What is the Great Wall dwarf? Scholar: Qin Shi Huang harmed Europe
Thank you for your love, and if you liked this article, please click "Follow" at the top right and let's create a more comfortable reading experience together. Introduction During the Warring States Period to the unification, the Qin Dynasty carried out the construction of the Great Wall four times, respectively for the Wei and Zhao states in the east, and the ethnic minorities in the north, namely "Qianluo", "Shangjunsai", "Zhaoxiangwang Great Wall" and "Qin Shi Huang Wanli Great Wall".
The construction of these Great Walls embodies the wisdom of the Qin people of "adapting measures to local conditions" and "building according to aptitude", making full use of the characteristics of the local natural environment, achieving twice the result with half the effort, and playing a very strong defensive role.
First, local materials, according to local conditions.
The construction strategy of the Great Wall of Qin was based on respecting and using the natural environment. Among them, the eight words of "adapting measures to local conditions and controlling congestion according to risks" just sums up this wisdom.
Adapting to local conditions, i.e. designing cleverly on the terrain while making the most of the local natural resources. According to the danger, it is to use the geographical natural danger to form a defensive barrier. Therefore, in mountainous areas, the Great Wall was mostly built along ridges or mountains for defense.
In steep places, the walls are relatively low and narrow; In the gentle part of the mountain, the walls are relatively tall and thick. The Great Wall of Qin traverses a variety of geographical environments, including mountains, rivers, deserts, and grasslands.
The builders made full use of the natural terrain and set up city walls, passes, beacon towers and castles at dangerous points to prevent enemy attacks and achieve the purpose of defense.
In short, the design and construction of the Great Wall of Qin fully demonstrates the wisdom of the ancients in harmony with nature.
The Great Wall of Qin, this ancient defense line, not only shows the exquisite art of ancient Chinese architecture, but also reflects the superb military strategy of ancient times. In order to effectively defend against the enemy, Qin Shi Huang ordered the construction of the Great Wall on higher ground in order to gain a broader view and grasp the enemy's situation in time.
As a result, a series of place names have appeared along the Great Wall, such as the Great Wall Beam, the Great Wall Ridge, the Great Wall Plateau, etc., which are all clear evidence of making full use of the terrain and occupying a favorable position during the construction process.
Qin Shi Huang Great Wall in the Yinshan part, but also made full use of the advantages of the Yinshan Mountain, the Great Wall was built on the slope of the northern foot of the Yinshan Mountain, this design greatly enhanced the effect of defense.
According to the "Historical Records: The Biography of Meng Tian", Qin Shi Huang led 300,000 troops led by General Meng Tian to the north to expel Rong Di, recover the lost territory, build the Great Wall, and use the terrain to build a dangerous defense line, extending from Lintao to Liaodong, with a total length of more than 10,000 li.
This is the Great Wall of Qin, a military project full of wisdom and courage, it is an important symbol of ancient Chinese civilization and a treasure of world cultural heritage.
The Great Wall, like a giant dragon winding through the mountains and water's edge, has a gentle slope on the inside, stable and beautiful. In the river valley, the Great Wall cleverly used ravines and stone gates to strengthen its defenses.
In the valley arteries, the Great Wall is built like a dam"When the road stops"There is a castle built on the side for defense. The Great Wall of Qin follows the principle of "adapting measures to local conditions and taking local materials" in the selection of building materials, using different materials according to different terrains, building according to the mountains, the principle of loess high is built with soil or sand and gravel, the steep mountains are artificially chiseled out of the gables, and the low-lying and watery places are dug into trenches.
These methods of constructing the Great Wall not only save the amount of work, but also give full play to the advantages of the terrain, and achieve the ideal effect of controlling danger and resisting the enemy.
In addition to the majestic walls, the Great Wall of Qin is also densely covered with various barriers. In the field investigation, we can see that the barrier forms of the Great Wall of King Qin Zhaoxiang are different, and they are mainly divided into two categories according to the characteristics of size, location, grade and connotation: one is the small barrier that clings to the inner side of the Great Wall, which is numerous, most of them have no city walls, and are early relics.
Some of them have castle walls, which may be the remains of the later period. The other type is located on the inner side of the Great Wall on the river valley plateau, mountain beam passage or mountain ridge, and its area varies according to factors such as the size of the river valley, the danger and the location of the mountain beam channel.
After the unification of Qin, the Great Wall between Yinshan Mountain and Helan Mountain was newly built. These Great Walls are mainly attached to Daqing Mountain and Yin Mountain, and are mainly made of stone blocks.
