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Secrets of the Ming Wall
 The greatest of all the wall builders were the Ming, whose astounding accomplishments dwarfed what had been done earlier by the Qin and the Han. The Ming not only built a bigger, more solid and imposing one, but also added advanced fortification structures to the Wall. The great progress made by the Ming meant that the wall was built with a tamped-earth interior between kiln-fired bricks and stone slabs forming the outer layers. The popularly toured Badaling section in Beijing is of this type. The workers mixed lime and sticky rice as a mortar between the bricks. This form of cement made the wall solid. The Ming Wall is divided by today's Shanxi Province, into the eastern part and the western part. The wall in the east winds its way along the ridges of mountains and here the wall has a facing of brick and stone while the section to the west of Shanxi, was built from tamped earth with no covering.
 The construction of the military fortifications on the Wall reached its peak. More passes and reinforcements were added. Double walls were built in some military zones with strongholds and passes. For example, Juyongguan Pass, Jinziguan Pass and Daomaguan Pass are three passes built on the double walls north of Beijing. Watchtowers of various shapes and sizes served as beacons, fortresses, shelters or simply as a signal station along the wall. For example, the shelter towers were built with large interiors to store food, arms and served as the living quarters for soldiers. A staircase from the interior led up to the top of the tower. On each side of the wall were small holes for lookouts. The structure of a signal station was either round or square shaped and solid in the centre. The overall defences were enhanced with a variety of features that included the use of artillery. To this day rusting iron canons can be seen at various locations along the wall.
 The Ming Dynasty was an era of enthusiastic construction. The emperors of this dynasty were advised to build high walls and to make every effort to resist the nomadic invaders along the nation's borders. Reconstruction of the Great Wall was put in hand and became a project on a gigantic scale. It was not only restored using the structure erected during Qin Dynasty as a basis but it was strengthened, improved and extended using advanced civil engineering and military architectural techniques. As a result of these efforts the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty, faced with bricks, covered some 7,300 kilometres, stretching from the Yalu River on the east to Jiayu Pass on the west becoming an impregnable barrier. In fact, it was during the Ming Dynasty that this great defensive project that had lasted over 1000 years was to reach final completion.
Why was the reconstruction of the Great Wall so important to the Ming Dynasty?
After the overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty established by the Mongolian nomadic tribes and the founding of the Ming Dynasty in 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor was greatly bothered by the constant harassment from the Mongolian nobles who were not resigned to defeat and who made incursions into Ming territory in the vain hope of restoring their rule. Zhu Yuanzhang, an emperor who had a humble background and first hand experience of the peasant uprising understood the importance of protective walls around a city. He also had the foresight to see that the Great Wall was not only a defence of the nation's border but was also a statement of its power and might. Hence, he gave the order to build city walls and for the reconstruction of the Great Wall.
The Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty was a vital part of the defence system. Unlike that in previous dynasties, it had many more passes such as Juyong Guan Pass, Shanhai Guan Pass, and Yanmen Guan Pass, etc. The addition of further beacon towers made the wall more imposing, more magnificent, and more effective.
To ensure the efficient control of the defences along the northern frontiers, the Ming authorities divided the entire Great Wall environs into nine zones and placed each under the control of a zhen (garrison headquarters) Two further garrison headquarters were added later. Thus the defence system ultimately consisted of eleven garrisons in nine zones.
For over 200 years during the Ming Dynasty this project was never neglected or weakened and its importance and grandeur were without equal during any preceding period. |
