Ancient Civilisations - The Great Wall of China

Episode Date: March 28, 2025

The Great Wall of China is one of the architectural wonders of the world. Stretching for over 21,000km - as far as London to New York and back, twice - it follows what used to be the border between China and Mongolia. Built over a period of 2,000 years by millions of conscripted workers, it’s been the subject of myths and legends for centuries. But who really built the Great Wall, and how? Is it true that those who died at the Wall were buried within it? What purpose did it serve? And can this incredible structure really be seen from space? A Noiser production, written by Fiona Veitch-Smith. With thanks to William Lindesay, a geographer, explorer, conservationist, and leading expert on the Great Wall of China. For ad-free listening, exclusive content, and early access to new episodes across the Noiser network, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's 210 BC. The Yin Mountains in northern China, with the Gobi Desert to the north and the agricultural lands of Hubei Province to the south, are a buzz with activity. Guarded by the Emperor's soldiers, tens of thousands of conscripted men, civilians and convicts, a hacking granite slabs from a cliff face. The work is hard and the conditions poor. A young man in his early 20s recently married, hails from a village on the outskirts of Beijing.

He was once a scholar, but right now he's taking a break from exhausting manual labor. Sitting in the shade of a shallow cave, he eats his meager ration of wheat cake. It's tasteless and dry, sticking to his palate. But he eats it anyway, knowing it's all it'll get for the next eight hours. Swallowing a mouthful of water, he tries to take his mind off his unsated hunger by focusing on his surroundings. There are carved pictures on the walls, ancient drawings that speak to him of an existence

beyond the labor he is forced to perform up here. He stands, tracing his fingertips across the designs on the cool rock, carvings of men on horseback, hunting antelope, wild ox, and boar. It's these people that the great wall he's building is meant to keep out. They are wild men. frightening men. And with their agility as riders and skill with bow and arrow, they have been a blight on the people of the South for generations. Though the young man understands why the wall must be built, he resents that he is being forced to build it. Gripping his pick, he heads

back to work. He bows to the guard and shift supervisor who sit nearby, knowing how important it is to be polite and respectful. If he's not, these men could easily make his life much harder than it already is. At the rock face, he taps another man on the shoulder and tells him he's there to relieve him. This man, who is new here, drops his own pick and wipes his sweating hands on the sackcloth of his tunic, complaining of blisters.

The former scholar glances at his own hands. They once held books and parchment, but are now rough and calloused. He wonders when he'll be free to read and write again. But there's no time here to start. stand around thinking. He steps back, swings his pick, and strikes the rock. Suddenly, the rhythm of iron on granite is interrupted by a blast from a ram's horn. The laborers turn to see their bosses jumping up and hurriedly straightening their tunics and armor. The soldier barks at them

that the general and the emperor's son are coming. They've come all the way from Beijing to see how the wall building is progressing. The young man leans on his pick. watching for the approach of the delegation on the stony road. Before long, he hears horses' hooves and wooden chariot wheels. And then, over the horizon, comes a huge procession. Red silk banners and standards come first, bearing the heraldry of the Emperor Chin. After that, row upon row of cavalry. They carry spears aloft, their flags of allegiance flapping in the wind.

Soon, three chariots carrying dignitaries rumble by. The labourers do not know which one holds the son of the emperor, so they bow to all three. As the former scholar raises his head, the cavalcade has moved on. No one has stopped to speak to them. He grasps his pick, turns to the rock face, and strikes it over and over again. The Great Wall of China is one of the architectural wonders of the world. All they referred to in the singular, it is really a collection of 17 different walls, some overlapping, some built on the ruins of previous fortifications. All in all, it stretches for over 21,000 kilometers, as far as London to New York and back, twice.

