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A short history of the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs. -- links to Beijing, Xi'an 
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<TITLE>Discovering the Great Wall and Ming Tombs</TITLE>
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<a href="china.html"><IMG ALIGN=RIGHT BORDER=0 WIDTH=213 HEIGHT=102
SRC="gw10pt.gif" ALT="Great Wall"></a><font class="times"><H1>The Great Wall</H1></font>  
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<P>Ever since she was a girl, Beth had dreamed of being able to touch 
the Great Wall.&nbsp; It is a symbol of China's greatness and of the ability 
of man to achieve.&nbsp; It functioned for hundreds of years to spare the 
villages the random raids of tribes from the north, lending a stability 
to life and continuity to the culture and government.&nbsp; It marked the 
boundary; China -- not China and its defense and maintenance for the 
common good united the feudal states as well as costing them wealth and 
untold lives.&nbsp; It is a wonderful dream Beth had -- to touch history.</P>
<A HREF="gwgd1s.jpg"><IMG ALIGN=RIGHT BORDER=0 WIDTH =200  HEIGHT = 457 
VSPACE = 10 HSPACE = 20 SRC = "gwgd1s.gif" ALT="Great Wall">  </A><P>The Great Wall is difficult to comprehend -- to photograph, impossible.&nbsp; 
At one time it stretched 12,700 li ( a li is a third of a mile) across the border
between China and the Hun territories in the north.&nbsp; I've read that if
you dismantle it and rebuild it, it could go around the entire world;
probably if you stretched it by molecule it could reach Andromeda.
Different guide books give different dimensions, poetically the Chinese
call it the Wall of 10,000 li.&nbsp; The point is, it's big.&nbsp; It isn't one
place but many.&nbsp; It's size is better seen on a map or from an aerial
photograph.&nbsp; Its beauty is caught in glimpses through the mountains and
clouds, its human cost is experienced through climbing it step by step.</P>
<P>It started as earth works thrown up for protection by different
States.&nbsp; The individual sections weren't connected until the Qin dynasty
(221-206 B.C.).&nbsp; Qin Shihuangdi, First Emperor of Qin, began conscripting peasants,
enemies, and anyone
else who wasn't tied to the land to go to work on the wall.&nbsp; The
tradition lasted for centuries.&nbsp; Each dynasty added to the height,
breadth, length, and elaborated the design mostly through forced labor.
 </P> 
<P>There is a traditional story about Meng Jiangn&uuml . &nbsp;Shortly after she and her
husband were married he was
conscripted to work on the wall.&nbsp; Meng Jiangn&uuml worried that he would suffer
from
the cold in the north and began to make a padded cotton jacket.&nbsp; After
it was sewn she began the long walk from her home in the south to the
site of the Great Wall.&nbsp; When she got there and finally found the other
men from her village, she was told that her husband had died.&nbsp; She went
to the wall and began keening and mourning with such pathos that 20 li
of the wall collapsed and in the pit at the center, she found the body
of her husband.&nbsp; Meng Jinagn&uuml threw herself into the sea to join her
husband.&nbsp; Her suicide personalizes the losses due to the Great
Wall.</P> 
<P>It was during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) that the Wall took on its
present form.&nbsp; The brick and granite work was enlarged and sophisticated
designs were added.&nbsp; The watch towers were redesigned and modern cannon
were mounted in strategic areas.&nbsp; The Portuguese had found a ready
market for guns and cannon in China, one of the few items of trade that
China didn't already have in abundance.&nbsp; The Ming Emperors, having
overthrown the Hun dominance and expelled their Mongol rulers of the
North devoted large portions of available material and manpower to
making sure that they didn't return.</P> 
<P>Since the
1600s, parts of the Wall in some areas have been either dismantled to provide
building
materials in the area or have been buried by silt.&nbsp; We visited a restored 
section of the Wall at Badaling.&nbsp; When you stand on the Wall
and look to the north you see the beginning of the great desert
flatlands of the Hun.&nbsp; The view to the South is like a Chinese painting
of layers of rolling hills covered by short brush and trees.&nbsp; The
terrain is rough on both sides, and even today it is only accessible by
a narrow road.
