长城介绍英文

旅游英语作业

Introduction of Badaling Great Wall

The Great Wall, winding across the north of China, is one of the wonders of

the

world.

Constructed

by

the

ancient

Chinese,

it

is

an

expression

of

Chinese culture./ n, a

The Wall has a history of more than 2,500 years. Its construction began

in the 7th Century B.C. during the Warring States Period. Many dukedoms

built walls in Central China to protect themselves from each other and from

the “barbarians.”

Walls were built by the states of Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao,

Wei

and

Qin;

these

seven

dukedoms

conquered

many

other

small

states

and became the seven most powerful in the Warring States Period.” When

Qin

Shihuang,

the

first

emperor

in

Chinese

history,

unified

China

and

established the first centralized feudal empire (221-206 BC), he ordered that

these

northern

sections

of

the

wall

be

linked

together

into

one

defensive

bulwark.

Emperor

Qin

Shihuang

gave

general

Meng

Tian

an

army

of

300,000 forced laborers and the mission to consolidate the Qin Great Wall

from Lintao in Gansu Province in the west to Liaodong in the Han

Great Wall started from Lop Nor in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region

to Liaodong in the east--about 10,000 km and became the longest Great Wall

in

history.

The

Ming

Dynasty

was

the

last

in

Chinese

history

to

do

large-scale

construction

of

the

Great

Wall;

and

most

of

the

walls

we

see

today

were

built

in

the

Ming

Dynasty.

It

is

worth

mentioning

that

in

history

some

minority

rulers,

such

as

rulers

of

Beiwei,

Beiqi,

Beizhou,

Dongwei, Jin and so on, also built parts of the Great Wall. Among them, the

Jin

dynasty

(1115-1234)

built

the

longest

Great

Wall,

which

stretches

for

about 2,500 km. So from the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States

Period

to

Ming

Dynasty,

more

than

20

states

or

empires

built

the

Great

Wall,

total

of

which

runs

for

about

100,000

li,

covering

17

provinces,

autonomous regions and cities. On the whole, the Great Wall ran for about

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旅游英语作业

100,000 li and has existed for 2000 years. It is roughly calculated that if the

bricks and soil used to build the Great Wall was built into a wall 5 m high

and 1 m thick, the wall can circle the earth 10 times.

Badaling

Great

Wall

is

the

wall

built

in

the

Ming

Dynasty.

Considering

its

construction

and

defenses,

it

can

be

regarded

as

an

excellent

representation

of

the

Ming

Dynasty

Great

Wall.

The

Ming

Dynasty

built

such

a

solid

wall

at

Badaling

primarily,

because

of

its

location--Badaling not only defends of the Royal Tombs of Ming Dynasty,

but

also

the

northwestern

gate

of

the

capital.

Shortly,

we

will

see

an

in

scription called “ Key to the Northern Gate.” The “Northern Gate” is the

gate of Beijing and “key” refers to its strategic importance, i.e., if this gate is

well defended, Beijing will be secure. To strengthen its defenses, the Ming

Dynasty had a policy to

“Heighten the Wall”. So the founder of the empire

sent his generals Xuda and Fengsheng to lead their soldiers to construct the

wall and sturdy gates. During the 270 years of the Ming Dynasty, the Great

Wall was constructed and then repaired for 18 times.

Finally a Great Wall

from

Yalu

River

of

Liaoning

Province

in

the

east

to

Jiayuguan

Pass

of

Gansu Province in the west has been built. This is what we have called the

10-thousand-li

Great

Wall

running

through

9

provinces,

autonomous

regions and cities. The architectural level and defensive ability of this wall

are incomparable in history. During the Ming Dynasty, rows of walls were

built

to

strengthen

the

defenses

and

in

certain

strategic

areas,

gates

have

been

built.

In

Shanxi

Province

there

are

4

rows

of

the

Great

Wall

with

passes and many rows of low walls in some strategic areas. For example, at

Yanmenguan

which

is

located

in

a

10-li

valley,

there

are

28

rows

of

stone

walls.

It

can

be

said

that

every

inch

of

soil

in

this

area

was

heavily

defended.

To

resist invasion, the Ming Dynasty stationed 900,000 soldiers along

the Great Wall and divided it into 9 defensive sections, in which a general

was sent to take charge. These defensive sections were called “towns.” The

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nine towns were: Liaodong, Jin, Xuanfu, Datong, Shanxi, Yansui, Ningxia,

Guyuan, and Gansu.

Juyongguan

was

first

built

during

the

Ming

Dynasty

(1368-1644)

and

has

northern

and

southern

gates,

outside

which

is

Wengcheng.

Ancient

Juyongguan

Pass

was

destroyed

but

in

recent

years,

it

has

restored

its

previous

splendor.

Yuntai

was

built

in

1342,

during

the

Yuan

Dynasty;

it

used

to

have

3

stone

towers,

but

they

were

destroyed

by

an

earthquake

between the Yuan and Ming Dynasty (circa 1368). Taian Temple was built

there but was destroyed by a fire in 1702. The remaining base, the present

Yuntai,

is

the

largest

remnant

tower

base

in

China;

it

is

one

of

the

most

important

historical

relics

of

hills

on

both

sides

used

to

be

covered with lush pines, which added great beauty to the hills. The location,

called

“Layers

of

Pines

in

Juyong,”

was

listed

as

one

of

the

eight

famous

scenes of Beijing in Jin Dynasty (1115-1234), but a huge fire in 1500, during

the Ming Dynasty, totally destroyed the forest. Although great efforts have

been

made

in

recent

years,

the

former

scenery

cannot

be

adequately

restored because of lack of rainfall. Some other famous scenes of Guangou,

such

as

“Commanding

Platform

of

Mu

Guiying

(a

famous

ancient

heroine),” “Fairy Bridge,” “Tanqin Valley” and so on cannot be restore

d.

Badaling

Great

Wall

is

a

subordinate

pass

of

the

Juyongguan

Pass

at

Jin

Town

and

belongs

to

the

defensive

area

called

a

“Road,”

which

runs

from

45

km

outside

Yellow

Flower

County

of

Xishuiyu

in

the

east

to

60

outside Zijin Pass of Jianzi Valley in the west, and from Wanping County

in

the

south

to

Xuanfu

Boundary

of

Tumuyi

in

the

north.

Guancheng

of

Jiayuguan Pass is located at the strategic passage to the north of Beijing and

Badaling is the northern gate of the strategic pass. On the south of Badaling,

there used to be 3 passes: Nankou, Juyonguan and Shangguan and together

with Badaling, constituted the four passes.

In

1505

during

the

Ming

Dynasty,

Badaling

was

constructed

as

an

enclosed

town,

called

“Guancheng”.

M

eanwhile,

in

the

strategic

passages

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