Rising over mountains, skirting rivers and deserts, it follows what used to be the border between China and Mongolia. In the shadows of the Great Wall, wars have been fought, treaties signed, and the fortunes of China as a global trading nation forged. Built over a period of 2,000 years, by millions of conscripted workers, the Great Wall has given rise to many stories, myths and legends. But who built it and how? Is it true that workers who died at the wall were buried within it? What purpose did it serve? and can this incredible structure really be seen from space? I'm John Hopkins from the Noiser Network.

This is a short history of the Great Wall of China. Long before China becomes known by that name, its ancient inhabitants build walls around their farms and villages for protection. Around 656 BC, the Kingdom of Chu, in the central eastern region of the country, along the Yangtze River, builds a number of square forts along the city. northern border and connects them with ramparts. This is the first long wall, extending for around 250 kilometers. The 5th century BC, what historians call the warring states period, sees rival

dynasties competing for dominance. Larger kingdoms swallow up weaker ones, until 200 years later, only seven states remain. Three of the biggest kingdoms, those of Chin, Chow and Yan, build their own long defensive walls, some following the Yellow River and the Gobi Desert in the northeast and north of the Beijing region. Though they delineate territory, these walls are also constructed to deter nomadic tribes in the north,

because the Hun, who hail from the area now known as Mongolia, have a habit of invading. William Lindsay is a geographer, explorer, conservationist, and a leading expert on the Great Wall of China. The Chinese bore the brunt of these attacks several centuries BC. In 300 BC, a king in the north of China, King Wu Ling of the Zhao state, his land had suffered from cavalry attacks.

And he must have scratched his head and thought, well, how can I deal with these devastating attacks? And his first reaction was to train his own army to be cavalrymen. But he discovered that his cavalryman couldn't match the archery and horsemanship skills of their nomadic adversaries. So I think we can say that King Wu Ling decided to do what the Chinese were good at and avoid what they were not good at. So the Chinese were good at being organized in large groups to build things.

King Wu Ling took the circular enclosing structure, typically around villages and towns, and changed its shape into a linear one and changed its length to being extraordinarily long. And hence the term long war, Changchung, came into being. King Wu Ling's walls are made from whatever can be found nearby. In some parts, this is little more than compacted earth and bricks made from mud and mixed with straw and rice. But cut stone is also used.

The structure of the long wall built by King Wu Ling of the Jiao state is actually very variable according to the terrain it crossed. Generally speaking, the wall builders used locally available materials. and the wall of King Wu Ling passed for a good stretch of its length through the Yin mountains, just north of the Yellow River. And in that area, they used stone. And you can see from the wall today that this rock is not field stone. It's not stone that's gathered from gullies or watercourses. You can see it's been cut, freed from bedrock. And this is another important factor to consider at the time

that iron tools, good tools that were sharp and strong capable of cutting stone were available and it appears from the archaeological evidence they were readily used for constructing that wall. In 230 BC, the king of the church, Qin sets about conquering the surrounding rival kingdoms. It takes nine years, but once the last of the states is defeated, the entire country is controlled by the Chin dynasty and will henceforth be known as China. With the previously warring kingdoms united, the emperor introduces reforms, such as

a single currency and centralized administration. But Emperor Chin is notoriously sensitive to criticism too. Many books written before he took power are ordered to be burnt to prevent subjects from comparing his reign with the past. Four hundred and sixty Confucian scholars are buried alive for owning the forbidden books. He then turns his attention to commissioning an army of 8,000 life-size terracotta warriors to guard his tomb when he dies. But the clay soldiers cannot defend the real kingdom of Chin.

