The truth about the Great Wall

The truth about the Great Wall

What would later come to be known as the Great Wall formed as a response to increased Mongol raiding after Esen was killed in 1455. Having failed to capitalize on the capture of Zhengtong, Esen lost the political momentum that had held the disparate Mongol groups together. The ensuing civil war spread into Chinese territory as warring factions sought economic resources to support their military efforts. One faction moved into the Ordos region, now no longer supervised by a Ming garrison, placing the Mongols squarely against Ming territory. The Mongols still wanted to present tribute, and receive gifts in return, and to trade with the Ming; failing that, they raided. Meanwhile, the Ming court was Itself distracted by Zhengtong’s return to power in a coup d’état in 1457. Jingtai died of illness or was poisoned, and Zhengtong resumed as emperor with a new reign period: Tianshun.

It was difficult to establish a consistent policy toward the Mongols given their ongoing wars, a situation further exacerbated by Tianshun’s weak leadership. A proposal to launch a campaign to retake the Ordos and establish garrisons, fortified positions, and agriculture, and so maintain control of the area, was approved, but nothing came of it. Further proposals for offensive action were sanctioned and left unfulfilled. In the interim, some commanders suggested pulling back to more hilly areas to the south that were easier to defend. This too was rejected. In 1471, Yu Zijun submitted a plan to build wall between Yansui and Qingyang to aid in defense.

A wall-based defense was expensive to construct and of questionable  effectiveness. Yet the court did not have the will to devote the economic and military resources necessary to launch its desired offensive. Wall building won out because it was cheaper than any offensive; the first two long walls were finished in 1474, one 129 miles long and the other 566 miles long. Over the next century more and more walls were built; in many places there were actually two lines, with forts and watchtowers, evolving into what we now know of as the Great Wall. Although the walls were useful, they were never intended as a complete solution to the Mongol problem. The difficulty was that the same economic, political and military problems continued to obtain, leading successive generations through the same debate that put additional resources into wall building. The short-term question was how to make the wall system more effective, since the long-term problem of the Mongols could not, apparently, be solved.

Peter Lorte. War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China 900-1795. Routledge. London and New York. 2005. P. 124

About me: I have spent 30 years in China, much of the time traveling and studying this country’s culture. My most popular research focuses on Chinese characters (Chinese Characters: An Easy Learning Method Based on Their Etymology and Evolution), Matriarchy in China (there is a book with this title), and minority cultures (The Naxi of Southwest China). In my travels, I have specialized in Yunnan, Tibet, the Silk Road, and other lesser-known places. Feel free to write to me if you’re planning a trip to China. The agency I collaborate with offers excellent service at an unbeatable price. You’ll find my email below.

jinuo book

Last posts

The top 10 gods in 20th century Sichuan
The top 10 gods in 20th century Sichuan

he top 10 deities in 20th century Sichuan And we assume that there will be no major differences with the most popular ones in other parts of China, except on the coast, where the Empress of Heaven (Tianhuo), patron goddess of sailors, would be in the leading...

Notes on Chinese Medicine
Notes on Chinese Medicine

Notes on the Chinese Medicine Chinese medicine is the most important non-Western medicine, and it is the only one of the medicines developed by non-Western countries that has managed, throughout history, to face the continuous achievements and advances of Western...

The world of Shanghai courtesans
The world of Shanghai courtesans

The world of Shanghai courtesans The Sing-song girls of Shanghai. A novel by Han Bangqing. The action of this novel takes place, as its title indicates, in the world of the singing girls of Shanghai, of which it is also a description. The singing girls were a type of...

Diao Yinan-The Lake of the Wild Goose
Diao Yinan-The Lake of the Wild Goose

Diao Yinan-The Lake of the Wild Goose In short, a film to watch and enjoy. An original plot, very well handled, moves the protagonists through degraded urban environments, in which the mastery of the artistic team manages to endow a naive beauty. The action begins at...

The Grand Canal of China
The Grand Canal of China

The Grand Canal of China The Grand Canal was first built during the Sui Dynasty (581-618). Its original design resembled a "Y" whose leg would point west, as it connected the rich lands of the Yangtze River delta with the capital Luoyang on one side and the capital...

Basic Geography of China
Basic Geography of China

Basic Geography of China The People's Republic of China, with an area of more than 9,600,000 km2 is the third largest country on our planet, after Russia and Canada. The name China derives from the name given to it by its neighbors, because the Chinese call their own...