cross the Wall, they would have easily done so. And not just once. And anywhere. We offer a completely different explanation.

We believe that the Wall was built primarily to DESIGNATE THE BORDER BETWEEN THE TWO STATES. And it was built when they reached an agreement on this border. Apparently in order to exclude border disputes in the future.

And such disputes, probably, were. Today, the agreed parties draw the border ON THE MAP (that is, on paper). And they think that this is enough.

And in the case of Russia and China, the Chinese, apparently, attached such importance to the treaty that they decided to perpetuate it not only on paper, but also “on the ground”, by drawing the Wall along the agreed border.

This was more reliable and, as the Chinese thought, would eliminate border disputes for a long time. The length of the Wall itself speaks in favor of our assumption. Four or one or two thousand kilometers is normal for a border between two states. But for a purely military structure - it makes no sense. But the political border

China for its supposedly more than two thousand years of history has changed many times. This is what historians tell us. China united, then fell apart separate areas, lost and acquired some land, etc.

On the one hand, this seems to make it difficult to verify our reconstruction. But on the other hand, on the contrary, we are given the opportunity not only to check it, but also to DATE the construction of the Wall.

If we manage to find a political-geographical map on which the BORDER OF CHINA WILL PASS EXACTLY ALONG THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA, this will mean that EXACTLY AT THIS TIME THE WALL WAS BUILT.

Today the Wall of China is INSIDE China. Was there a time when it marked the BORDER OF THE COUNTRY? And when did it happen? It is clear that if it was built as a BORDER WALL, then at that time IT HAD TO GO EXACTLY ON THE POLITICAL BORDER OF CHINA.

This will allow us to date the construction of the Wall. Let's try to find a GEOGRAPHICAL MAP on which the Wall of China runs EXACTLY ON THE POLITICAL BORDER OF CHINA. It is important that SUCH CARDS EXIST. And there are many. These are maps of the 17th-18th centuries.

We take a map of Asia of the XVIII century, made by the Royal Academy in Amsterdam:. This map was taken by us from a rare atlas of the 18th century.

On this map we find two states: Tartaria - Tartarie and China - Chine. China's northern border runs roughly along the 40th parallel. EXACTLY THIS BORDER GOES THE WALL OF CHINA.

Moreover, on the map this Wall is DESIGNATED as a thick line with the inscription Muraille de la Chine, that is, “the high wall of China” in French.

The same Chinese Wall, and with the same inscription on it, we see on another map of 1754 - Carte de l'Asie, taken by us from a rare atlas of the 18th century. Here the Chinese Wall also runs roughly along the border between China and Great Tataria, that is, Mongol-Tataria = Russia.

We see the same thing on another map of Asia in the 17th century, in the famous Blaeu atlas. The Chinese Wall runs exactly along the border of China, and only a small western section of the Wall is inside China.

Our idea is also supported by the fact that the cartographers of the 18th century GENERALLY PUT THE CHINA WALL ON THE POLITICAL MAP OF THE WORLD.

Therefore, this Wall MAKES THE SENSE OF A POLITICAL BORDER. After all, the cartographers did not depict other “wonders of the world” on this map, for example, the Egyptian pyramids.

And the Chinese Wall - painted. The same Wall is depicted on a color map of the Qing Empire in the second half of the 17th-18th centuries in an academic 10-volume World History

This map shows the Great Wall in detail, with all of its little twists and turns in the terrain. For almost its entire length, it goes EXACTLY ON THE BORDER OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE, with the exception of a small westernmost section of the Wall no more than 200 kilometers long. Apparently

THE CHINESE GREAT WALL WAS BUILT IN THE XVI-XVII CENTURIES AS A POLITICAL BORDER BETWEEN CHINA AND RUSSIA = “MONGOLO-TATARIA”.

It is impossible to admit that the “ancient” Chinese possessed such an amazing gift of foresight that they accurately predicted exactly how the border between China and Russia would pass in the 17th-18th centuries of the NEW ERA, that is, in two thousand years.

We may be objected: on the contrary, the border between Russia and China in the 17th century was drawn along the ancient Wall. However, in this case, the Wall would have to be mentioned in a written Russian-Chinese treaty. We did not find such references.

When was the Wall = Border between Russia = “Mongol-Tataria” and China built? Apparently, it was in the XVII century. No wonder it is believed that its construction was “completed” only in 1620. And maybe even later. See more about it below.

In this regard, it is immediately remembered that EXACTLY at this time there were BORDER WARS between Russia and China. Probably, only at the end of the 17th century they agreed on the border. And then they built a wall to fix the CONTRACT.

Was this Wall earlier than the 17th century? Apparently not. Scaligerian history tells us that China was conquered by the “MONGOLS” in the 13th century AD. e. More precisely, in 1279. And he became part of the huge “Mongolian” = Great Empire.

According to the new chronology, the correct dating of this conquest is the end of the 14th century, that is, a hundred years later. In the Scaligerian history of China, this event is noted in the XIV century as the coming to power of the MING dynasty in 1368, that is, THE SAME MONGOLS.

As we now understand, in the XIV-XVI centuries, RUSSIA AND CHINA STILL MADE ONE EMPIRE. Therefore, there was no need to build the Wall = Border.

Most likely, such a need arose after the unrest in Russia, the defeat of the Russian Horde dynasty and the seizure of power by the Romanovs. As you know, the Romanovs abruptly changed the political course of Russia, trying to subordinate the country to Western influence.

Such a pro-Western orientation new dynasty led to the collapse of the Empire. Turkey separated, and heavy wars began with it. China also separated. And, in fact, control over a significant part of America was lost. China's relations with the Romanovs became tense, and border conflicts began. It was necessary to build the Wall, which was done.