China still faces threats from the nomadic tribes in the north, who are in search of grazing lands south of the arid Gobi Desert. So Emperor Chin revives interest in building China's great walls. In 214 BC, he sends a general to defend the northern borders and orders the existing Chow, Yan and Chin walls to be linked together to form one long barrier. It takes nine years to build new defenses to connect the existing wall. walls. It is not known exactly how many men are forced to work on the construction, but estimates vary between 300,000 and 1 million. The workers are drawn from the ranks of the military, convicts, and

conscripted men from the civilian population. Confucian scholars, lucky enough not to be executed in the Emperor's Purge, are exiled to the wall instead. And yet, more men are still needed. soldiers are sent to farms and villages across the kingdom, and each family must give one man to serve at the wall. The families are told their loved ones will return before the winter, but many of them do not. Up at the frontier, after two to three days marching on foot, the conditions are harsh. Workers under armed guard sleep in tents or casual shelters. There is little protection from the sun and rain, and when the weather turns cold, plenty of those who thought they were only there for the summer,

freeze without their warm winter clothes. Rations are scarce. Conscripts bake wheat cakes and cook what little rice there is over open fires, but food their descent from the south goes to the soldiers before the other workers. Many thousands die before the chin wall, which stretches for 3,000 kilometers, is completed. A legend emerges in this period of an ordinary man. who is forced to build the wall and of his wife who searches for him.

Well, the legend of Meng Jiangyu gives us the best insight to the source of the labor force of 300,000. It tells us that the ordinary people, families throughout the empire were obliged to put forward one male to be conscripted in the workforce. And the legend goes on to relate the heartbreaking consequence of this in the families that were left behind according to the legend. Everywhere I've been, every province I've been along the Great Wall, talking to fathers, having lunch with them, staying the night with them, chatting with them. More often than not, the question will come up.

Do you know the legend of Meng Jiang Niu? And actually, even though I know the legend, I always say, I know a version of the legend, but could you tell me the one you've heard? There are no historical records to link the story of Meng Jiangnu to a real person, but historians consider it representative of the experiences of conscripted laborers and their families. There are many versions of the legend, retold through the ages, but still appear in Chinese culture today. In one version of it, Meng Zhang Niu, or Lady Mung, is around 18 when she marries a young man from her village called Wan Chiling, who is in some versions of the story a scholar.

A few days after their marriage, when the military arrive in the village to conscript one male worker from every family, her new husband is chosen. The remaining villages are told the men will return before winter. But Lady Mung's husband does not return. As the days grow colder, with snow beginning to fall, she becomes worried because her husband left without his winter coat. So she takes the coat and makes the journey north to look for him. When she gets to the frontier, she comes to the wall and walks along it, asking for news of her spouse.

Eventually, she finds a watchtower. The soldiers there inform her that her husband perished at the start of winter. When she asks to see his body, she's told that it has already been done. buried inside the wall, to save it being scavenged by vultures. Grief-stricken, Lady Meng wails so loudly that the wall itself collapses. As the stones fall, the bones of her dear husband are revealed, along with the skulls of other men who have died. Then the skulls cry out, asking Lady Mung to tell their wives of their demise. Some versions of the story end with Lady Mung taking the bones back home, with the village

along the route coming out to mourn their own lost husbands. One retelling depicts Lady Mung taking the bones to Beijing, where she confronts the emperor and demands he build a monument to her dead husband and the others who lost their lives. In this version, the king is outraged and orders the widow's execution, but on seeing her beauty, he changes his mind and adds her to his harem. The story ends with Lady Mung escaping the harem and drowning herself in a lake. so she can join her husband in heaven.

And actually from this legend, it's believed that the term Great War became actually a synonym for a place of no return. It really is enduring. If you go online in China today on TikTok, you'll even be able to see, you know, operatic versions, cartoon versions,

animated versions, all kinds of versions of this story. And I think it just resonates even with the people today. It is from this legend that the myth of bodies being buried in the wall emerges. However, to date, no human remains have been found within the wall itself in any archaeological digs. Forensic experts also cast doubt on the story, as if corpses decomposed inside the structure, they would have left cavities that would have weakened it. It seems instead that labourers who perils who perils,

are buried alongside the war, or later when settlements grow up nearby in ordinary graveyards. The Chin Dynasty is one of the most influential in Chinese history, yet it lasts only 15 years. Emperor Chin dies in 220 BC and is buried along with his terracotta warriors. After his death, an uprising leads to a new dynasty seizing power, the Han. Meanwhile, the northern nomadic tribes, who are known at the city, this time as the Shon Yu continue their attacks. To secure lasting peace, Han rulers are forced to offer a princess to each Shon Yu leader as a bride and send other gifts of appeasement. In 141 BC, a new emperor takes control determined to end this humiliation. Emperor Woody sends his generals to force out the

