Transcript The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China: One
of the Greatest Wonders of the
World.
• Can you imagine carrying a heavy humongous
stone half the size of Shaq and the weight of 100 to
300 pounds!?
• 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
• To prevent troops from the
north invading Chinese
territory.
• To defend China from
attacking Mongols.
• Built as a defense against
ferocious nomadic tribes.
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
• 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.
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.
How long is the Great Wall
and how long did it take to
build?
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.
Construction Period: About 2,000 years from
the Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC)
to Ming Dynasty (1368-1644
• As you can see, the Great Wall is a great part
of history and yours.
Pictures: Slide Show
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