444. The First Emperor of China
The Rest Is History
The Great Wall: More Than Meets the Eye
The Great Wall of China is not just a simple wall but a complex structure made mostly of earth, extending far beyond Beijing. It is described as an 'earth dragon' snaking across the landscape for thousands of miles, not a continuous line but a combination of ravines, precipices, wall stretches, and fortresses. The building of the wall was more about connecting natural obstacles and creating a line of defense. A contemporary poem hauntingly describes the wall as propped up on skeletons, emphasizing the massive scale and human cost of this monumental project.
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