Shonyu. He expands his empire to the north and west and rebuilds and extends the Chin Wall to protect the newly conquered territory. When construction ends, the collective Han wall stretches for more than 10,000 kilometers, from today's North Korea in the east, all the way to the present-day region of Xinjiang in the west, bordering Afghanistan. Over the next three and a half centuries, the Han conquest of new lands and the walls built to protect the expanded empire, make it possible to travel westwards beyond China, opening up the trading route, which becomes not. known as the Silk Road. The Silk Road concentrated the premier goods of China moving along a route that was unprotected.

So Han Wodei realized that the taxation of these merchants was important. What came into China was as important as what left China. And the only way to ensure the development and the security of this two-way trade was to build an extension to the Chin Wall. So actually, the Han War extension is unique in that it was built primarily to protect commerce on the Silk Road. The Silk Road, or the Silk Route, as it is alternatively called, derives its name from the export of Silk Westwoods through Central Asia, the Middle East and beyond, to North Africa and Europe. The recipe for silk, made from fibers produced by silkworm caterpillars that feed on mulberry leaves, is a closely guarded secret in China. Sharing the recipe, or indeed exporting silkworms, moths, or pupae is punishable by death.

However, when travelers beyond the borders of China report back that there is a lucrative market for the exotic fabric, particularly in the Roman Empire, successive Chinese rulers realize that there is money to be made on import and export taxes. From the Han dynasty onwards, exporting the ready-made silk cloth is encouraged, although divulging the recipe is still prohibited. But despite the best efforts of the Chinese authorities, the secret of silk eventually slips out. Silkworm pupae are smuggled first to India and then to Persia. By the 6th century AD, The precious fabric reaches Europe. But silk production is more advanced in China.

The ready-made fabric, along with other luxury Chinese goods, such as jade, tea, dyes, perfumes, and porcelain, are highly sought after in places as far afield as Egypt, Greece, and Rome. In return, China imports horses, camels, honey, wine, and gold. But it isn't just goods that are exchanged along the route. ideas, philosophies and religion move back and forth along the Silk Road. Buddhism reaches China from India in the third century, while Greek philosophy comes from the West. It is thanks to the Silk Road that paper finds its way to Europe, and the Chinese invention of gunpowder will eventually revolutionize warfare. As Chinese merchants grow rich selling luxury goods, the Great Wall is newly fortified at key points in the West to protect.

and control trade in and out of China, and of course to provide tax for the emperor. It's 200 AD in Gansu Province, northwest China. Pink peach blossom carpets the ground outside a rich man's house. The courtyard is busy with servants packing three carts as the hitched horses stamp and snort. The two-story house, with its double-tiered roof, curving up at the edges, is one of the finest homes in the city of Dunhuang. Its walls are of painted ceramic tiles and wood panels, while polished pillars stand either side of the front door.

Now through the door steps the owner of the house. He is a merchant of middle years, flaunting his prosperity in robes of silk and a beard oiled with the most expensive perfume. Surveying the servant's work, he checks that the bales of silk, boxes of tea and jars of spice are sensibly and securely packed. He reprimands two young men who slip on the cobbles as they heave a chest onto the frontmost cart.