Apparently, it is even possible to more accurately indicate the time of the construction of the Great Wall of China. As we have said, the Wall was apparently erected as a border between China and Russia during the border disputes of the 17th century. ARMED COLLISIONs flared up from the middle of the 17th century. The wars went on with varying success. Descriptions of these wars were preserved in the notes of Khabarov.

The agreement that fixed the NORTHERN BORDER OF CHINA WITH RUSSIA was concluded in 1689 in Nerchinsk. Perhaps there were earlier attempts to conclude a Russo-Chinese treaty.

It is to be expected that the China Wall was built between 1650 and 1689. This expectation is justified. It is known that the emperor = Bogdykhan Kangxi “began to implement his plan of FORCING THE RUSSIANS FROM THE AMUR.

BUILDING A CHAIN OF FORTIFICATIONS IN MANZHURIA Bogdykhan sent the Manzhur army to the Amur in 1684” What kind of CHAIN OF FORTIFICATIONS did Bogdykhan build by 1684? Most likely, he built the Great Wall of China. That is, a CHAIN OF FORTIFIED TOWERS CONNECTED BY A WALL

The Great Wall of China is one of the largest and oldest architectural monuments in the world. Its total length is 8851.8 km, in one of the sections it runs near Beijing. The construction process of this structure is amazing in its scale. We will tell you about the most interesting facts and events from the history of the Wall

To begin with, let's delve a little into the history of the great building. It is hard to imagine how much time and human resources it takes to build a structure of this magnitude. It is unlikely that somewhere else in the world there is a building with such a long, great and at the same time tragic history. The construction of the Great Wall of China began as early as the 3rd century BC during the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang of the Qin Dynasty, during the Warring States period (475-221 BC). In those days, the state was in dire need of protection from the attacks of enemies, in particular the nomadic people of the Xiongnu. A fifth of the population of China was involved in the work, at that time it was about a million people

The wall was supposed to be the extreme northern point of the planned expansion of the Chinese, as well as to protect the subjects of the “Celestial Empire” from being drawn into a semi-nomadic lifestyle, and assimilation with the barbarians. It was planned to clearly define the boundaries of the great Chinese civilization, to promote the unification of the empire into a single whole, since China was just beginning to form from a multitude of conquered states. Here are the boundaries of the Wall of China on the map:

During the period of the Han Dynasty (206 - 220 BC), the building was expanded to the west to Dunhuang. Many watchtowers were built to protect trade caravans from attacks by warring nomads. Almost all sections of the Great Wall that have survived to this day were built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). During this period, they built mainly from bricks and blocks, due to which the structure became stronger and more reliable. During this time, the Wall ran from east to west from Shanhaiguan on the coast of the Yellow Sea to the Yumenguan outpost on the border of the provinces of Gansu and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

The Qing Dynasty of Manchuria (1644-1911) broke the resistance of the defenders of the Wall due to the betrayal of Wu Sangui. During this period, the building was treated with great disdain. During the three centuries of the Qing in power Great Wall was almost destroyed by time. Only a small section of it, passing near Beijing - Badaling - was kept in order - it was used as a "gateway to the capital". Nowadays, this section of the wall is the most popular among tourists - it was the very first open to the public back in 1957, and also served as the finish point for the cycling race at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. It was visited by US President Nixon In 1899, newspapers in the United States wrote that the wall would be dismantled, and a highway would be laid in its place

In 1984, at the initiative of Deng Xiaoping, a program was organized to restore Chinese wall, financial assistance from Chinese and foreign companies was attracted. A collection was also held among individuals, everyone could donate any amount

The total length of the Great Wall of China is 8,851 kilometers and 800 meters. Just think about this figure, is it really impressive?

In our time, a 60-kilometer section of the wall in the Shanxi region in northwest China is undergoing active erosion. The main reason for that intensive methods reference Agriculture in the country, when, starting from the 1950s, the The groundwater, and the region has become the epicenter of the emergence of extremely strong sandstorms. More than 40 kilometers of the wall have already been destroyed, and only 10 kilometers are still in place, but the height of the wall has been partially reduced from five to two meters.

The Great Wall was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 as one of China's greatest historical landmarks. In addition, this is one of the most visited attractions in the world - about 40 million tourists visit here every year.

A lot of myths and legends roam around such a large-scale structure. For example, the fact that this is a solid, continuous wall built in one go is a real myth. In reality, the wall is a discontinuous network of separate segments built by various dynasties to protect China's northern border.

During construction, the Great Wall of China was nicknamed the longest cemetery on the planet, as a large number of people died at the construction site. According to approximate calculations, the construction of the wall cost the lives of more than one million people.

It is logical that such a hulk has broken and still holds many records. The most significant of them is the longest structure ever built by man.

As I wrote above, the Great Wall was built as a set individual elements in different times. Each province built its own wall and gradually they united into a single whole. In those days, protective structures were simply necessary, and were built everywhere. In total, more than 50,000 kilometers of defensive walls have been erected in China over the past 2,000 years.

Since the Wall of China was interrupted in some places, it was not difficult for the Mongol invaders led by Genghis Khan to raid China, and they subsequently conquered northern part countries, between 1211 and 1223. The Mongols ruled China until 1368, when they were driven out by the Ming Dynasty described above.

