CHINA

Shobhit SinghSahil YadavAtharva S. K.Amit DograShaurya SethiRaghav SabraAryan SinghPushkar TanwarRitesh MalikAnkit Thakur

GROUP-2CLASS:- IX-C

CHINA

The Great

Wall of China

IntroductionStanding tall, mighty, and unmoved over millennia, the 4,000 miles (6,500 km) long Great Wall of China is an architectural wonder of epic significance. Snaking along through hills, plains, deserts, and swamps, with an average height of 25 feet and housing 25,000 watch towers (beacons) along the course, this robust man-made barricade requires more than just applause to truly appreciate the engineering and architectural feat that it is. The Great Wall of China, made up of stone and earthen fortifications was built and rebuilt over several generations. The construction was started from scratch by the Qing Dynasty in 5th century BC. Several chains of walls were unified over the centuries as the different warring states came together under a unified empire. However, most of what we see today was built by the Ming Dynasty and continued till the 16th century.

DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE

WallsThe wall forms the major portion of the entire built structure. It stands to a height ranging between 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 meters). The width at the base stretches to 21 feet (6.5 meters) and tapers to 19 feet (5.8 meters) at the top. At some places, where the terrain is rugged, natural features like river dikes, mountain cliffs, and gorges have been used instead of human construction.

PassesWhere the Great Wall came across major trade routes, secure passes were built. These crossover points are about 30 feet (10 meters) high, with a width of 15 feet (5 meters) at the top. The passes have access ramps and ladders that were used for getting horses, merchants, and soldiers across both sides. The outer parapet has perforated battlements and the inner parapet had a low wall of 3 feet (1 meter) to prevent people and their horses from tippling down.

Signal TowersThese high bastions placed 18 kilometers apart from each other, and usually located on hilltops were used to transmit military information and communication. Smoke signals were used during the daytime and fire/lantern (beacon) was used in the nights. Some other modes employed were hoisting huge banners, making sound with large clappers, or by firing guns. The lower portion of these towers had restrooms for soldiers, storage compartments, and stables for housing horses, sheep, etc.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GREAT

WALL OVER CENTURIES

Built along an arc that roughly demarcates Mongolia from China, the Great Wall is the largest ever built structure in terms of mass and surface area. The Chinese had learned the techniques of building heavy-duty walls during the ‘Warring States Period’ of the 5th century BC. The states of Yan, Qi, and Zhao constructed massive fortifications to protect their borders. These walls were built by stuffing earth and gravel within board frames.

When Qin Shi Huang conquered numerous states and unified China under his empire in 221 BC, he demolished previous walls that separated the states and instead ordered the construction of new walls on the northern front to keep away the Mongols. Given the scale and dimensions of the wall, transportation of such large quantities of raw materials was not feasible. Therefore, local resources were heavily used. Stones were used for construction over mountainous areas where they were plenty, while rammed earth gave shape to the walls in the plains.

In the later period, different dynasties like the Han, Jin, and Sui repaired, renovated, or expanded different sections of the Great Wall to serve as the first line of defense from the northern invaders. In 1449, after the Ming army’s defeat at the hands of the Mongols, a massive reconstruction of the Great Wall was ordered. The Mings constructed stronger walls and reinforced previous sections by using stone and bricks. Use of rammed earth as previously prevalent was restricted to a miniscule.

Material Used in The Great Wall

Sections closer to Beijing, the throne of the Ming dynasty, were especially reinforced to the point of making them impenetrable by any means. The walls were plastered with lime and tiles to add strength. Stones were cut into rectangular blocks and used in areas like the foundation, gateways and brims. Small gaps measuring 30 cmx20 cm were provided in the upper portion of the walls for use during battles.

Built primarily with construction material available nearby the site, we find limestone blocks in use near the Beijing area. In other places, it could be burnt bricks or granite. At many places, the blocks are cemented together with a mix of rice and egg-white. In the western desert areas, as raw materials are quite scarce, rammed earth and wooden planks is used.

The Temple

of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven, is a medieval complex of religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest.

It has been regarded as a Daoist temple, although Chinese heaven worship, especially by the reigning monarch of the day, predates Daoism.

Introduction

DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE

The Temple grounds cover 2.73 km² of parkland and comprises three main groups of constructions, all built according to strict philosophical requirements:

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is a magnificent triple-gabled circular building, 36 meters in diameter and 38 meters tall, built on three levels of marble stone base, where the Emperor prayed for good harvests. The building is completely wooden, with no nails. The original building was burned down by a fire caused by lightning in 1889. The current building was re-built several years after the incident.

The Imperial Vault of Heaven is a single-gabled circular building, built on a single level of marble stone base. It is located south of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and resembles it, but is smaller. It is surrounded by a smooth circular wall, the Echo Wall, that can transmit sounds over large distances. The Imperial Vault is connected to the Hall of Prayer by the Vermilion Steps Bridge, a 360-metre-long (1,180 ft.) raised walkway that slowly ascends from the Vault to the Hall of Prayer.

The Circular Mound Altar is the altar proper, located south of the Imperial Vault of Heaven. It is an empty circular platform on three levels of marble stones, each decorated by lavishly carved dragons. The numbers of various elements of the Altar, including its balusters and steps, are either the sacred number nine or its nonuples. The center of the altar is a round slate called the Heart of Heaven or the Supreme Yang, where the Emperor prayed for favorable weather. Thanks to the design of the altar, the sound of the prayer will be reflected by the guardrail, creating significant resonance, which was supposed to help the prayer communicate with the Heaven. The Altar was built in 1530 by the Jiajing Emperor and rebuilt in 1740.

SYMBOLISM

Earth was represented by a square and Heaven by a circle; several features of the temple complex symbolize the connection of Heaven and Earth, of circle and square. The whole temple complex is surrounded by two cordons of walls; the outer wall has a taller, semi-circular northern end, representing Heaven, and a shorter, rectangular southern end, representing the Earth. Both the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and the Circular Mound Altar are round, each standing on a square yard, again representing Heaven and Earth.

The number nine represents the Emperor and is evident in the design of the Circular Mound Altar: a single round marmor plate is surrounded by a ring of nine plates, then a ring of 18 plates, and so on for a total of nine surrounding rings, the outermost having 9×9 plates.

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests has four inner, twelve middle and twelve outer pillars, representing the four seasons, twelve months and twelve traditional Chinese hours respectively. Combined together, the twelve middle and twelve outer pillars represent the traditional solar term.

All the buildings within the Temple have special dark blue roof tiles, representing the Heaven.

The Seven-Star Stone Group, east of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, represents the seven peaks of Taishan Mountain, a place of Heaven worship in classical China.

There are four main supportive, dragon pillars each representing a season. The structure, held up by these dragons, imitates the style of an ancient Chinese royal palace. Twelve inner pillars symbolize the lunar months, and it is thought that the twelve outer pillars refer to the 12 two-hour periods of the day.