The Great Wall of China 221 BC-1644 AD (Fortress 057)

67 Pages·2007·9.15 MB·English

by  Stephen Turnbull

The Great Wall of
China 221 BC-AD 1644
DRSTEPHENTURNBULL,a
leadingauthorityonFarEastern
hinory,hasanMAinTheology
andanMAinMiliaryHistory.
inadditiontDaPhDfromLeeds
Universityforhisworiton
Japanesereligioushittory.
Hehastr.lvelledenensively
inEurope""dtheFarEastand
alsorunsawell-usedpicture
library.Hisworkhasb en
recognl2edbytheawarding
oftheCanonPrizeoftheBritish
AssociationforJapaneseStudies
andaJap3l1FestivalUterary
Award.HeisaleCt1.lrel"in
Japan Religionatthe
UniversityofLeeds.
STEVENOONwasbornin
Kent,UK,andattended rt
coli geinCornwall.Hehas
hadalife-longpassionfor
iIlunration.andhasworked
asaprofessionalartist';ncc>
1985.Scevehasprovided
award-winningillustrationsfo..
renownedpublishersDorting
Kind I y,wherehisinterest
inhistoricalillustrationbegan.
Fortress • 57
The Great Wall of China
221 Be-AD 1644
Stephen Turnbull· Illustrated by Steve Noon
SeN' e()~(c!'; Mar::usCowPeranc .kola; 30go.a-QV'C
The Fortress Study Group (FSG)
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inthestUdyofaIaspectsoffortificationsand theirarmaments.
especiallyworksconstrUCtedtomoon orresinartilleryTheFSG
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AIrights,.."..".....d.Aportfromanyn..de:olingforthepurposeofpnv;Itestudy. withvisitsandeveninglectUres.anannual courabroadlasting
res "AAcriddsmorrev .aspermittedundt'rtheCopyright.DesignsandP1'tenu abouteightdays.andanannual Members' Day.
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TheSecretary.do 6Lanark Place.LondonW9 IBS.U
Author's dedication
tS8 978I816QlOG<a
TojoBrayshaw.
hp ::,:Kvoll>ll~[~~_)
IndexllyAlisonWonbo0E'O"
TypeoaioMonocypeGIlSonsandITCStoneSent' Preface
MapsbyTheM,pStudiOLtd
OriglnocodbyUnltodGr:lphics,Singapore Outofall the monumentsofmilitaryarchitectureinworld
PrlrucdInChill;)tl~r'ou&hBookbL.lilders
history.theGreatWallofChina is the bestknown butthe least
well understood.Tostand highononeofItsremotesectionsand
07 08 09 10 II 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 L I
seethisgreatsconedragontwistingalongtheridgesbothtothe
FOR CATALOGU!Of-AU.IOOUPI.".5l;io-IDBYO~ T ;TAD"AN::A~1A,~ horlzonbehindand- soexcitingly- tothedistanthorizon In
,.,sJoJ/CCO"'-"CT': fronc.istoexperienceathrill thatnootherfortifiedsuuctlJreon
earthcanprovide.TheGreatWall0 C Inahasbeen recognzed
NORTliAM3'JCA force turiesasthelargestfortifieden tyever ui ye has
~Direa.tJolbI.-nHoo=DisuiI>uOoCICon=.4ilIlHcha I'CflUlnedpoorlystudieduntilcomparativelyrecenttimes.ItIS
Wo"""""'o<.MD21157 therefore bothimpresslVl!andelusive;pre:scnonganappearance
[email protected]«X1l thatcansometimesseemtobeverysimpleand repetitive,yetat
othertimescomplexandbaffling.
ALLOTHERREGIONS
Even though itsconstructioniswell recorded,themythology
O.preyD'coctUK.P.O.80><140.Wol1;ngborough.Norman".NN8LFAUK
and political propagandathathasgrown uparound theGreatWall
E·,na'~inlo@o,preyd'roct.to,uk
often tendsto obscureanystraightforwardexaminationofeither
www.ospreypublishina·c.om itshistorical record ortheattendantarchaeologicalevidence.