Contrary to popular belief, the Great Wall of China cannot be seen from space. This pervasive myth was born in 1893 in the American magazine The Century and then re-discussed in 1932 in Robert Ripley's show, who claimed that the wall was visible from the moon - this despite the fact that the first flight into space was still very far away. In our time, it has been proven that it is quite difficult to notice a wall from space with the naked eye. Here is a picture of NASA from space, see for yourself

Another legend says that the substance used to hold the stones together was mixed with a powder of human bones, and that those who died at the construction site were buried right in the wall itself to make the structure stronger. But this is not true, the solution was made from ordinary rice flour - and there are no bones or dead in the wall structure.

For obvious reasons, this miracle was not included in the 7 ancient wonders of the world, but the Great Wall of China is rightfully included in the list of 7 new wonders of the world. Another legend says that a large fire dragon paved the way for the workers, indicating where to build the wall. Builders subsequently followed in his footsteps

Since we are talking about legends, one of the most popular is about a woman named Meng Jing Niu, the wife of a farmer working on the construction of the Great Wall. When she learned that her husband died at work, she went to the wall and cried on it until it collapsed, showing the bones of her beloved, and the wife was able to bury them

There was a whole tradition of burying those who died on the construction of the wall. Members of the family of the deceased carried the coffin, on which was a cage with a white rooster. The crowing of a rooster was supposed to keep the spirit awake dead man until the procession recounts the Great Wall. Otherwise, the spirit will forever wander along the wall.

During the Ming Dynasty, more than one million soldiers were called upon to defend the country's borders from enemies on the Great Wall. As for the builders, they were drawn from the same defenders in peacetime, peasants, simply unemployed and criminals. There was a special punishment for all convicts and the verdict was the same - to build a wall!

Especially for this construction, the Chinese invented a wheelbarrow and used it everywhere in the construction of the Great Wall. Some of the most dangerous parts of the Great Wall were surrounded by defensive ditches, which were either filled with water or left as ditches. The Chinese used advanced defense weapons such as axes, hammers, spears, crossbows, halberds, and a Chinese invention: gunpowder.

Observation towers were built along the length of the Great Wall in even sections and could be up to 40 feet high. They were used to monitor the territory, as well as fortresses and garrisons for troops. They had reserves necessary products and water. In case of danger, a signal was given from the tower, torches, special beacons or just flags were lit. The western section of the Great Wall, with a long chain of watchtowers, served to protect caravans that traveled along the Silk Road, a famous trade route.

The last battle at the wall took place in 1938 during the Sino-Japanese War. There are many traces of bullets from those times in the wall. The highest point of the Great Wall of China is at an altitude of 1534 meters, near Beijing, while the lowest point is at sea level near Laolongtu. The average height of the wall is 7 meters, and the width in some places reaches 8 meters, but in general it varies from 5 to 7 meters.

The Great Wall of China is a symbol of national pride, centuries of struggle, and greatness. The country's government spends huge amounts of money on the preservation of this architectural monument, estimated at billions of US dollars a year, hoping to save the wall for future generations.

The colossal defense structures known today as the Great Wall of China were built by those who thousands of years ago possessed technologies that we have not yet grown up to. And it was clearly not the Chinese ...

In China, there is another material evidence of the presence in this country of a highly developed civilization, to which the Chinese have nothing to do. Unlike the Chinese pyramids, this evidence is well known to everyone. This is the so-called The great Wall of China.

Let's see what orthodox historians say about this largest architectural monument, which in recent times has become a major tourist attraction in China. The wall is located in the north of the country, stretching from the sea coast and going deep into the Mongolian steppes, and, according to various estimates, has a length, taking into account the branches, from 6 to 13,000 km. The thickness of the wall is several meters (on average 5 meters), the height is 6-10 meters. The wall is said to have included 25,000 towers.

Short story building a wall today looks like this. The construction of the wall allegedly began yet in the 3rd century BC during the dynasty Qin to defend against the raids of nomads from the north and clearly define the border of Chinese civilization. The initiator of the construction was the famous "collector of Chinese lands" Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di. He drove about half a million people to the construction, which, with a total population of 20 million, is a very impressive figure. Then the wall was a structure mainly from the earth - a huge earthen rampart.

During the reign of the dynasty Han(206 BC - 220 AD) the wall was expanded to the west, strengthened with stone and built a line of watchtowers that went deep into the desert. Under the dynasty Min(1368-1644) the wall continued to be built further. As a result, it stretched from east to west from the Bohai Bay in the Yellow Sea to the western border of the modern provinces of Gansu, entering the territory of the Gobi Desert. It is believed that this wall was already built by the efforts of a million Chinese from bricks and stone blocks, which is why these sections of the wall have survived to this day in the form in which a modern tourist is already accustomed to seeing it. The Ming dynasty was replaced by the Manchu dynasty Qing(1644-1911), who did not build the wall. She limited herself to maintaining in relative order small area near Beijing, which served as the "gateway to the capital".

In 1899, American newspapers started a rumor that the wall would soon be demolished and a highway built in its place. However, no one was going to demolish anything. Moreover, in 1984, a wall restoration program initiated by Deng Xiaoping and led by Mao Tse Tung was launched, which is still being carried out and financed by Chinese and foreign companies, as well as individuals. How many drove Mao to restore the wall is not reported. Several sections were repaired, in some places they were erected altogether anew. So we can assume that in 1984 the construction of the fourth wall of China began. Usually, tourists are shown one of the sections of the wall, located 60 km northwest of Beijing. This is the area of Mount Badaling (Badaling), the length of the wall is 50 km.

