The Historical Effects of the Great Wall of China

The 21st century has been called “the century of Asia,” and China is leading the way for the emerging Asian powerhouses today. Indeed, the economic clout that China is already wielding in the international marketplace, together with those of Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and others are reshaping the global economy and all signs indicate these trends will continue into the foreseeable future. Although all of the countries of Asia have a rich, proud, lengthy and colorful history, China stands out for one reason in particular: its Great Wall. Despite its antiquity, the Great Wall of China remains a powerful influence on modern Chinese thought and culture, as well as providing a valuable destination of tourists from all over the world who want to experience this defining aspect of China for themselves. Taken together, these issues suggest that the Great Wall of China warrants further analysis to identify these effects and what they mean for the Western world as well as the people of Asia in general and the Chinese people in particular. This paper provides a review of the relevant literature to identify the historical effects of the Great Wall of China, followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.

When most people think of the Great Wall of China, it is largely limited to one of just a few iconic views that are routinely presented to the Western world by the mainstream press. One such view, illustrated in Figure 1, hardly does the Great Wall justice, though, for a number of important reasons that are discussed further below.

Figure 1. Representative iconic view of the Great Wall of China

Source: medievalnews.blogspot.com

This neat and tidy segment of the Great Wall with its ...

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...nked the people of China together over the centuries in ways that no other architectural structure, irrespective of size, could accomplish.

Works Cited

“Brief Description of the Great Wall of China.” 2011. UNESCO. [online] available: http:// whc.unesco.org/en/list/438.

“Great Wall of China.” 2011. TravelChina.com. [online] available: http://www.travelchina guide.com/china_great_wall/.

Silverberg, Robert. The Great Wall of China. Philadelphia: Chilton Books, 1965.

Squire, Gary. 2007. “What I Learned about Teaching at the Great Wall of China: You Wouldn't Think a Veteran Teacher with More Than Three Decades of Experience Would Need to Reinvent Himself and His Methods, but Half a World Away, Mr. Squire Did Just That.” Phi Delta Kappan 88(7): 530-531.

Worth, Cristopher. 2007, March. ‘China's True Wonder of the World.” World and I 22(3): 37.