In the southern part of the Urad Middle Banner, we found some walls made of stone blocks, on which there were traces of several repairs. Along the inside and outside of the Great Wall, on the top of the continuous mountains, we can also see beacons made of stones, which are used to convey military information.
On the passage between the valleys, there are also a number of passes and castle facilities. Along the banks of the Yellow River, there were also a series of barriers, which formed a deep defense system in the middle of the Great Wall after the unification of Qin.
The Guyang section of the Great Wall in Inner Mongolia is a treasure of ancient architecture of the Chinese nation, and it is well preserved. The Qin people made full use of the favorable terrain of Yinshan Mountain, along the Xidoupu Town, Yinhao Township, and Damiao Township in the north of Guyang County, Baotou City, and entered Wuchuan County through the eastern part of Daqingshan, extending to Hebei.
This section of the Great Wall is mainly built on the slope of the northern foot of Yin Mountain. The existing ruins can identify the remains of the Qin Dynasty beacon tower and the barrier city at regular intervals, showing the unique construction method of the Great Wall of Qin and the construction of defense facilities.
The construction of the Great Wall of Qin follows the principle of adapting measures to local conditions, fully considers the natural environment and geographical conditions, and is the crystallization of human wisdom and courage.
The five methods of constructing the Yinshan Great Wall: earth ramming, stone masonry, sand pile, the combination of stone masonry and earth construction, and the use of natural barriers, reflect the wisdom of the ancients according to local conditions.
The geographical environment of the Bayannur area provides diversified possibilities for the construction of the Great Wall. The Great Wall built in the history of our country was not only built by the Han people to defend against ethnic minorities, but also by ethnic minorities to resist the Han people.
The reason behind this is that the difference in the natural geographical environment leads to the uneven distribution of resources, which in turn leads to social differences, contradictions and wars. The unstable ethnic policy of the Central Plains Dynasty in history also caused the nomadic tribes in the northern border to constantly invade and war, which stemmed from the huge differences in the living space and livelihood methods of different ethnic groups.
To the north of the Great Wall are deserts and grasslands, which are only suitable for animal husbandry; To the south of the Great Wall are rich plains and fields, suitable for an agricultural economy.
Primitive societies relied on natural resources for survival and development, and water and land resources were particularly crucial. Water resources are the key factor in the formation of ancient civilizations, and they are also the basis for human survival and development.
Qin Shi Huang used the advantages of mountains and rivers to strengthen his defenses when building the Great Wall. He set up fourteen counties, the city and the river as a stopper, built pavilions and barriers to chase the Rong people, migrated to the beginning of the county.
He also took advantage of the terrain to cut the mountain into a city, according to the city of 100 million zhang, and the unpredictable stream was solid. This illustrates the importance of water and land resources and the advantages that can be brought by the right use of these resources.
Taking the river as a risk was a strategy widely used by the Qin people in the construction of the Great Wall, and they took advantage of the dangerous terrain of the Luo River to build the earliest Great Wall, "Qianluo".
According to the records of the "Historical Records of the Qin Dynasty", in the sixth and seventh years of the reign of the Duke of Jian, the Qin State began to build city walls along the Luo River and set up city defenses in Chongquan. The "Notes on the Three Qin Records" pointed out that the Great Wall is located fifty miles east of Pucheng, and it was the earliest practice of the Qin people to use the river as a risk to build the Great Wall.
When the Qin people built the Great Wall, they made full use of the topographical advantages of the Luohe River, and effectively blocked the invasion of the Eastern Wei State by digging ditches and building walls. "
Moat"The term derives from this strategy of risking the river, which implies that the line of defense is like an impassable natural obstacle. In addition to the use of trenches in the construction of the Great Wall, the Qin people also used similar techniques in the construction of the Qin Straight Road.
According to the Records of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, when the Qin people built the Qin Straight Road, they not only built straight roads, but also ensured the smooth flow of the roads by digging ditches and filling in valleys.
To sum up, the Great Wall was the earliest practice of the Qin people to build the Great Wall by using the river as a risk, and this strategy was widely used in the construction of the Qin Dynasty in the later period.
In the construction of mountain walls, the use of "trenches" is a highlight, by digging and trimming the steep river banks to make them conducive to defense, preventing the enemy from crossing the river or slowing down his crossing.
This method of adapting measures to local conditions was very effective and economical under the conditions of productivity at that time, and fully demonstrated the ingenuity of the Qin people. We also see a similar application in the Qin Great Wall in the Minxian section of Gansu Province, where fortifications are built as fortresses or in the form of "trench valleys", because the terrain here is different from the desert steppe area in the north, which requires continuous fortifications.