Fromthemythsofitsunbrokenconstructionhistoryand
unbrokenlength,andfrom thetalesofhumanbodiesbefOgused
tobuildit.tothenotoriousnonsenseabout beingvisiblefrom
theMoon.theGreatWallofChinaIsfarmorethanjusta
Editor's note defensivestructUre:ItISanational icon.Oncedespisedasa
symbolofall thatwaswrongwithanna..theGreatWall nowaCtS
asasymbolofallthatis rightwithit.Builtfrom thedustofChina
Unlessotherwiseindicued,all theimagesinthisbookarethe
and.in manyplacessadly.retumingtoIt.theGreatWallhasoften
propertyoftheauthor,
been morepillaged than preservedand nowfacesgreaterthreats
to Its continuedexistencethan ever before.In today's commercial
world,wheretheGreatWall's role has becomeone ofattracting
Artist's note visitors to Chinainsteadofpersuadingthemtostayaway.a
journeyalongitsdiverse ramparts easilyrevealsitsvulnerability.
Readersmaycare tonotethattheonginalpaintingsfromwhich butitalsoprovokesmorequestionsthanitprovidesanswers.
thecoOUl"placesinthis bookwerepreparedareavoJilablefor ItIs!hepurposeofthisbooktogiveaconciseaccountof
pnvacesale. reproductioncopyrlg whatsoeverISre ned thIS gnifitentyetdauntingedificebasedon thebestandmost
bythePublishers.Allenquiriesshouldbeaddressedto~ reliableevidenceavailableforitshistory.constructionandusage.
InthisconteXtIwouldliketothankTravelspherelid.whose
SceveNoon excellenttourofthe MingGreat:Wall providedmypersonal
SOColchesterAvenue introductiontothesubject.ProfessorRichard Merriman,with
Penylan whom IwalkedseveralsectionsoftheGreatWall,provided
Cardiff valuable insightsinto thegeologyoftheWalland itsenvironment.
CF239BP Iam alsogreatlyindebtedtoWilliam Lindesay.who probably
UK knows moreaboutthissurprisinglyfragile monumentthan almost
anyoneelseonearth.and isdoingsomuch tohelp preserveitso
ThePublishersregretthattheycanenterintonocorrespondence thatfuturegenerationsmaybeabletoexperiencethegreatest
upon thismatter. militarywonderoftheworld.
Contents
Introduction: raiding and trading 4
Chronology 8
Design and development 9
TI'teGrutWalIIandit$bulklers • Theconstr1.Ktlooof!heGreatWlIII
The.uucnnJmet~fwwra01d'leGrut~
The Great Wall as a strategic defensive system 30
W.-
I'1obile-ma..cIsalic~ • Thef'1in&Grot andp[()O~
The Great Wall at the operational level 36
Oefend;fllmeGreatYQlI • ~and..~evlherin& . ArtiI\eryondieGr&r.~
The Great Wall from end to end 41
The living site 49
lif!!MIdde.unonmeGrutW~ • Gu¥difllthe.GreatWall
Operational history 52
FromboredomtoboIales • TheGrotWallinmodem'III1r'fart'
Aftermath: the Great Wall as a symbol 58
The Great Wall today 59
Bibliography 63
Index 64
ntroduct· on:
raiding and trading
The Great Wall of China ow s its existence to the history ofthe interaction
betw n th settledagricultural communitiesofChinaand theirpredominantly
nOl)1adi neighbours to the north. Nearly half J' the territory that makes up
modcrn hinaisdesert, mountainorarid plateau, and for muchofthecountry's
history peoples whose culturc and languages were vcry different from those of
the ethnic Han Chinese occupicd these lands. Some conductedagriculture ona
small calc, but the vast majority lived lives that were sustained by what is
known a pastoral nomadism. 'Iastoral' means that they herded vast flocks
of domesticated animaJs, mainly sheep, aCT open grasslands, rather than
confining them within orrals and feeding them ha. omadism' refers to the
needto movearoundtoseekrenewedpasturelandswhiletheonesthe had just
left\ IeregeneratinG.Thelifeofa nomad"\ia5a high] mobileonewhere ·'115
ath rnanshipwereGreat!, p·zed.Children1 mooto:rideataveryearlya e,
and thewh Ieexperienceoftheirlivesactedasa trainingforfuture \ ars,,,>hen
rapidl movingmobileunitswouldmid settledcommunitiesorenga ethem in
battle; highlyskilledmountedarchery wasthe nomad'greatestasset.
For 2,000 years the setUed agricultural civilization of the Chinese Empire
wasregularlythreatened, hara sed, invadedand sometimeseven con4u redby
thes northern nomadictribes, andthereason why this happened pr yoked a
TheclassicimageoftheGreacWall
debate that IJegan centuries ago in the Chinese ourt and still. continues in
ofChina.as shown in thispanorama
academic circles today. To the early emperors the nomads were just naturally
oftheBadalingsection In 1987.
