Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1895-01-05
GREAT WALL OF CHINA.

II Was China's Northern Ram part
and q stupendOus Fertilization.
This excellent picture of a bit of the
great wall of China shows 1t Mt Its best.
At Nankow, where the photograph was
taken. the wall is In excellent preser-
walton. In fact 1t Is not probable that
any of the original wall Is shown In
the picture, for this sketch Is In the
mountains north of Pekin, and practi-
cally has been rebuilt two or three
times since II was first reared.
Long ago Mongolia was not part of
the Chinese empire. as 1t Is today, and
the Iliungnu ancestors of the MOngO-
lians were China's most terrible enemy.
SO this great wall was stretched along
the border between China and Mon.
golia In order to keep out the fOrmida-
bic invaders from the north. 1t II
probably the only instance in history
where the precise boundary between
two countries was for ages marked
by stone wall. The wall, or its ruins,
may still be traced from the gulf Of
Liaotung. ut the northern extremity Of
the Yellow Sea, far over the plains and
mountains nearly to the western limit
Of China proper.
1t was a colossal work and ranks with
the grand canal of China and the pyra.
mids Of Egypt us among the most stu
pcndOus of human achievements. 1t
has a length of over 1000 miles. count
Ing the various sinuOsities and the dOu.
bic and triple walls built in few
places. notably to the north of the prov
inces of Pcchili and Shansi. When we
consider that this wall had an average
height of about thirty feet and a mean
width Of about twenty-five feet. and
that It IL supposed to have contained
about 1OO,OOO,OOO cubic meters Of solid
masonry. we may gain some idea Of the
enormous labor involved In its con.
struction. But It did not take very
great many years to build It. The
Emperor Chi HOangti was very sure he
needed that wall when he began the
great work twenty-One centuries ago.
II cost as much In human life and treas.
urc as n great war, and cost oil the
more because 80 much haste was made
to erect 1t. Several hundred thousand
men IRE believed to have persisted
while they were mt work on the wall
which was to be ut once n protection
against their country's enemies and a
memorial Of their martyrdom.
A great many writer's have spoken Of
this wall rs n great waste of human
energy. This IL q mistake. 1t IL Ger.
tain that the wall was worth to ancient
China fur more than It ever cost her.
From military point of view II proved
to be Of prime Importance. There Is
no doubt that for some centuries the
hordes of Mongolia were stopped on
their war expeditions ut the foot Of this
wall which marked the southern edge
of their land. for the wall was nothing
more or less thnn an immense FORTH.
cation, the greatest the world ever saw.
and there were plenty Of Chinese sol.
tllcrs to man It. Scattered all along the
top of the wall were sentincls within
communicating distance of one another.
and no enemy could approach without
these scntinels signalling the fnct all
along the frontier. Every gate In the
wall had It's garrison and every noun.
tain pass drought which the wall was
built had Its military camp. Towns
were built and agriculture developed
! along the wall IN order to supply the
needs Of the soldiers, and this fact In
itself was protection to China, as II
increased the density of population
along the frontier. For fourteen cen
turtles the wall helped to protect the
empire from Its northern foes. Then
came the great cOnquerOr of Asia.
Gcnghis Khan. who forced the mighty
rampant China had reared, and from
that day the wall ceased forever to be
of any strategic value.
For long stretches the wall has now
almost entirely disappeared. Millions
of tons of material have been torn from
It to serve the purposes Of the nearby
inhabitants. The mere wear AMI tear
of the ages alone would have topplcd
much of II In ruins. The time was
when It was u crime punishable with
death to so much rs scratch It with Il
pin. Yet II II doubtful II to-day mucl
of the original wall IL left. What Il
now seen of II IL the patchwork Of til,
centuries during the time when tn,
wall was Chlna's great bulwark to til,
north.