This stupendous wall, a view of which is given in the cut below, extends
across the northern boundary of the Chinese empire, and is deservedly
ranked among the grandest labors of art. It is conducted over the
summits of high mountains, several of which have an elevation of over
five thousand feet, across deep valleys and over wide rivers, by means
of arches: in many parts it is doubled or trebled, to command important
passes; and at the distance of nearly every hundred yards is a tower or
massive bastion. Its extent is computed at fifteen hundred miles; but in
some parts, where less danger is apprehended, it is not equally strong
or complete, and toward the north-west consists merely of a strong
rampart of earth. Near Kookpekoo it is twenty-five feet in hight, and
the top about fifteen feet thick: some of the towers, which are square,
are forty-eight feet high, and about forty feet in width. In its
strongest parts, and for hundreds of miles in extent, this wall is so
thick as to allow six men on horseback to ride upon it. The structure
consists of two parallel walls of solid masonry, filled in between with
earth; the top is paved with stone. The stone employed in the
foundations, angles, &c., is a strong gray granite; but the materials
for the most part consist of bluish bricks, and the mortar is remarkably
pure and white. The amount of materials used in constructing this wall,
is immense. In a lecture on China, given a year or two since in England,
Dr. Bowring said it had been calculated, that if all the bricks, stones
and masonry of Great Britain were gathered together, they would not be
able to furnish materials enough for the wall of China; and that all the
buildings in London put together would not make the towers and turrets
which adorn it.
[Illustration: GREAT WALL OF CHINA.]
The area of the construction of this great barrier, which has been and
will continue to be the wonder and admiration of ages, is considered by
Sir George Staunton as having been absolutely ascertained; and he
asserts that it has existed for two thousand years. In this assertion he
appears to have followed Du Halde, who informs us that “this prodigious
work was constructed two hundred and fifteen years before the birth of
Christ, by order of the first emperor of the family of Tsin, to protect
three large provinces from the irruptions of the Tartars.” However, in
the history of China, contained in his first volume, he ascribes this
erection to the second emperor of the dynasty of Tsin, named Chi Hoang
Ti; and the date immediately preceding the narrative of this
construction is the year 137 before the birth of Christ. Hence
suspicions may arise, not only concerning the epoch when this work was
undertaken, but also as to the purity and precision of the Chinese
annals in general. Mr. Bell, who resided some time in China, and whose
travels are deservedly esteemed for the accuracy of their information,
assures us that this wall was built somewhere about the year 1160, by
one of the emperors, to prevent the frequent incursions of the Monguls,
whose numerous cavalry used to ravage the provinces, and effect their
escape before an army could be assembled to oppose them. Renaudot
observes that this wall is not mentioned by any oriental geographer
whose writings boast a higher antiquity than three hundred years; and it
is surprising that it should have escaped Marco Paulo, who, admitting
that he entered China by a different route, can hardly be supposed,
during his long residence in the north of China, and in the country of
the Monguls, to have remained ignorant of so stupendous a work. Amid
these difficulties, it may be reasonably conjectured, that similar modes
of defense had been adopted in different ages; and that the ancient rude
barrier, having fallen into decay, was replaced by the present erection,
which, even from its state of preservation, can scarcely aspire to a
very remote antiquity.
[Illustration: PORCELAIN TOWER AT NANKIN.]