(PhotographbyIanClark) warlike, uncivilizedandevensub-human.TheXionb'Ilu for example, ac ording
4
to a hi torian ofthe Han dynasty, bad an inborn nature to go off plunderill<T TheGrearWallarShanhaiguanis
and marauding. )110 ern historians take a less prejudiced View, and several anImpressivefora-ess complex builr
theories have been put fon...ard to explain the rationale behind nomadic roundthel"amous RrsrPassUnder
Heaven:ahugegarehou>ecomplex
raiding. Oneapproachis toconsiderthebasi incompati ilitybetween settled
pror.ected byacourryanl.Ontxlp
a riculture and no adi berdina. Ifthe two ·vities could be carried outin ofirswidebardememsisamajes.c
e arate areas then there was no possibili of onflict, but if reason of gate-towerwithatileddoubleroof
drougbt or famine on their native stepp the nomads were forced to seek andcolourfuleaves.ThisviewIs
pa tureselsewherethen fri . n·woulddevelop. Indesperatetimesthe nomads from thewest.
might even attack d ntary communities for food in order to survive.
Unfortunately, notenough is known about the climatic history 0 the area to
proveifthis did actually happen.
therhistorians have lookedat whatitwasthat the nomadsactually needed
from the Chinese oth r than food suppli s in times of crisis, ecause certain
goods and commodities could only be supplied \\-ith great difficulty within a
nomadic lifestyle. These items induded grain to supplement their diet, and
textilesand metalobject uchasweapon .Therewasalsoa need totrade1lU..'UI)'
items to sustain therelationships between noma rulers and their regional and
local chieftains. Trad , in thiscontext, meant more than a simple exchange of
goods,and indudedsu mechanismsasintennarriageofroyal families, tribute
missionsandthesettingupofbordermarke .Therewasalso thefactor ofwhat
theChinese neededfr m th n mads.The hineseheartlandswere notsuitable
f r the raising of horses, and cavalry was an essential item in warfare if the
nomad armies were to be met on their own terms. When th Chinese were
willingtoallowsuch trade t takeplace,itcan beargued,peaceful relationships
pr v il d.Ifforany reason thcse complextraderelationswerecutoff, and there
wcre several instances in hinese history when they were, thcn th nomads
might takc matterSinto theirown hands. 5
Oneofthe nomadwarriorswhose
raidsonChinaledtotheGreat
Wallbeingbuiltasoneresponse
to thethreattheyposed.Rapllily
moVingmobileunitswould raid
se edcommunitiesor~e
them InImrie,whemhighlyskilled
mountedarcherywasthenomads'
greatestasset.
In other words, the nomads needed either t trade or Lo raid, and wben
raiding \ as seen to be easier than trading, the boundaries between the two
activiti b arne blurred. RI ted and unche k pillaging easilyd loped
into contr 1 from a distan ,as exemplified by th relations betw n th
Xiongnll and the early Han dynasty, Control from a di tance could dev lop
into the a cupationofpalclles fterritory, so that the invadingforces directed
any economic exchange. The culminationofsuch a rrocess was the c nquest
ofChina itselfandthesetting upofdynastiesbas d on whatwerealreadyquite
sophisticated nomadic empir s. This dramatic chan e happened remarkabl
frequentl in Chinese tIDtor from the time of the Wei dynast, who ruled
mu h of northern China <.luring the 5thand 6th enturies AD. Th Kitan Dao
dynast} (AD 916-1125 and th Jurchen Jin d 'nasty (1126-1234 had their
on in inManchuria,where heirpredominantlypa toralnomadiccultur also
includeden ughelementsof JedagIicuJlureto pr parethemfor th t kof
governin hma through the us oftaxation and the like. The Yuan
dynasty 1279-1368) \'\'<15 establi hed by Kublal Kh n, grandson of ,enghis
Khan, who laid the foundali n ofthe vast Mongol mpiIe_ The Yuan wer
overthrown by the native hinese Ming dynast, but th Millg were I lose
control in 1644 to another northern conquest dynasty: the Qin' (Manchu)
