Spanning over 13,000 miles with both natural and constructed defenses, the Great Wall of China is the product of continuous building and rebuilding across two millennia. This monumental structure embodies the vision, meticulous planning, and immense effort of countless individuals, ranging from emperors and high-ranking officials to the soldiers, farmers, and prisoners who physically constructed it with earth, brick, and stone. While specific leaders, such as a third-century B.C. emperor who unified the nation, a Ming Dynasty ruler who strengthened its borders, or even a modern Communist leader from the late 20th century, may be considered key contributors to the Wall’s current form, the most accurate depiction is that the Great Wall is the accumulation of innumerable, interconnected projects with no singular architect.

The Unifier and His Legacy: The Qin Emperor’s Great Wall

Qin Shihuang, the emperor who briefly unified much of China from 221 to 206 B.C., is widely considered the first major builder of the Great Wall. In 215 B.C., he commanded General Meng Tian, according to the first-century B.C. historian Sima Qian, to lead over 100,000 soldiers to the empire’s northern border and construct a “long wall” extending “over a distance of more than 10,000 li” (approximately 3,100 miles).

However, Qin Shihuang wasn’t the originator of wall construction in that area, and his walls differed significantly from the brick and stone structures recognized today. These early walls were constructed using a “tamped earth” method, involving the compaction of soil and gravel layers between temporary wooden forms.

The arduous nature of wall construction gave rise to numerous folk tales over the centuries, including unsubstantiated stories of workers being entombed within the wall. One well-known narrative tells of Meng Jiangnü, whose husband was conscripted to work on the Qin wall. Upon reaching the wall to visit him, she discovered his death. Her sorrowful tears caused a section of the wall to crumble, exposing his remains for her to retrieve and bury properly.

Even after Emperor Qin’s death and burial, guarded by his terracotta army, his wall remained influential. During the ensuing Han Dynasty, both Chinese rulers and neighboring northern peoples recognized Qin’s “long wall” as a significant demarcation line between empires and cultures.

The Ming Dynasty’s ambitious new wall

Successive emperors throughout history undertook localized wall construction endeavors, while the concept of a continuous “long wall” endured. Intriguingly, a Song Dynasty stone map of China from 1040 portrayed the Great Wall as a single, unbroken structure stretching from inner Mongolia to the Gulf of Bohai, a representation that did not reflect its physical reality. (Centuries later, the first modern European map of China would perpetuate this same depiction).

The majority of the Great Wall visible today originates from the Ming Dynasty, which lasted 276 years and commenced in 1368 after the fall of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The initial Ming constructions began in the west, utilizing traditional rammed-earth fortification techniques. By the mid-16th century, under the Jiajing Emperor, Zhu Houcong, wall construction intensified eastward, prioritizing the creation of more resilient and intricate stone battlements that followed the rugged terrain north of Beijing.

However, even these celebrated Ming fortifications were not the result of a unified plan conceived by a single emperor. Instead, they represented a series of independent projects executed by various rulers in response to evolving conditions along China’s northern frontier. While extensive documentation exists regarding the generals and officials overseeing these key sections, scant records remain concerning the laborers who actually built the Ming portions of the Great Wall. These workers likely comprised a combination of soldiers, conscripts, prisoners, and peasants, with the Ming fortifications also requiring a supplementary workforce of skilled stonemasons.

While the Ming Wall partially followed the course of Qin’s 3,100-mile barrier, Ming leaders seldom referred to it as a “long wall.” They favored terms like “border walls” or garrisons, perhaps in an attempt to distance themselves from the legendary human suffering associated with the Qin wall project.

Despite its strength and longevity, the Ming Wall, like its predecessors, proved not to be invincible. Raiders successfully attacked vulnerable, undefended points, and ultimately, the dynasty fell in 1644 when a Ming general permitted the Manchu army to pass through the Great Wall at Shanhai Pass, paving their way to Beijing.

Sharing the Great Wall with the world

The Qing Dynasty, established by Manchu invaders, governed China until 1912, when the last emperor stepped down. Earlier, in 1919, Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China, contemplated the Great Wall’s profound impact on his nation’s trajectory, stating that without its protection, China’s flourishing development would not have been possible.

The rise of Communism saw the Great Wall reimagined as a metaphor befitting the new regime. In the mid-1930s, during Mao Zedong’s Long March, Tian Han’s “March of the Volunteers,” which later became China’s national anthem, urged the people to “build our new Long Wall” with their very lives.

During the 1950s, Guo Moruo, a poet who became a government official, spearheaded the initial modern effort to restore sections of the Great Wall. The Badaling section near Beijing was prioritized and opened to tourists in 1957.

In 1984, Deng Xiaoping called upon the Chinese people to “love our country and restore the Great Wall.” This initiative simultaneously aimed to repair Ming Dynasty-era sections and reinforce the Great Wall’s status as a symbol of national unity. The Great Wall’s symbolic transformation—from a barrier excluding outsiders to a symbol of welcome—appeared complete when it hosted events during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

According to historian Carlos Rojas, the Great Wall, as a continuously evolving series of fortifications, has been constructed and reconstructed for over two thousand years. Its enduring legacy and current status as a global icon stems from its ability to hold diverse meanings for different people.