The Great Wall and China's Ancient Monuments
FoundationThe Great Wall, built across dynasties and grandly rebuilt in the Ming, was an ancient defence and is now World Heritage; the Forbidden City, the Terracotta Warriors and the Grand Canal also tell China's history — protecting monuments is everyone's duty.
- The Great Wall runs over twenty thousand kilometres, built across dynasties, mostly Ming work today.
- It was a defensive work with battlements, beacon towers and passes.
- The Forbidden City was the Ming-Qing palace; the warriors are the eighth wonder; the Grand Canal the longest ancient canal.
文體小知識：歷史古蹟說明文帶我們遊覽長城和故宮等古蹟，在建築裏讀歷史。
§Text Passage
1The Great Wall is China's world-famous monument, running from the Bohai coast in the east to the Gobi Desert in the west, over twenty thousand kilometres long. It was not built at one time: as early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, states raised walls for defence; after unifying China, Qin Shi Huang joined the northern walls; and most of the wall seen today was rebuilt on a grand scale in brick and stone in the Ming dynasty.
2The wall served defence: battlements gave soldiers places to watch and shoot; beacon towers lit fires to warn of attack; and passes guarded the main routes. Building it relied wholly on manpower — bricks and stone carried up the mountains by people and pack animals, at the cost of countless workers, as the folk tale of Meng Jiangnü weeping at the wall recalls. In 1987 the Great Wall was inscribed on the World Heritage List.
3China has many more world-class monuments. The Forbidden City in Beijing, palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties with dozens of halls, is now the Palace Museum. The Terracotta Warriors near Xi'an — thousands of clay soldiers, each face different — are called the eighth wonder of the world. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the longest ancient canal on Earth, links north and south; the gardens of Suzhou and the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang each shine in their own way.
4Ancient monuments are treasures that cannot be renewed: when visiting, never carve, climb or litter. Parts of the Great Wall have suffered weathering and human damage, all the more reason to cherish them. To know the monuments is to read history: perseverance from the wall, court culture from the Forbidden City, Qin craftsmanship from the warriors. Protecting monuments is protecting a nation's memory.
1Summary 重點摘要
The Great Wall, built across dynasties and grandly rebuilt in the Ming, was an ancient defence and is now World Heritage; the Forbidden City, the Terracotta Warriors and the Grand Canal also tell China's history — protecting monuments is everyone's duty.
2Vocabulary cards Vocabulary
China's ancient defensive wall, over twenty thousand kilometres long, on the World Heritage List.
The emperor who unified China and ordered the northern walls joined.
The towers on the wall for lighting signal fires.
The fortified gateways on the wall guarding main routes, such as Shanhaiguan.
Cultural and natural treasures recognised by UNESCO for all humanity to protect.
The imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties, now the Palace Museum.
The clay army at Qin Shi Huang's tomb, called the eighth wonder of the world.
The ancient canal linking north and south, the longest on Earth.
The wearing away of rock and brick by wind and rain over time.
3Step by step Steps
- Step 1: Learn the wall's scaleThe Great Wall is the longest building project in the world, and its scale amazes everyone. For example, over twenty thousand kilometres long — about the distance from Hong Kong to London and back — proof of how vast the work was. Winding along high mountains, from afar it looks like a giant dragon resting on the ridges, rightly counted among the wonders of the world, drawing visitors from every corner of the globe every year.
- Step 2: Learn how the wall was builtThe wall was not built in one go but added to across many dynasties. For example, the states of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods raised walls for defence; Qin Shi Huang joined the northern walls after unifying the land; and the Ming rebuilt on a grand scale in brick and stone, so most seen today is Ming work. Over two thousand years countless craftsmen and soldiers took part, and the wall has watched China's long history and the progress of engineering through the ages.
- Step 3: Learn the defensive designEvery part of the wall had a military purpose, and the design was thorough. For example, battlements shielded soldiers' bodies as they watched and shot arrows; beacon towers sent smoke by day and fire by night to pass military news; and passes held the main routes. When enemies came, news could spread quickly along the wall and the defenders of each section could support one another — a display of ancient military wisdom, showing the wall was true defence work, not decoration.
- Step 4: Feel the toil of buildingIn ancient times without machines, building the wall depended wholly on human strength and was very hard. For example, bricks weighing tens of kilograms were carried up the high mountains by people and pack animals, and the tale of Meng Jiangnü weeping at the wall tells of the people's toil and partings. Countless workers gave sweat and even their lives; when we walk the wall we should remember how hard-won this greatness was, with respect in our hearts, and treasure today's advanced building technology.
- Step 5: Learn China's other monumentsChina has many other monuments as famous as the wall, and they are just as impressive. For example, the Forbidden City in Beijing holds dozens of halls and was the palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties; the Terracotta Warriors near Xi'an number in thousands, each face different; and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal runs nearly two thousand kilometres, the longest ancient canal in the world. These monuments show the superb skill of ancient China in building, sculpture and water engineering, and each deserves to be known.
- Step 6: Learn about World HeritageWorld Heritage sites are places recognised by the United Nations as precious and to be protected by all humanity. For example, the wall, the Forbidden City and the warriors are on the World Heritage List, treasures shared by all humankind. Listing means these monuments have outstanding value, and every country shares the duty to protect them, so future generations can see with their own eyes these crystals of human wisdom — a long task in which everyone shares.
- Step 7: Practise visiting etiquetteOnce damaged, monuments are hard to restore, so visitors must follow proper etiquette. For example, keep to the marked paths on the wall, carve no names on the bricks, climb nothing, take rubbish away, and leave the view for the next visitor. Caring for monuments is every visitor's duty, so that this precious history can be handed down generation after generation, letting more people know the glory of Chinese culture; parents and teachers set the example too, teaching us to respect history.
4Diagrams Diagrams
5Worked example Example
Example: after visiting the wall, Kit concludes that it was an ancient tourist attraction. Correct him and give three true points about the Great Wall.
- The error: the wall was built as a military defence against invaders, not a tourist attraction; it became a sight only in modern times.
- Point one: it defended against northern invasions; battlements, beacon towers and passes were all military design.
- Point two: it was built across dynasties — Qin joined the walls, the Ming rebuilt — through the toil of countless workers.
- Point three: it is on the World Heritage List, a cultural treasure for all humanity to protect.
- Answer: The wall was a defence, built across ages and steeped in toil, and only today a famous sight and world heritage — all three points together, and we must care for the monument when we visit.
6Common mistakes Mistakes
7Quick check Quick check
Q1Which dynasty built most of the wall seen today?
Q2What was the beacon tower for?
Q3Which two dynasties' palace is the Forbidden City?
Q4What are the Terracotta Warriors famous for?
Q5What should we mind when visiting monuments?
8Recap Recap
- The Great Wall runs over twenty thousand kilometres, built across dynasties, mostly Ming work today.
- It was a defensive work with battlements, beacon towers and passes.
- The Forbidden City was the Ming-Qing palace; the warriors are the eighth wonder; the Grand Canal the longest ancient canal.
- The wall, the palace and the warriors are all World Heritage.
- Visit without carving, climbing or littering — protect a nation's memory.