Inside the box is jade, which the merchant hopes to sell for quite a price when he gets it to a buy. With the carts packed, it is time to leave. Alongside his two sons-in-law and half a dozen servants, the merchant is embarking upon yet another journey to lands along the Great Wall. Trips like these, over the past 20 years, have made the merchant and his family one of the wealthiest in the region. The merchant's wife, daughters and grandchildren in their finest attire line up to say goodbye. The women bow and the children shout, chasing the caravan as it begins its journey. Three days later, after traveling 80 kilometers northwards along a desert road, the merchant arrives at the U-Men pass. He sighs in satisfaction as the great wall comes into the world.

sight, with the Shul River flowing lazily beyond it. He admires the high walls that extend east and west for as far as the eye can see, with watchtowers situated every few kilometers. The towers make the merchant feel safe, and he is thankful for the Emperor's soldiers who guard the frontier and the Silk Road. He remembers stories of a time before the wall, when brigands and barbarians plagued these lands. But now men like him can travel safely. But it does come at a price. Up ahead is a square fortress, the Fangpan Castle which guards the pass. The gateway itself is eight metres high and wider at the bottom than the top. It has become known as the Jade Gate, after the traders of the precious stone who pass so frequently through it. Despite the name,

like the castle and walls on either side, the gate is made not of jade, but of wood and sandstone, the same colour as the desert. A village has grown up. around the castle near a small oasis, which houses the families of the soldiers and customs officials. As the merchant and his caravan passed through the settlement, a blacksmith hammers a sword on an anvil, and two women take turns bashing millet in a large stone pestle. The caravan nears the castle, with its guards in stiff leather armour standing smartly to attention. Rolling to a stop, the group is approached by a customs official. The merchant gets down from his.

his seat to bow to him. Then, after showing the official his goods, he accompanies him to a tea house near the gate. Inside, they take their seats around a circular table, where tea is served with an elaborate ritual. The terms of custom are discussed, and an hour later, with the tea ceremony complete and the fees paid, the satisfied merchant returns to the cart and climbs up. He settles back under the chest of Jade and leads his caravan through the gate in the Great War. Watching them go, the customs official bows, the bag of silver, tucked into his tunic. Eventually, in 220 AD, the Han Dynasty falls. Three different warlords claim power, and travel along the Silk Road is no longer as safe as it used to be. China descends into civil

war, an era known as the period of disunion. Existing walls. deteriorate until the fifth century when several rival kingdoms build new sections to protect themselves from invasion. The fighting eventually comes to an end in 581, and China is reunited once again. A little later, the ruthless Emperor Jung forces a million laborers to renovate the wall, and many don't survive. But under the long rule of the next dynasty, the powerful Tung, who rule for almost three centuries from 618 AD, Chinese culture blossoms. The Tongue once again build alliances with the northern nomads bringing peace. Trade along the Silk Road reaches its peak during this period and draws prosperity to all of China. However, during this golden age, the Great Wall lies mostly abandoned.

The weakened northern defenses and the neglected wall prove fatal during the subsequent Jin Empire, when the nomadic Mongol tribes, brilliantly united under Genghis Khan, overrun the southern lands. By 1279, the Mongol conquest is complete. All of China now lies in the hands of Genghis Khan and his descendants, who rule as the Yuan dynasty. The Yuan occupied China for a century, until the Ming rise against them, led by the man who becomes known as the humble emperor. Big wall building re-emerged once the native Han Chinese people ousted their Mongol oppressors. And this occurred in the mid-1300s. And the founder of the Ming Dynasty obviously studied history.

And from memory, personal memory, he knew the pains that he and the Chinese people had suffered under Mongol occupation. and he didn't want this to happen again. And so he authorized the construction of border defenses in the north of his territory. Determined to prevent further invasion, the Ming begin the most ambitious Great Wall Construction Project ever seen. The techniques and materials are far more advanced than anything that has gone before. Stone is cut to an architect's specification and lime mortar is used for the first time, making the wall more durable. To better protect the capital Beijing, they build a strong new wall of