</P> 
<P>Throughout the centuries, armies were garrisoned along the length of
the Wall to provide early warning of invasion and a first line of
defense.&nbsp;  Great piles of straw and dung used to build signal fires have
been found during excavations.&nbsp; There must have been small garrison
towns spotted along the length.&nbsp; There weren't many farms or trade towns
to provide ease, relaxation and food.&nbsp;  The supply trails were over
mountains along narrow paths.&nbsp; To bring supplies to the top, ropes were
slung over posts set in the Chinese side of the wall and baskets were
hauled up hand over hand.&nbsp; Supplies must have always been short and
chancy, particularly in the winter. </P> 
<P>The Wall served well.&nbsp; Only when a dynasty had weakened from within
were invaders from the north able to advance and conquer.&nbsp; Both the
Mongols (Yuan Dynasty, 1271-1368) and the Manchurians (Qing Dynasty,1644-1911)
were able take power, not because of weakness in the Wall but because of
weakness in the government and the poverty of the people.&nbsp; They took
advantage of rebellion from within and stepped into the void of power
without extended wars.</P> 
<P>The Wall extends from peak to peak.&nbsp; The height of the
mountains is used to command a greater view and for its advantage in
defense.&nbsp; Always take the high ground, particularly if you are going to
use bows and arrows and javelins.&nbsp; It's steep.&nbsp; Most of us settled for
climbing part of the restored section and returning, but Fred was easily
able to circuit between the two major gates and return by road.&nbsp; </P> 
<A HREF="gwbeths.jpg">  <IMG ALIGN=LEFT BORDER=0 WIDTH =200  HEIGHT =177 
 VSPACE = 10 HSPACE = 20 SRC = "gwbeth3s.gif" ALT="Group sitting on Great Wall"></A>
<P>There is a holiday atmosphere on the Wall.&nbsp; Beth met an English teacher who had brought some of his students for a day of climbing.&nbsp;  
They had a good long talk while people climbed around them.&nbsp; We saw
young women wearing high heels (and doing well) who were probably on
dates.&nbsp; Some families took advantage of the availability of video
recorders to document their climb.&nbsp; Young men and women stood at the
entry to the base of the wall and for a fee would climb with you, taking
your picture and pictures of the surrounding countryside.&nbsp; </P> 
<P>Souvenir shops are abundant and provide a cross-section of the
handcrafts available in the north.&nbsp;  Quilts, porcelain, enamels, hats, and
bright toys added color and movement to the atmosphere.&nbsp; While we were
waiting for the others, Fred had a seal carved with his name in Chinese
characters.&nbsp; We watched several painters at work and of course bought
T-shirts proclaiming that we had "Climbed the Great Wall."</P>
<HR>
<H1><font face="times new roman">The Ming Tombs</font></H1>
<HR>
<P>We skipped lunch to spend more time at the Wall, but moved on for a
short visit to the Ming Tombs in the afternoon.&nbsp; All but one of the Ming 
emperors are buried here.&nbsp; One emperor is buried outside Nanjing.&nbsp; 
Most of the outside statuary and 
buildings surrounding the tomb in Nanjing have been destroyed during the wars and
revolutions
in this century.&nbsp; The thirteen Ming tombs outside Beijing have been better
preserved, benefitting from their remote location.&nbsp; Only the Ding tomb of
Emperor Wan Li (Zhu Yijun) and his two wives is open to the public.&nbsp; 
<P>The tomb was built below ground in a great vaulted brickwork cavern.&nbsp; The
story is that 
the workmen repeatedly set fire to the timber tomb which had been originally
planned to
put off the day of completion once the rumor spread that they would be interred in
the tomb when they finished.&nbsp; A good plan, but then the designs where changed to
use stone.&nbsp; The vault must be at least thirty feet high and supports a rather 
large hill on its roof.&nbsp; 
You enter from the top and it there seemed to be about five or six full
flights of stairs to the bottom.&nbsp; (Fortunately, there are only two
flights up to the exit -- the archaeologists provided a pleasant surprise for
 tourists and went through the side of the hill.)&nbsp;  This photograph is of
the Ming Archives in Beijing (to the east of the Imperial City) but the
vaults bear a striking resemblance to the design used in the tomb we
saw.</P>
<P>While the tombs are impressive, the real attraction is outside.&nbsp;  
There are wonderful gardens of recent vintage and a feeling of being
inside the hills of China.&nbsp; There are pagodas on the top of distant
hills remind you that you are in China.&nbsp; They are placed for prayer,
contemplation, and remove from the life of the ordinary.</P> 
<P>When a Ming emperor died, it was the death of a Son of Heaven.&nbsp; To
provide a proper setting for the entombment, a concourse was built to be
used only for the funeral processions leading to the hills in which the
tombs were built.&nbsp; Great stone beasts and figures of ministers and
warriors lined the path on either side.&nbsp; Their brooding presence gave
stiff attention to the event.&nbsp;  The gate at the end marked the passage
to another life and the assumption of the Mandate to Rule by the new
emperor.&nbsp; The Sacred Way is about 4 miles, measured from the gate to 
the entrance of the central tomb.&nbsp; The concourse or promenade built for 
the funeral processions was closed for renovations, the pictures I have 
included are from an earlier trip.&nbsp; </P> 
<P>It was about 20&#176 F and windy when I first walked the
concourse.&nbsp; This gentleman gave my friend and me a ride for the return
trip down the length of the concourse.&nbsp; I got the
side car.&nbsp; I smile whenever I see this picture, it's a nice memory.</P> </blockquote>
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