The Great Wall of China

A defensive wall built to the north of the Chinese headquarters. This wall was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1987 (World Cultural Heritage). Its length is about 2,700 km when viewed from the top of the map, but if you include the overlapping parts, it is more than double that (as of 2009, the total length of the existing Ming Dynasty Great Wall is 8,851.8 km).

The Great Wall originated when it was built on the borders of the state of Qi during the Spring and Autumn Period to defend its territory, and other countries during the Warring States Period followed suit. After unifying China (221 B.C.), the First Emperor of Qin built a Great Wall from southern Gansu Province northward, around the north of the great bend of the Yellow River, and extending eastward to the lower reaches of the Liao River in the Northeast, in order to prevent invasions by the Xiongnu. More than half of this wall was made use of the Great Walls of Yan, Zhao, and other states from the Warring States Period. The remains of the eastern part of this Great Wall have been discovered in the Northeast.

During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty (reigned 141-87 BC), the Great Wall was extended from the north of Lanzhou to the west, all the way to Yumen Pass west of Dunhuang, to protect the Hexi Corridor from the Xiongnu. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the location of the Great Wall moved south due to the activities of northern tribes, and in the mid-6th century, the Northern Qi Dynasty built a Great Wall from the northwest of Datong through Juyong Pass to Shanhai Pass, while the Sui Dynasty built a Great Wall on the southern border of Ordos to prepare for the Turks and Khitan. The Great Wall grew to its present size during the Ming Dynasty to prevent Mongol invasions. It roughly followed the lines of the Northern Qi dynasty, with the first half of the 15th century seeing the strengthening of the northern parts of the Great Wall in Hebei and Shanxi, and the construction of an inner wall, making the wall in this area double-layered. In the second half of the century the wall was repaired from southern Ordos through Lanzhou to Jiayuguan, and by the mid-16th century the section from the northwest of Datong to Shanhaiguan was thoroughly renovated and reinforced.

The Great Wall was originally built with rammed earth, with willows and reeds bound together and layered alternately with soil, then tamped down. Sun-dried bricks were also used in parts, but from the Ming dynasty onwards, the area east of Shanxi was covered with baked bricks. This was in part to defend the capital, Beijing, but it also shows how intense the Mongol invasion was in this area. The part of the Great Wall near Badaling, which is now a tourist attraction, is 8.5 metres high, 6.5 metres thick at the base and 5.7 metres thick at the top. A continuous 1.7-metre high convex fence called a "woman's wall" was built on top, with gun loops. In addition, there were dugouts (a type of watchtower) set up at 120-metre intervals to serve as a military base and for surveillance.

At strategic points where the Great Wall intersected with transportation routes, strong fortified barriers were built. These include Shanhai Pass, Gubeikou, Zhangjiakou, Yanmen Pass, Zahu Pass, and Jiayuguan. During the Qing Dynasty, the Great Wall lost its military significance and became merely a political border between the Chinese capital and Mongolia. From a historical perspective, the purpose of building the Great Wall to protect against foreign enemies was hardly achieved, and it can be said that it merely provided an intimidating presence.

[Aoki Tomitaro]

"The Great Wall of China" by Tomitaro Aoki (1975, Kondo Publishing)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国本部の北側に築かれた防御用の城壁。この城壁は1987年に世界遺産の文化遺産として登録されている（世界文化遺産）。その延長は地図の上からは約2700キロメートルであるが、重複している部分を加えるとその倍以上になる（2009年の発表では、現存する明代の長城の総延長は8851.8キロメートル）。

　春秋時代の斉(せい)が領土防衛のため国境に築いたのが長城の起源で、戦国時代の諸国もこれに倣った。秦(しん)の始皇帝は中国統一（前221）後、匈奴(きょうど)の侵入を防ぐため、甘粛(かんしゅく／カンスー)省南部から北へ、黄河(こうが／ホワンホー)大屈曲部の北を巡って東に延び、東北地区の遼河(りょうが／リヤオホー)下流に至る長城を築いたが、なかば以上、戦国時代の燕(えん)、趙(ちょう)などの長城を利用したものであった。この長城の東部の遺址(いし)が東北地区で発見されている。

　前漢の武帝（在位前141～前87）のころ、河西(かせい／ホーシー)回廊を匈奴から守るため、長城を蘭州(らんしゅう／ランチョウ)北方から西に、敦煌(とんこう／トゥンホワン)の西の玉門関まで延長した。南北朝時代には北方民族の活動で長城の位置は南下し、6世紀中ごろ、北斉(ほくせい)は大同の北西から居庸関(きょようかん)を経て山海関に至る長城を築き、隋(ずい)は突厥(とっけつ)、契丹(きったん)に備えてオルドス南辺に長城を築いた。長城が現在の規模になったのは明(みん)代で、モンゴルの侵入を防ぐためであった。ほぼ北斉以来の線に沿ったもので、15世紀の前半には河北(かほく／ホワペイ)、山西(さんせい／シャンシー)の北部の長城が強化され、内長城もつくられてこの付近の長城は二重となり、後半にはオルドス南部から蘭州を経て嘉峪関(かよくかん)までの長城が修築され、16世紀中ごろには大同北西から山海関までが堅固に改修された。

　長城の構造は、古くは版築で、楊柳(ようりゅう)（ヤナギ）やアシなどを束ねて土と交互に重ね、突き固めてある。日干しれんがも一部に用いられていたが、山西方面より東方は明代以後、焼いたれんがで被覆されるようになった。首都北京(ペキン)防衛のためもあるが、モンゴルの侵攻がこの方面で激しかったことを示している。現在観光の対象となっている八達嶺(はったつれい／パーターリン)付近の長城は、高さ8.5メートル、厚さは底部6.5メートル、頂部5.7メートル。頂部上には高さ1.7メートルの連続した凸字状の垣である女牆(じょしょう)を築き、銃眼が開く。また120メートル間隔で墩台(とんだい)（一種の見張り所）が設けられ、軍の駐留と監視に役だてた。

　長城が交通路と交差する要地には堅固な城壁で囲んだ関城が設けられていた。山海関、古北口、張家口、雁門関(がんもんかん)、殺虎口(さっここう)、嘉峪関などがそれである。清(しん)代に入ると長城は軍事的意味を失い、中国本部とモンゴルとの間の政治的境界にすぎなくなった。なお歴史的事実のうえからみると、外敵防御という長城構築の目的はほとんど達成されておらず、単に威圧感を与えた程度といってよかった。

［青木富太郎］

『青木富太郎著『万里の長城』（1975・近藤出版社）』

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