stone and brick and reinforce it with new battlements, large watchtowers and military fortresses. In places, the wall reaches eight meters in height and is wide enough for five horses to ride side by side on top during military maneuvers. At nearly 9,000 kilometers, the Ming wall is the longest single structure ever built, and many of its remains are still preserved today. Construction on this scale, though, is incredibly expensive. To pay for it, the Ming raise huge taxes. But in time, facing hardship and famine, the people rebel. As the Ming dynasty falls apart, another powerful group from the northeast,

the Manchus, take advantage of the chaos. The Ming Dynasty Great Wall was primarily constructed to prevent of Mongol re-invasion of China. But as the centuries rolled on from 1368, it so happened that another nomadic grouping in the northeast, the Manchus, rose to be the greatest threat. And by the early 1600s, they had been troubling the northeastern frontier on a regular basis.

But unfortunately, for the Ming, at the same time, there had been chaos in the interior. of China that's been a peasant rebellion in the heartland of China. The leader of the peasant revolution led his rebel army into Beijing, and they forced the then Ming Emperor to feel so disillusioned that he committed suicide. With the Ming Emperor dead by his own hand, the country is in disarray. The leader of the rebels, a former. a shepherd boy named Li Zishung has named himself emperor in Beijing. His peasant army, the

Shun, is determined to defeat what remains of those loyal to the Ming. But beyond the wall are the Manchu, led by General Dorgan, who has united the northern tribes into a disciplined fighting force. In a fortress at the easternmost end of the wall, with enemies amassing to the north and the south, the Ming general Wu has an impossible choice to make. It's 1644, and General Wu is stalking the ramparts of the old Dragon's Head Fortress. Marking the eastern extreme of the Great Wall, it straddles the River Shee, then juts into the sea of the Bohai Gulf. Waves crash against the mighty walls, inside which many civilians are seeking refuge. General Wu has already led his army out of the fortress to meet Li Xi Sheng's

rebel peasant army, but after sustaining losses, they've now retreated back inside. The Ming army holed up in the old dragon's head is completely alone and must now make its last stand. Descending from the ramparts, General Wu walks through the garrison town, nestled within the fortress. Wounded soldiers being treated in the infirmary cry out in pain. Recognizing him as he goes, civilians call out to ask if they are to be saved. Wu reassures them that the great fortress can protect the men, women and children. children inside its walls for many months.

There are livestock pens and barns of grain, vegetable gardens and stores of dried fish. But their supplies won't last forever. He reaches the water wheel, which uses the power of the river that runs through the fortress to turn the giant millstones of the garrison bakery. If the attacking army to the north manages to dam the river, they will soon run out of fresh water and eventually food. Help has been offered from an unexpected source. As the sun sets over the Bohai Gulf and the sea swells at the turn of the tide,

General Wu makes his way with a few trusted officers back up onto the ramparts. From the Shanghai Gate, you can see the great wall snaking its way along the northern frontier of the kingdom, keeping their foreign enemies at bay. Right now, though, the enemy within is just as dangerous. The Shun camp to the south is settling down for the night. From his elevated position, Wu can see dots of light amid their camp. But in the gathering dark to the north, there are thousands upon thousands of Manchu cavalry, led by General Dorgon.

They carry white flags emblazoned with a blue dragon, and each soldier wears a helmet decorated with red feathers, long black hair platted down their backs. This army is not getting ready to sleep. They are waiting for Wu to make his decision. Up until now, the Great War and the fortresses that guard it have proved impenetrable. But between the peasant army to the south and the Manchu to the north, Wu will not survive for long. So Dogon has offered an alliance.

Let us through and we will help defeat the peasant army. Then together we will march on Beijing. Dogon plans to install a new Manchu dynasty in China. If Wu refuses, the fortress will be besieged until the people inside starve to death. Both Wu and Dogan know there will be no reinforcements for the remnants of the Ming army. But if they join forces with the Manchu, the mutually hated Shun will be destroyed. General Wu now stands at the gate of the Shanghai Pass with the future of China in his hands. The gate, six meters high, four meters wide and half a meter thick, is reinforced with iron studs and girders.