The wall makes the greatest impression not in the Beijing region, where it was erected on not very high mountains, but in remote mountainous regions. There, by the way, it is very clearly seen that the wall, as a defensive structure, was made very thoughtfully. Firstly, five people in a row could move along the wall itself, so it was also a good road, which is extremely important when it is necessary to transfer troops. Under cover of the battlements, the guards could stealthily approach the area where the enemies planned to attack. The signal towers were located in such a way that each of them was within sight of the other two. Some important messages were transmitted either by drumming, or by smoke, or by the fire of bonfires. Thus, the news of the enemy's invasion from the most distant frontiers could be transmitted to the center per day!

During the restoration process, the walls were opened Interesting Facts. For example, its stone blocks were fastened together with sticky rice porridge mixed with slaked lime. Or what loopholes on its fortresses looked towards China; that on the north side the height of the wall is small, much less than on the south, and there are stairs. The latest facts, for obvious reasons, are not advertised and are not commented on by official science - neither Chinese nor world. Moreover, when reconstructing towers, they try to build loopholes in opposite direction although this is not the case everywhere. These photos show the south side of the wall - the sun is shining at noon.

However, the oddities with the Chinese wall do not end there. Wikipedia has a full map of the wall, where different color shows a wall which we are told was built by every Chinese dynasty. As you can see, the great wall is not alone. Northern China is often and densely dotted with "great Chinese walls" that go into the territory of modern Mongolia and even Russia. Shed light on these oddities A.A. Tyunyaev in his work "The Chinese Wall - a great barrier from the Chinese":

“It is extremely interesting to trace the stages of the construction of the “Chinese” wall, based on the data of Chinese scientists. It can be seen from them that Chinese scientists, who call the wall "Chinese", are not very concerned about the fact that the Chinese people themselves did not take any part in its construction: every time the next section of the wall was built, the Chinese state was far from the construction sites.

So, the first and main part of the wall was built in the period from 445 BC. to 222 BC It runs along 41-42° northern latitude and simultaneously along some sections of the river. Huanghe. At that time, of course, there were no Mongol-Tatars. Moreover, the first unification of peoples within China took place only in 221 BC. under the reign of Qin. And before that, there was the Zhangguo period (5-3 centuries BC), in which eight states existed on the territory of China. Only in the middle of the 4th c. BC. Qin began to fight against other kingdoms, and by 221 BC. conquered some of them.

The figure shows that the western and northern border of the state of Qin by 221 BC. began to coincide with that section of the "Chinese" wall, which began to be built even in 445 BC and was built in 222 BC

Thus, we see that this section of the "Chinese" wall was built not by the Chinese of the Qin state, but northern neighbors, but precisely from the Chinese spreading to the north. In just 5 years - from 221 to 206. BC. - a wall was built along the entire border of the state of Qin, which stopped the spread of his subjects to the north and west. In addition, at the same time, 100-200 km west and north of the first, the second line of defense from Qin was built - the second "Chinese" wall of this period.

The next construction period covers the time from 206 BC to 220 AD During this period, sections of the wall were built, located 500 km to the west and 100 km to the north of the previous ones ... from 618 to 907 China was ruled by the Tang dynasty, which did not mark itself as victorious over its northern neighbors.

In the next period from 960 to 1279 The Song Empire was established in China. At this time, China lost dominance over its vassals in the west, in the northeast (on the territory of the Korean Peninsula) and in the South - in northern Vietnam. The Sung empire lost a significant part of the territories of the Chinese proper in the north and northwest, which went to the Khitan state of Liao (part of the modern provinces of Hebei and Shanxi), the Tangut kingdom of Xi-Xia (part of the territories of modern Shaanxi province, the entire territory of modern Gansu province and Ningxia Hui autonomous region).

In 1125, the border between the non-Chinese kingdom of the Jurchens and China passed along the river. Huaihe is 500-700 km south of the places where the wall was built. And in 1141, a peace treaty was signed, according to which the Chinese Sung Empire recognized itself as a vassal of the non-Chinese state of Jin, pledging to pay him a large tribute.

However, while China itself huddled south of the river. Hunahe, 2100-2500 km north of its borders, another section of the "Chinese" wall was erected. This part of the wall built from 1066 to 1234, passes through Russian territory north of the village of Borzya near the river. Argun. At the same time, another section of the wall was built 1500-2000 km north of China, located along the Greater Khingan...

The next section of the wall was built between 1366 and 1644. It runs along the 40th parallel from Andong (40°), just north of Beijing (40°), through Yinchuan (39°) to Dunhuang and Anxi (40°) in the west. This section of the wall is the last, southernmost and most deeply penetrating into the territory of China ... During the construction of this section of the wall, the entire Amur region belonged to Russian territories. By the middle of the 17th century, on both banks of the Amur, there were already Russian fortresses-prisons (Albazinsky, Kumarsky, etc.), peasant settlements and arable lands. In 1656, the Daurskoye (later Albazinskoye) voivodeship was formed, which included the valley of the Upper and Middle Amur along both banks ... The “Chinese” wall built by the Russians by 1644 ran exactly along the border of Russia with Qing China. In the 1650s, Qing China invaded Russian lands to a depth of 1500 km, which was confirmed by the Aigun (1858) and Beijing (1860) treaties ... "

Today the Wall of China is inside China. However, there was a time when the wall meant country border. This fact is confirmed by ancient maps that have come down to us. For example, a map of China by the famous medieval cartographer Abraham Ortelius from his geographical atlas of the world Theatrum Orbis Terrarum 1602. On the map, north is on the right. It clearly shows that China is separating from northern country- Tartary wall. On the map of 1754 "Le Carte de l'Asie" it is also clearly seen that the border of China with Great Tartaria runs along the wall. And even the 1880 map shows the wall as China's border with its northern neighbor. It is noteworthy that part of the wall extends far enough into the territory of China's western neighbor - Chinese Tartaria...