In the battle of the unified grassland of Mao Dun Shan Yu, although the Qin Dynasty was mired in civil strife and was unable to resist, the Qin army along the Great Wall fled, making Mao Dun Shan Yu retake Henan without a fight.
With his military prowess and tenacity, Maudun succeeded in building a vast nomadic empire, destroying twenty-six nomadic nations and making "all the nations of the bow brothers."
At this historic moment, the Xiongnu became a veritable "chief of a hundred barbarians" and became the first steppe empire. According to the laws of nomadic production, the Xiongnu could not have existed for long.
But the presence of the Great Wall has changed that. To break through the Great Wall, it is necessary to have absolutely superior forces. As long as tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of men and horses are gathered, the risk of plundering south can be greatly reduced.
Holding the "thick legs" of the Xiongnu, the grassland tribes can get a piece of the pie from the collective looting. And this is also the real reason why the steppe tribes are willing to submit to the Xiongnu and the centralized rule.
The establishment of the nomadic empire actually weakened the defense capability of the Great Wall. In the Battle of Baideng, Mao Dunshan Yu led 400,000 cavalry to surround Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty.
In the later Han-Hungarian War, the Xiongnu often sent more than 100,000 cavalry to invade. The historical record is that "if you enter the big money, you will make a big profit, and if you enter a small way, you will make a small profit". In general, Mao Dun Danyu's leadership and military strategy made the Xiongnu a powerful force in the steppe, changed the law of nomadic production, and greatly reduced the defense capability of the Great Wall.
At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the southward plundering of the Hun cavalry was as easy as strolling in the back garden of one's own home. In order to resist the attack of the Xiongnu, the Western Han had to make peace with the Xiongnu, exchanging beautiful women and great wealth for peace.
However, despite this, the aggressive momentum of the Xiongnu did not abate, and even marched into the Western Regions, conquering almost all of Central Asia. In desperation, the countries of the Western Regions could only submit to the Xiongnu and pay tribute.
It can be said that the establishment of the Xiongnu Empire made the Xiongnu rich and stable. However, with the revival of the Han Dynasty, it became more and more difficult for the Xiongnu to plunder the Han Dynasty. Originally, the Han Dynasty invested a lot of manpower and material resources to improve the defense system of the Great Wall, and established a multi-level defense system such as Tiantian, Trench, Huluo, Guancheng, Fengsui, Fortress and Barrier City.
Although Amada was only a layer of fine sand sprinkled by the Han army in front of the Great Wall, the Han army could observe the movement of the enemy army through the footprints on the fine sand, similar to modern radar systems.
Once the enemy situation is discovered, the beacons in the rear will immediately light the wolf smoke and call for help from other areas.
The strength of the Hun cavalry allowed the wide trenches to be the initial line of defense, and the Tiger Falling Spike Trap successfully prevented the enemy cavalry from approaching the city walls. The defense line of the Great Wall was strengthened layer by layer, constantly blocking the invasion of the Xiongnu, so that the plundering of the Han Dynasty by the Xiongnu was no longer easy.
The establishment of the Xiongnu Empire relied on military victories, but military defeats eventually led to the collapse of the empire. During the reign of Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu were besieged by the Han Dynasty in the south, the Western Regions, the Xianbei Wuhuan in the east, and Ding Ling in the north, and even divided into five parts.
With the support of the Han Dynasty, Shan Yu reunited the Xiongnu, and the Xiongnu had to become a vassal state of the Han Dynasty.
In his book The Dangerous Frontier: Nomadic Empires and China, the famous American historian Barfield argues that the Great Wall built by Qin Shi Huang not only shaped the nomadic empire, but also gave them the ability and motivation to carry out large-scale expeditions to the west.
Once they could not gain a foothold in the Central Plains, they would turn to West Asia and Europe. During the Roman Empire, the Huns were rampant in Europe; In the early Middle Ages, the Magyars provoked another wave of invasion.
These Magyars were the Rouran people who were defeated by the Northern Wei Dynasty; In the century, the Turkic Empire reached its peak, once conquered the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Turkic Khan even proclaimed himself "the lord of the world"; By the 13th century, the Mongol Empire had risen to prominence and eventually swept across Eurasia.
Therefore, Western scholars believe that the Great Wall of Qin Shi Huang was a tragic disaster for Europe. Overall, the Great Wall was not high, but it managed to stop the invasion of the nomads and shape a powerful nomadic empire.
The nomadic empire became a bridge between Eastern and Western civilizations, and eventually, during the Mongol Empire, the whole world was truly connected. References include The Records of the Historians, The Book of Han, Shuowen Jie Zi, The Annotations of the Three Qin Records, and The Dangerous Frontier.