The Great Wall, one of the most representative historical heritage of the Chinese nation, is a magnificent landscape that stretches across the northern part of China. Built over 2,000 years from the Qi state in the Spring and Autumn period to the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, this Great Wall was the largest and longest ground military project in ancient China.
According to the History of Ming, it cost a lot to build the Great Wall. The amount of silver spent on the construction of the Great Wall was enormous, and the sacrifices of the workers were incalculable. Since the Ming Dynasty, the construction of the Great Wall has stopped. However, today, the United States and Japan have tried to imitate the Great Wall, but they have failed. This is because the cost of replicating the Great Wall is too high.
When studying the cost of building the Great Wall, we take the Ming Great Wall built during the Ming Dynasty as an example. The Ming Dynasty was the peak period of the construction of the Great Wall on the mainland, and its scale, time span, and level of construction far exceeded that of previous dynasties. The construction of the nine sides of the Ming Dynasty began in the early Ming Dynasty and was finally completed in Jiajing. This defensive line covered a vast territory from Liaodong to Ningxia and Gansu from east to west, forming a large and complete defensive system.
The town of Shanxi was an important link in the nine sides of the Ming Dynasty, responsible for the security of the territory of Gyeonggi and Belly. The construction of this section of the Great Wall wall in the Shanxi region was very difficult. According to the History of Ming, even when the Great Wall was built just ten kilometers, 23 workers died in the course of their work, at a cost of thousands of taels of silver.
The number of bricks required for the construction of the Great Wall is enormous. Depending on the specific region, the size of the bricks also varies. In addition to bricks, mortar was needed to build the Great Wall, which was another expensive expense. It is estimated that building a modern Great Wall could cost about 420 billion yuan. And if you take into account other related facilities and labor costs, this figure may be even more staggering, even more than 500 billion yuan.
The motivation of the United States to build the "Great Wall" is different from China's historical background, they are mainly built for national security. After 911, the U.S. government decided to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall to prevent similar terrorist attacks from happening again, although expensive and not actually deterring illegal immigration. Similarly, Japan considered building a tsunami fortress after many earthquakes and tsunami disasters, but this proposal was opposed due to environmental damage and other issues.
To sum up, the Great Wall is a unique miracle in China and an architectural feat that is difficult to replicate in all countries in the world. It not only represents the wisdom and courage of the Chinese nation, but also an important military defense system in Chinese history. The cost of building the Great Wall is huge, but it is also worth the money. In contrast, attempts by other countries to build similar Great Walls have failed, perhaps because the cost and cost of replicating the Great Wall is unbearable.
Resources:
1. Record
2. "History of Ming"
3. Deng Shusheng, "The American Dream" of the Century: Immigration and Racial Contradictions in the United States (1607-2000)
4. Du Juan, "Historical Traceability of Illegal Immigration at the US-Mexico Border"
5. Genichiro Takahashi, "Nuclear Power Plant in Love"
6. Kenzaburo Oe, "Late Styles"
