The Great Wall of China

1
The Great Wall of China
2
Construction

• The Great Wall is made mostly out of granite and
  bricks.
• In the Gobi Desert, the workers would create
  pounded earth to continue building the wall.
• Easily destroyed

3
Construction

• The Great Wall was constructed with natural
  materials such as stone and compacted soil.
• The Great Wall took up 3 million cubic meters of
  earth work.

4
Beliefs of the Great Wall

• Used to protect the Chinese. The twist in the
  wall represent the long back of the mighty
  dragon!
• This was believed to be a good omen

5
Purpose of the Great Wall

• Prevent troops from the north invading Chinese
  territory.
• Defend China from attacking Mongols.
• Defense against ferocious nomadic tribes.
• The Great Wall also embodies a great deal of
  protection during a battle.

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Purpose of the Great Wall

• Worked as a safeguard the Silk Road trade.
• Housed troops.

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Parts of the Great Wall

• Watch towers were at regular intervals of 180
  meters on the wall.
• Held weapons, house troops
• Most signal towers were built on hilly areas for
  visibility.

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Parts of the Great Wall

• Beacon towers were spaced at intervals of 15 to
  30 miles along the wall.
• Send messages faster than horse riding.
• Some parts of the wall were connected and made
  tougher for further attacks.

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Construction During the Qin Dynasty

• Constructed the wall with just loose stone.
• Constructed by a wooden rectangular frame filled
  with loose soil.
• Workers stomp on the soil until it was four
  inches thick.

10
History

• An important part to this process was detritus.
• Detritus was used to make the wall more solid and
  sturdy.

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History

• The Han dynasty extended the wall and made it
  more durable.
• Built in the the Gobi Desert.
• Started in 206 B.C.

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Construction During the Han Dynasty

• They used
• Red willows, reeds and twigs.
• Mixed with water and gravel.
• Worked would stomp in the mixture to make it
  dense.
• Repeated over and over.

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History

• The Ming dynasty added the most modifications and
  adjustments.
• Watch holes
• Used both the Qin and the Han dynastys
  construction method.

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Construction During the Ming Dynasty

• Add tampered earth.
• Then add a layer of bricks.
• This method was such a success.
• They could build on steep mountains and inclines
  of up to seventy degrees!

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The Great Wall of China Documentary

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vbLMVZohnCwA