Who built the Great Wall Of China?

Brainy Blonde

Construction of the Great Wall started in the 7th century B.C. The vassal states under the Zhou Dynasty in the northern parts of the country each built their own walls for defense purposes. After the state of Qin unified China in 221 B.C., it joined the walls to hold off the invaders from the Xiongnu tribes in the north and extended them to more than 10,000 li or 5,000 kilometers. This is the origin of the name of the '10,000-li Great Wall'. http://www.chinavista.com/travel/greatwall/greatwall.html The truth is, though, that the Great Wall is actually a series of walls built and rebuilt by different dynasties over 1,000 years. And while they often served the same purpose, these walls reflected the worlds - both natural and cultural - in which they were erected. http://www.discovery.com/stories/history/greatwall/greatwall.html The labor force used by various dynasties for the construction of the walls was no less impressive. The well-organized defenses of the Great Wall were built by the arduous work of millions of workers. In addition to the frontier soldiers, the builders included conscripted laborers and convicts in exile. For example, when the Great Wall was first brought together under the direction of General Meng Tian over a period of 10 years during the Qin dynasty, 300,000 troops were used. Later, a 450-kilometre section of the wall was built from Nankou, Beijing, to Datong, Shanxi, in 555 A.D. under the Northern Qi dynasty, for which 1.8 million people were forced to join the ranks of the laborers. http://www.1uptravel.com/monument-special/greatwallofchina/construction.html Jan 27 03, 8:13 PM

Son of The Household Cavalry

The abridged version of the last reply is - The Chinese Jan 27 03, 9:43 PM