Subscribe to us

The Chinese wall is an amazing structure built for almost 2000 years and its length is 4 thousand kilometers! Such a long-term construction is not bad ... It is traditionally believed that the Great Wall of China began to be built in the 3rd century BC. For protection from northern nomads. On this occasion, N.A. Morozov wrote:

The old defensive walls were dismantled and new, more powerful ones were built in their place. For example, many military fortifications in Russia were rebuilt in the 16th century.

But we are told that the Chinese Wall, as it was built, stood for TWO THOUSAND YEARS. They do not say that "the modern wall was built recently on the site of the ancient one."

No, they say that we see exactly the wall that was erected two thousand years ago. In our opinion, this is extremely strange, to say the least.

When and against whom was the wall built? We cannot give an exact answer. This requires additional research. However, let us express the following thought.

The Great Wall of China was built primarily as a structure marking the BORDER between two countries: China and Russia.

It is doubtful that it was built as a military defense structure. And hardly ever used in this capacity. Defending a 4,000-kilometer wall from an enemy attack is POSSIBLE.

LN Gumilyov quite rightly wrote: “The wall stretched for 4 thousand km. Its height reached 10 meters, and watch towers rose every 60-100 meters.

But when the work was completed, it turned out that all the armed forces of China were not enough to organize an effective defense on the wall.

In fact, if a small detachment is placed on each tower, then the enemy will destroy it before the neighbors have time to gather and give help.

If the nomads wanted to cross the Wall, they would have easily done so. And not just once. And anywhere. We offer a completely different explanation.

And such disputes, probably, were. Today, the agreed parties draw the border ON THE MAP (that is, on paper). And they think that this is enough.

China for its supposedly more than two thousand years of history has changed many times. This is what historians tell us. China united, then fell apart into separate regions, lost and acquired some land, and so on.

If we manage to find a political-geographical map on which the BORDER OF CHINA WILL PASS EXACTLY ALONG THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA, this will mean that EXACTLY AT THIS TIME THE WALL WAS BUILT.

We take a map of Asia of the XVIII century, made by the Royal Academy in Amsterdam:. This map was taken by us from a rare atlas of the 18th century.

On this map we find two states: Tartaria - Tartarie and China - Chine. China's northern border runs roughly along the 40th parallel. EXACTLY THIS BORDER GOES THE WALL OF CHINA.

Moreover, on the map this Wall is DESIGNATED as a thick line with the inscription Muraille de la Chine, that is, “the high wall of China” in French.

Our idea is also supported by the fact that the cartographers of the 18th century GENERALLY PUT THE CHINA WALL ON THE POLITICAL MAP OF THE WORLD.

Therefore, this Wall MAKES THE SENSE OF A POLITICAL BORDER. After all, the cartographers did not depict other “wonders of the world” on this map, for example, the Egyptian pyramids.

And the Chinese Wall was painted. The same Wall is depicted on a color map of the Qing Empire in the second half of the 17th-18th centuries in the academic 10-volume World History

THE CHINESE GREAT WALL WAS BUILT IN THE XVI-XVII CENTURIES AS A POLITICAL BORDER BETWEEN CHINA AND RUSSIA = “MONGOLO-TATARIA”.

It is impossible to admit that the “ancient” Chinese had such an amazing gift of foresight that they accurately predicted exactly how the border between China and Russia would pass in the 17th-18th centuries of the NEW ERA, that is, in two thousand years.

As we now understand, in the XIV-XVI centuries, RUSSIA AND CHINA STILL MADE ONE EMPIRE. Therefore, there was no need to build the Wall = Border.

Such a pro-Western orientation of the new dynasty led to the collapse of the Empire. Turkey separated, and heavy wars began with it. China also separated. And, in fact, control over a significant part of America was lost. China's relations with the Romanovs became tense, and border conflicts began. It was necessary to build the Wall, which was done.

The agreement that fixed the NORTHERN BORDER OF CHINA WITH RUSSIA was concluded in 1689 in Nerchinsk. Perhaps there were earlier attempts to conclude a Russo-Chinese treaty.

Today it is believed that the Chinese began to build their Great Chinese wall as if in the III century BC. e. They were built to protect against northern nomads. Current state The walls are shown in fig. 37 and 38. On this occasion, N.A. Morozov wrote:

“One thought that the famous Chinese wall, 6 to 7 meters high and up to 3 meters thick, stretching for THREE THOUSAND KILOMETERS, was started by the construction back in 246 BC by Emperor Shi-Hoangti (aka Shi Huang Di - Initial Honored Emperor - Auth.) and WAS FINISHED ONLY AFTER 1866 YEARS, BY 1620 AD, so absurd that it can only annoy a serious historian-thinker. After all, any large building has a predetermined practical purpose ... Who would have thought of starting a huge building, which can only be completed in 2000 years, and until then it will be only a useless burden for the population ... Yes, and to be preserved as well as now, the Chinese Wall could only if it is no more than a few hundred years old”, vol. 6, p. 121–122.

Rice. 37. Great Wall of China. Taken from, vol. 6, p. 121.

They will tell us that the Chinese have been protecting and constantly repairing their Wall for two thousand years in a row. Doubtful. It makes sense to repair only a not very old building, otherwise it will become hopelessly outdated and simply fall apart. What we observe, by the way, in Europe. The old defensive walls were dismantled and new, more powerful ones were built in their place. For example, many military fortifications in Russia were rebuilt in the 16th century.

Rice. 38. Great Wall of China in modern form. Taken from, v. 21.

