When Was The Great Wall Of China Built ?
Although many people think that the Great Wall of China is one continuous structure, it is not so. The wall is, in fact, a number of interconnecting walls that runs across China and covers a distance of 4,000 miles or 6,700 kilometers.
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Different dynasties and warlords contributed to the construction of the wall, and the Great Wall of China what we see today was constructed after 1368 during the Ming Dynasty. However, many sections of the wall were built more than 2,000 years ago.
The construction of the Great Wall of China started in 656 BC in Chu state. It was then called the Rectangle Wall. This wall was built to protect the Chus from their neighbors, who were located in the north. In the present day, this part of the wall is located in Henan province. The wall was instrumental in connecting many small cities along the border of the Chu state. And just like the Chu state, other states also started building a wall to protect themselves from intruders. This practice continued right until 221 BC.
It was during the Qin Dynasty that the Great Wall of China actually started looking like what it does today. It was Qin Shi Huang who unified China into one feudal state and to protect this state be decided to build a barricade. He sent one million soldiers and laborers to start building the barricade and they used the wall that was still remaining from the extinct Chu state. The project took 9 years and covered northern China. The start of the wall was from modern-day Inner Mongolia.
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