dynasty, who ruled until 1912 nd came from the same ethnic st k as the
6 JurcheDJin.
This long catalogue of failures by the Han Chinese to defmd themselvC$
against the nomads undcrllnC5 why the control of [heir northern neighbours,
whether by diplOmatk or military means, became the chief preoccupation of
successiveemperors. It ISaimimportanttorealizethattheChinesedid notonly
have to deal with sporadiC raids by 100000Iy organized groups of nomads. The
nomad threat was also expressed through several major campaigns conducted
against their borders by the armies of .....eU-organizcd step~ empires who
already controlled dC"doped eronomia Their ambilions went much further
than mere plunder,
'Ihe long-lasting threat from the north provided a considerabh.' challenge
thatwasconstamlychanginganddeveloping. II wasneveronethatcouldeasily
be met on purely military terms, because the direct approach of launching
retaliatory campaigns into nomadic territory was dangerous and costly. The
Han Emperor Wudi achieved some suc~s In 119 lIC when he mounted an
expedition into the Xiongnu homelands, but there are few other similar
e:1C.3I1Jples_ Impro\'ed wt'aponry for Chinese infantrymen to enable them to
brea!..theimpactofa nomadchargewasanotherpossiblecounter-measure, but
such small-scale tactics \\ere only effectivt' If the enemy hOrsemen aIIo","-oo
lhemsel\"es toget ncarenough 10 theChinese lines.. Chineseca\OII~nwere
sometimes useful against the raiders, but the)' nel-er attained the nomads'
1("\'('15 of skill at horsemanShip. Amore str.1tcgic approach was required, and
a historian of the Song d)"nast}', Ouyang Xiu (1007-72), recommended the
follOWing wa}'ofdealingwith thenomads:
OurChinese infamrJlDen are at their best In obstructing strategic passes,
while the barbarian cavalrymen are at their best on the flatlands. Let us
r('SOlutely stand on guard lat the strategic passes) and nOt dash off in
pursuit ofthem orstrive tochase them off. Iftheycome, we should close
strategic passes so that they cannot enter; if they withdraw, we should
close strdtt>gic passes sothat theycannot return.
OnefascinatingaSpKtoftheabcwequotationisofcoursethelackofreference
to anything resembling a Great Wall ("o1.'n though, in popular belief, such a
barrier designed specifically to keep the nomadsout had been in existence for
1,200yearsandhadbeenrontinuallyrepauedand maintained throughoutthat
lime.ThisisoneofthegreatmythsoftheGreatWall,sothatitispossibletoread
cardess accounts of nomads 'raiding through the Great Wall', when no such
structure actually existed in the specified location at the specified time. In fact
thebuildingofa physical barrier between the Chinese and the'barb,uians' was
/
but 011('option amonga rangeofpolicychoices thatsuccessive dynastiescould
exercise in response La their gre:Jtest preoccupation. Contrary to popular belief.
11 wasan option exercisedon veryfew occasions in Chinese history, butwhen it
was put Into operation It was carried out on a grand scale and, unlike military
expediliom into nomad territories, it left behind a physical legacy, It is this
physical leg.lcy of impressive lengths ofdisparatelyconstrut1ed ramparts, built
centuriesapart with often little reference to each other, which we nowcall the
'Great WallofChina',
7
Chronology
121 Ie UnificationofChi~underthe Qin Emperor
215 Be MengrlanorderedtobuIld defen<:es:the Qin Great~r
119 Ie HanWudi'sexpeditionJgVnSttheXiongnu leads to H,mGreatWall
ADSSG RiseofNorthern Qidynasty,whobuiltsomewalls
1211 Mongolsridethrough theJuyongguan Pons
1215 fall ofZhongdu (Beijing)totheMongols
1368 foundingoftheMingdynasty
1372 Mingdefeated by MongolAnn)'iltKarakorum
Firstmilitarystructure built3tJiayuguan
1382 Wall builtatShanhaiguan
1429 Firstuseoftennchongcheng in a Mingdocument
1442 Ramparts built in Liaodong
1449/ Ming Emperor captured in theTumu Incident
1474 Wall completed in Ordos area
1482 Mongol raiders defeated beside the Ordoswall
1530 Breech-loading cannon orderedfor the GreatWall
IS39 Buildingrecordedat Ib.daling
1540 RebuildingofJiayuguan rOrtr"e$s
1550 Altan Khanattacks Beijing
1567 QiJiguangtr.ronsferrec:l from toan:aJ defente toGn!atW;i]1construct:lon
1570 ProbabledateofcommentementofJinshanlingsection
1626 TheGn!atWallisdepictedon.fohnSpeed'smapofChina
1644 Mmchus enterBeijing
1617 Qing Emperor-deodes nottorestOn!theGreatWalt
1793 lord Macartney'smlulOndescribestheGreatWall
1900 Old Dragon's Heilddesuoyed dUringBolter Rebellion
193] JapaneseatclckShilnhiliguiln
19)7 JilpallesedefeatediltPingxingguan
1984 DengXiaopingprllises the GrearWall
8