But in China, things were allegedly quite different. We are told that the Wall of China was built and stood for TWO THOUSAND YEARS. Historians do not say that "the modern wall was built recently on the site of the ancient one." No, they claim that today we see exactly the wall that conscientious Chinese workers erected two thousand years ago. In our opinion, this is extremely strange, to say the least.

When and against whom was the Wall built? It is easy to give an approximate answer. As we have already said, “Chinese” history up to the 15th century A.D. e. actually unfolded in Europe. Therefore, the Chinese Wall could only be created NOT BEFORE THE XV CENTURY AD. That is, when chinese history"settled" in modern China. And they built the Wall, of course, not against arrows and spears with copper or even stone tips of the 3rd century BC. Against whom stone wall three meters thick is simply not needed. Walls such as China's were already erected against wall and firearms. And they began to build them no earlier than the 15th century, when GUNS appeared on the battlefields, including SIEGE GUNS. On fig. 39 we give another image of the Chinese Wall. It is very interesting that ancient authors also called it THE WALL OF GOG AND MAGOG, vol. 1, p. 294. So asserted, for example, Abulfeda.

Against whom did they build a wall? We cannot give an exact answer yet. This requires additional research.

However, let us express the following thought, which will simultaneously indicate the dating of the Wall that we propose.

Apparently, the Great Wall of China was built primarily as a structure marking the BORDER between China and Russia. And only partially it was conceived as a military defensive structure - moreover, it was hardly ever used in this capacity. Defend the 4000 km wall, p. 44, from an enemy attack is POINTLESS. Even if it stretches "only" for one or two thousand kilometers. The wall in its current form is only slightly short of 4,000 kilometers.

L.N. Gumilyov wrote: “The wall stretched for 4 thousand km. Its height reached 10 meters, and watch towers rose every 60-100 meters. But, when the work was completed, it turned out that all the armed forces of China were not enough to organize an effective defense on the wall (as if this could not have been figured out BEFORE construction began - Auth.). In fact, if a small detachment is placed on each tower, then the enemy will destroy it before the neighbors have time to gather and give help.

Rice. 39. Great Wall of China. It turns out that it was also called "The Wall of Gog and Magog", vol. 1, p. 293–294. Taken from, vol. 1, p. 293.

What is the difference between our point of view and the traditional one? We are told that the Wall separated China from the nomads in order to secure the country from their raids. But, as A.N. Gumilyov, such an explanation does not stand up to scrutiny. If the nomads wanted to cross the Wall, they would have easily done so. And not just once. And anywhere.

We offer a completely different explanation. We believe that the Wall was built primarily to DESIGNATE THE BORDER BETWEEN THE TWO STATES. And it was built when an agreement was reached on this border. Apparently in order to exclude border disputes in the future. And such disputes, probably, were. Today, the agreed parties draw the border ON THE MAP (that is, on paper). And they think that this is enough. And in the case of Russia and China, the Chinese side, apparently, gave the treaty such great importance that she decided to perpetuate it not only on paper, but also on the terrain itself, drawing the Wall along the agreed border. This was more reliable and, as the Chinese probably thought, should have eliminated border disputes for a long time.

The length of the Wall itself speaks in favor of this assumption. Four thousand kilometers may well be a LONG BORDER between the two states. But for a purely military structure, such a length is meaningless.

But after all, the northern border of China has changed many times over its allegedly more than two thousand years of history, which has passed since the construction of the Wall. What do historians tell us about? China either united, then divided into separate states, lost and acquired some lands, etc.

But then we have a wonderful opportunity to not only test our idea that the Wall was from the very beginning the BORDER of China, but also presumably DATE the construction of the Wall. For if we can find a RELIABLE DATED old map, on which the BORDER OF CHINA PASSES EXACTLY ALONG THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA, then this will mean that, most likely, IT WAS BUILT AT THIS TIME.

Today the Wall of China is INSIDE China. Was there a time when it passed EXACTLY ON THE BORDER? And when was it? By answering these questions, we will get an approximate dating of the Wall.

Let's try to find a GEOGRAPHICAL MAP, on which the Wall of China runs EXACTLY ON THE NORTHERN BORDER OF CHINA. It turns out that SUCH CARDS REALLY EXIST. Moreover, there are many of them. These are maps of the 17th-18th centuries AD.

Take, for example, an 18th-century map of Asia made by the Royal Academy in Amsterdam. The map is part of a rare 18th century atlas. The inscription on the map reads: L "Asie, Dresse sur les observations de l" Academie Royale des Sciences et quelques autres et Sur les memoires les plus recens. Par G. de l "Isle Geographe a Amsterdam. Ches R. & J. Ottens, Geographes dans le Kalverstraat au Carte du Monde. See Figure 40.

On this map we see two large states in Asia: Tartaria (Tartarie) and China (Chine). See Figure 41 and our drawing of the map in Figure 42. China's northern border runs roughly along the 40th parallel. THE WALL OF CHINA IS VERY CLOSE TO THIS BORDER. Moreover, on the map, the Wall is DESIGNATED as a thick line with the inscription Muraille de la Chine, that is, "the high wall of China" in French.

We see the same Chinese Wall, with the same inscription on it, on another map of 1754 - Carte de l "Asie, taken by us from a rare atlas of the 18th century. See Fig. 43. Here the Chinese Wall goes EXACTLY along the border between China and Great Tartary See Fig. 44 and drawing in Fig. 45.