Four soldiers are on standby to operate the giant's drawbar. Above the ranked cavalry, the chink of bridles and the stomping of Manchu horses' hooves, Wu weighs his options. Wondering if history will remember him as a savior or a traitor. His most trusted officers offer him their final words of advice, but in the end, it is his decision. With a voice of authority, he orders the gate to be opened. The giant drawbar groans in its groove. The Manchu army floods through the gate at the Shanghai Pass

and joins the Ming forces inside the fortress. Together they emerge and drive the besieging peasant army all the way back to Beijing. General Dorgon installs his six-year-old nephew as emperor in the Forbidden City and founds the new Qing Dynasty to rule the combined territories of China and Mongolia. General Wu is made governor of one of China's provinces. His army is free to return to their homes or to sign up for the new Qing army. From 1644, the Qing Dynasty control a much larger empire than the Ming ever did,

and China's border shifts far to the north of the Great War. Between the peaceful alliances with the nomadic people and confidence in their domestic power and strategic foreign policy, the new rulers don't see much point in renovating the wall. The defences are abandoned and the wall falls into disrepair. And really, that was the end of the Great Wall story because, first of all, the Manchus were superb nomadic enemy. Secondly, they understood the politics, the sensitivities,

the desires, the troubles of other nomadic people, and they were able to pacify them and incorporate them into their empire, so much so that the great Qing empire grew to be one of the largest in Chinese history. The Qing dynasty at its height rules over a territory of just under 15 million square kilometres, encompassing the whole of what is today the country of Mongolia, and most of present-day China. The Northern Territory, which for the previous 2,000 years, has been the source of so much trouble,

is now comfortably within the fold. Meanwhile, world affairs have also taken a different turn. The European powers in the 17th century are sending their ships far and wide, seeking new trade partners by treaty or by conquest. Their main enemy came over the sea. missionaries from Europe, Jesuits, had been arriving in China in the early 1500s. Merchants came next wanting to monopolize trade with the great Qing Empire.

The Qing Empire was very reluctant to do trade with these minor kingdoms on the other side of the world. And so most of the Qing defense spending went on coastal installations and their navy. that was their new frontier. Two thousand years of building and construction are at an end, and China's defences now focus elsewhere. So what happens to the Great Wall after the glory days of the Ming? The Ming Dynasty Great War was abandoned by the Qing Dynasty.

So from the mid-1600s, it was not manned by any soldiers, and it was claimed by nature. The towers were shaken by earthquakes, seeds on the wind took root on the pavement of the wall, and it became wild. And then, of course, locals living close to the wall, they regarded it as their resource. They took bricks from it,

where it was accessible, while the remoter parts of the Great Wall stood unscathed, apart from being claimed by nature. The Qing dynasty rules China for over two and a half centuries, but it becomes increasingly difficult to fend off European influence. By the early 20th century, the British are firmly entrenched in China, and European visitors are becoming intrigued by the structure. In 1907, a French newspaper sponsors an automobile race

from Peking to Paris that runs alongside the Great War. Photographs appearing in the Western press entice yet more tourists, and the wall becomes a must-see stop on organized tours. Renowned travel agency Thomas Cook include a trip to the wall in their 1910 guidebook. But though it's becoming known internationally by sightseers, the wall is still to play one more part in the history of Chinese warfare. In 1912, the Qing Dynasty Falls, and China declares itself a republic. under the Nationalist Party. However, its hold on power is tenuous, and the next decade sees the country overrun by warlords and attempts to reinstate the monarchy. In the next decade, the Communist Party begins to rival the Nationalists, and in 1927, the country falls into civil

war. As the Nationalists and Communists battle for domination, the Great Wall is intermittently used as a barricade by both sides during military skirmishes. In the midst of the chaos, Japan invades China's northeastern region of Manchuria in 1931. This area, named after the Manchu invasion of 1644, includes the old Dragon's Head Fortress at the easternmost end of the Great Wall. The Japanese now occupy the fortress once controlled by General Wu, and in early 1931, they repel the Chinese attempts to regain it. During what becomes known as the defense of the Great Wall, both Chinese,