Rice. 40. Map of Asia from an atlas of the 18th century. Made in Amsterdam. L "Asie, dresse sur les observations de l" Academy Royale des Sciences et quelques autres, et sur les memoires les plus recens. Par G. de l "lsle Geographe. a Amsterdam. Chez R. & J. Ottens, Geographes dans le Kalverstraat au Carte du Monde. Taken from.

We see literally the same thing on another map of Asia of the 17th century, placed in Blaeu's famous 1655 world atlas. See Figure 46. The Wall of China goes exactly along the border of China, and only a small part of its western section is already inside China.

It is also important that the cartographers of the 18th century GENERALLY DECIDED TO PLACE THE CHINESE WALL ON THE POLITICAL MAP OF THE WORLD, which indirectly indicates that the Wall HAVE A SENSE OF A POLITICAL BORDER. After all, they did not depict other wonders of the world. For example, there are no Egyptian pyramids on this map. And the Chinese wall was painted.

Rice. 41. Fragment of a map of Asia from an 18th century atlas. It is clearly seen that the Wall of China runs exactly along the border of China. The wall is not only depicted on the map, but is directly called the "Chinese Wall": Muraille de la Chine. Taken from

The Great Wall of China is depicted on a color map of the Qing Empire in the second half of the 17th–18th centuries from the academic 10-volume World History, p. 300–301. This map shows the Great Wall in detail, with all of its little twists and turns in the terrain. For almost its entire length, it goes EXACTLY ON THE BORDER OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE, with the exception of a small westernmost section no more than 200 kilometers long.

Rice. 42. Our drawing of a fragment of an 18th-century map of Asia depicting the Great Wall of China. Map taken from .

Rice. 43. Eastern part of the map of Asia from the atlas XVIII bek. Taken from .

Rice. 44. A fragment of a map of Asia from an atlas of the 18th century. The Great Wall of China runs exactly along the border of China. It is not only depicted on the map, but also directly named " Chinese wall»: Muraille de la Chine. Taken from .

Rice. 45. Our drawing of a fragment of a map from 1754. "Carte de I" Asie. 1754. It is clear that the Great Wall of China runs exactly along the northern border of China. The map is taken from.

Rice. 46. A fragment of a map of Asia from Blaeu's atlas of 1655. The Chinese Wall runs exactly along the border of China, and only a small part of its western section is located inside China. Taken from .

Rice. 47. The Great Wall of China on the map of allegedly 1617, running exactly along the border between "China" (China) and Tartaria. Taken from, p. 190–191.

Rice. 48. An enlarged image of the Chinese Wall, which plays the role of the border between the "China" and Tartaria. From a map allegedly dated 1617. Taken from, p. 190–191.

On the map of allegedly 1617 from the Blaeu Atlas, we also see the Chinese Wall, running EXACTLY ON THE BORDER between "China" - that is, China - and Tartaria (TARTARIA), Fig. 47 and 48.

Exactly the same picture is observed on the map allegedly from 1635 from the Blaeu Atlas, p. 198–199. Here, exactly along the border between China-China (CHINAE) and Tartaria, the Great Wall of China runs, fig. 49 and 50.

Rice. 49. The Chinese Wall goes exactly along the border between Chyna and Tartary on a map allegedly from 1635. Taken from Blaeu's Atlas, p. 198–199.

Rice. 50. An enlarged fragment depicting the Chinese Wall as a border between states. Taken from, p. 199

In our opinion, all this means the following. THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA WAS PROBABLY BUILT ONLY IN THE 17th CENTURY TO DESIGN THE STATE BORDER BETWEEN CHINA AND RUSSIA.

And if, after all these maps, someone still insists that the Chinese, they say, built their Wall anyway in the 3rd century BC, then we will answer like this. Maybe you are right. Let's not argue. However, in this case, it will be necessary to admit that the “ancient” Chinese had such an amazing gift of foresight that they accurately predicted exactly how the state border in northern China would pass in the 17th-18th centuries of the NEW ERA. That is - there are two thousand years after them.

We may be objected: the wall was not built along the border, but, on the contrary, the border between Russia and China was drawn in the 17th century along the ancient Wall. However, in this case, the Wall would have to be mentioned in a written Russian-Chinese treaty. But there are no such references, as far as we know.

But if the Great Wall of China is indeed the border between Russia and China, then EXACTLY WHEN was it built? Apparently, in the 17th century. No wonder it is believed that its construction was “completed” only in 1620, vol. 6, p. 121. And maybe even later. We will return to this issue in the next chapter.

And immediately it is remembered that EXACTLY in the 17th century there were BORDER WARS between Russia and China. See S.M. Solovyov, "History of Russia since ancient times", vol. 12, chapter 5, . Probably, only at the end of the 17th century did they agree on the border. And then they built the Wall to FIX THE CONTRACT.

Did the Wall exist in some form before the 17th century? Apparently not. As we now understand, in the XIV-XVI centuries, RUSSIA AND CHINA STILL MADE ONE EMPIRE. It is believed that China was conquered by the "Mongols", after which it became part of the Great = "Mongolian" Empire. Therefore, there was no need to build a Wall on the border. Most likely, such a need arose only after the Great Troubles. early XVII century and the seizure of power in Russia by the pro-Western Romanov dynasty. Then Turkey separated from the Empire and heavy wars began with it. China also separated. The Manchurian dynasty needed to build a wall to secure the border of the state they had created. Which is what was done.

By the way, many "ancient Chinese" chronicles speak of the Great Wall. So what year were they written? It is clear that after the construction of the Wall, that is, not earlier than the 17th century A.D. e.

And one more interest Ask. Have any powerful stone fortifications erected earlier than the 17th century, that is, before the Manchu rule over China, survived in China? And also stone palaces and temples? Or did the Great Wall, before the arrival of the Manchurs in the 17th century, stand in China in splendid isolation as the ONLY powerful stone fortification in the whole country? If so, then very strange. Really, in the two thousand years that allegedly elapsed since the construction of the Wall, did it not occur to the Chinese to build many other structures, even remotely comparable to the Wall? After all, we are told that China's long history has been filled with internecine wars. Why, then, did the Chinese not fence themselves off with walls from each other? According to the logic of historians, in two thousand years, all of China should have been partitioned off by a wide variety of Great - and not very great - walls. But there is nothing like it.

In Europe and in Russia, for example, a lot of stone fortifications have been preserved. If the Chinese built a gigantic stone structure two thousand years ago, generally useless from a military point of view, then why didn't they use their wonderful talents to build really needed stone kremlins in their cities?

If the Wall was built, as we assume, only in the 17th century and was ONE OF THE FIRST grandiose stone buildings in China, everything falls into place. Since the 17th century, there have been no major internecine wars in China. Until 1911, the same Manchurian dynasty ruled there. And after it, in the 20th century, no one built stone fortresses for military purposes. They are no longer needed.

Apparently, it is even possible to more accurately indicate the time of the construction of the Great Wall of China.

As we have said, the Wall was apparently erected as a border between China and Russia during the border disputes of the 17th century. ARMED COLLISIONS between the two countries flared up from the middle of the 17th century. The wars went on with varying success, p. 572–575. Descriptions of the wars are preserved in the notes of Khabarov.

The agreement that fixed the NORTHERN BORDER OF CHINA WITH RUSSIA was concluded in 1689 in Nerchinsk. Perhaps there were earlier attempts to conclude a Russo-Chinese treaty. Therefore, it is to be expected that the Great Wall of China was built sometime between 1650 and 1689. This expectation is justified. It is known that the Chinese emperor (bogdykhan) Kangxi “began to implement his plan of FORCING THE RUSSIANS FROM THE AMUR. Having built a CHAIN OF FORTIFICATIONS IN MANZHURIA (! - Auth.), in 1684, the Bogdykhan sent the Manzhur army to the Amur, vol. 5, p. 312. The portrait of the Bogdy Khan Kangxi according to the drawing of the 18th century is shown in Fig. 51.

Rice. 51. Chinese Bogdykhan. (Emperor) Kangxi (1662-1722), during which, probably, the construction of the Great Wall of China began. From an 18th century drawing. Taken from, vol. 5, p. 312.

What kind of CHAIN OF FORTIFICATIONS was built by Bogdy Khan Kangxi by 1684? In our opinion, this refers to the construction of the Great Wall of China. A CHAIN OF FORTIFIED TOWERS CONNECTED BY A WALL.

Figure 52 shows an early 18th century engraving showing the Russian embassy passing through the Great Wall of China. It is worth noting that the Wall depicted here bears little resemblance to a real military fortification. For example, both passages in the towers, through which the road from Russia to China is laid, are COMPLETELY devoid of ANY GATES OR BARRIER GRATES, Fig. 53. Both through passages through the Wall are quite high and spacious. They are not protected by anything! The thickness of the wall, judging by the figure, is quite small. So, from a military-defensive point of view, the Wall depicted in Figure 54 is rather meaningless.

Rice. 52. Antique image titled: “The Russian embassy passes through the gates of the Great Wall of China. Engraving from the book by I. Ides. Beginning of the 18th century. This Wall is not like the China Wall we are shown today. It is much narrower than modern and there is no wide passage along its top. And today in China, a much thicker “ancient” Wall with a wide road on top has already been built. Taken from, p. 143.

Rice. 53. An enlarged fragment of an old engraving of the 18th century depicting the travel towers of the Chinese Wall. The passage through them is wide and high. No gates and bars in the towers are visible. Such a wall is in no way capable of serving as a serious military-defensive structure, but it may well mark the border between the two states. Taken from, p. 143.

The Great Wall, which the Chinese show to visitors today, is arranged in a significantly different way. It has become much thicker and a wide road now runs along its top, fig. 55. The question is, when was it built in this form? Is it not in the 20th century? By the way, the road leading along the top of the modern Chinese Wall looks like it was made for tourists to walk, and not for warriors to run under a hail of arrows. It's a wide road that opens up beautiful views to the neighborhood. Figure 56 is a photograph of the China Wall believed to have been taken in 1907. But, perhaps, this photo was taken much later or heavily retouched. It is possible that a significant contribution to the construction of the "ancient" Chinese Wall was made in the 20th century, already under Mao Tse Dun, when it was necessary to create an outstanding symbol of the greatness of the "ancient" China. The wall was completed, expanded, in some places they rebuilt from scratch ... And they said that, they say, it has always been like that.

Rice. 54. The current state of the Great Wall of China. It has already been made quite thick and a wide road runs along its top. Probably - a remake for tourists. Taken from, p. 362.

Rice. 55. Photograph of the Great Wall of China, allegedly taken in 1907 (which, however, is doubtful). Taken from, p. 122.

| |

What else to read

What does "wear a hat on a butch" mean? In domestic places not so remote, all prisoners are divided into four prison castes (they are also called ...

How and how much you can drink coffee from chicory If doctors categorically forbid you to drink coffee, then do not despair! Chicory will be an excellent substitute for your favorite ...

What foods promote serotonin synthesis? We have all heard of the miraculous hormone of happiness. It is found in chocolate and bananas, after which the mood ...

History of the origin of the Chinese wall. Who built the Great Wall of China

What else to read

THE LAST NOTES

Categories