Chinese and Japanese forces hold different sections, with soldiers patrolling the top of it, and machine guns stationed in watchtowers. With Manchuria lost to the Japanese, civil war reignites between the nationalists and the communists and continues through the Second World War. Japan is eventually defeated and withdraws from China and its wall in 1945, and the communists finally win the civil war. With peace, finally settling on China, the second half of the war, the 20th century sees the wall become a symbol of Chinese pride. It even plays a part in the space race.

For well over a century, a legend has endured that the Great Wall is the only man-made structure that can be seen from the moon. The claim originated in a letter written by British and Aquarian William Stukely, known for his archaeological work at Stonehenge in the mid-1700s. Though it was no more than a theory, it became repeated and entrenched, until, you know, In 1969, humans land on the moon, and there is finally an opportunity to confirm it. But sadly, the claim proves not to be true. None of the Apollo 11 astronauts report that the wall is visible from the moon. But later astronauts claim that when the air is clear and in rare and favorable conditions,

the Ming section of the wall can be glimpsed from the very edge of the Earth's atmosphere. The Chinese government starts to preserve and restore the Great Wall and encourages tourism. In 1987, it is made a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and now around 4 million tourists visit it every year. Yet the wall is under threat. Over the centuries, people have plundered its materials for their own buildings, and natural forces have also taken their toll. are now in place to prevent people damaging the wall.

And modern technology, including digital scans and 3D printing, is used to help conserve and restore it. Every foreigner coming to China has the Great Wall at the top of their must-see places. Oddly, the Great Wall has transitioned over the centuries from becoming a zone of warfare to a place where French, are garnered. Every state leader on their first visit to China is taken to the Great Wall. People living in China soon realize that the Great Wall isn't a place, it's thousands of places. It's thousands of places. It becomes almost a pastime to go to different sections of the wall

in the mountains and in the distant provinces. Today, there is an international interest in preserving, restoring, and unearthing its stories, led by the Chinese themselves. But it is also a focus of scientific interest. Archaeologists and environmentalists have discovered sections of the wall are preserved by a bio-crust of cyanobacteria, lichen and moss, which slow down erosion. This discovery may now be applied to sites of archaeological importance elsewhere in the world.

Scientists are also studying the environmental conditions at points along the Great Wall, revealing a wealth of information about the history of its ecology and climate. I'm very optimistic about the future of the Great Wall. After the survey of the Ming Wall and the survey of the pre-Ming walls, we know where the walls are. Every province has now published detailed reports on the relics visible on the surface in their areas. This is a great milestone.

And in every area, there's archaeological work going on to sift through the rubble of the Great Wall's ruins and the great human story of the Great Wall's construction is emerging clearer and clearer. The Great Wall of China is known throughout the world for its sheer scale and the extraordinary effort taken to create it, and it will continue to inspire generations to come, as a relic of centuries of conflict,

as a pathway that connects east to west, and as a monumental symbol of human achievement. As the US President Barack Obama said on his visit to the wall in 2009, it reminds you of the sweep of history and that our time here on earth is not that long, so we better make the best of it. I really think more than palaces and temples, The Great Wall is the people's monument.

It was created by the sacrifices, the lifelong labours, of generations of people throughout Chinese history, from several centuries BC until the 1600s. And there's no other construction that has that pedigree. So I think this resonates with the ordinary people of China today. Next time we'll bring you Alexander the Great. The nearest analogy I can think of is Game of Thrones. It was a place where murder, assassination, rivalries, plots were constant.

And it was very dangerous to live in because the king of Macedonia for generations more likely was going to die by a sword than die of old age in his bed. That's next time.