Photo: Dong Xuming
When did China start building the Great Wall? The construction of the Great Wall in China began 4300 years ago in the original commune, and its prototype was first called "barrier." The Huainan Zi Shi ZeXun says clearly: "The First Qiu of the Heavenly Son, the Order of the Hundred Officials, the Careful Cover of Tibet, the Order of the Situ, the Gathering of The Line, the Repair of the City Guo, the Police Gate Lu, the Repair of the Gate, the Repair of the Dragon, the Prudent Management of the Dragon, the Consolidation of the Seal, the Repair of the Border, the Completion of the Plug, and the Absolute Path." The "building borders and finishing the blockade" mentioned here has the element of building the Great Wall. "Huainanzi" also said: "The pole of the north, from the extreme of the poor summer in Jiuze, to the valley of Ling in the north, there are frozen ice, snow and hail frost, the wilderness of the floating water, the mound and the place of xuan, 12,000 miles." Its decree reads: 'Shen Qun forbidden, fixed closed, repaired obstacles, closed beams, forbidden to migrate outside...'. 1. "Huainanzi Shi Zexun", Jilin Literature and History Publishing House, 1993 edition, 260 pages. When Emperor Huan, one of the ancestors of the ancient humanities mentioned here, ruled the north, he ordered "repairing obstacles, passing the liang, and prohibiting the migration of foreign countries," and this "barrier and guanliang" should be the original Great Wall in the north, cutting off the invasion of the northern steppe peoples and prohibiting the people of the Central Plains from moving abroad.
The prototype of the Great Wall of the primitive commune, the barrier, has been passed down and used, even in the Spring and Autumn Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties, the Great Wall is still called a plug or obstacle.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the system of sub-feudalism was implemented, and many princely states were formed, and the continuous reproduction and development of these princely states could not get rid of the law of the weak and the strong, and the survival of the fittest was not freed, and the various princely states fought with each other, fought and fought with each other, fought and fought, and no longer obeyed the instructions and manipulations of the Zhou Dynasty, and were in a state of anarchy, so that the Central Plains developed into a chaotic dynasty, and the feudal states and feudal states also governed independently, without the core concept, and arbitrarily got rid of the control of the Zhou Dynasty.
Due to the emergence of the phenomenon of brotherly walls, the princely states have also correspondingly appeared the phenomena of strength, fighting force and fighting wisdom, and there have been marriage alliances. The contradictions between the princely states are complex, and the struggle for supremacy is mostly due to the distribution and competition for land area. Therefore, the demarcation of borders, the security of the homeland, and the effective handling of contradictions between countries have become the top priority of the country, and it is also necessary to draw up outstanding diplomats and flexible diplomatic means. But the final focus and thorny issues remain disputes over land boundaries, and of course, geographical environment and climatic conditions are mixed in. In view of this, some princely states built guarding the city, barriers and walls on the borders of the country, which is the prototype of the Great Wall, or can be seen as the early Great Wall of China, or can be said to be the "brotherly courtyard wall" between the princely states. ”
First, the construction of the Great Wall of Zhao. There are many records of the construction of the Great Wall of Zhao in the "Records of History": in the seventh year of Zhao Chenghou (368 BC), "Zhao invaded the Great Wall. "History", Zhonghua Bookstore, December 1987 edition, vol. 2, p. 718. It shows that the State of Zhao and the State of Qi are bounded by the Great Wall; in the seventeenth year of Zhao Suhou (333 BC), "Wei Huang, BuKe, building the Great Wall, History of the Great Wall", Zhonghua Bookstore, December 1987 edition, p. 1802. Huang County, or Huangcheng, belonged to Wei Prefecture, and the State of Zhao besieged Wei Prefecture and had to build a Great Wall at the border to prevent invasion. Later, Huangcheng eventually belonged to the State of Zhao. "Justice" Liu Bozhuangyun: This Great Wall "covers from the north of the clouds to the generation." That is, the Great Wall of Zhao runs from the north and west of Weizhou along Lingqiu, Hunyuan, Yingxian, Shanyin, Ningwu to the north of Lanzhou, and ends the Zhao boundary.
The "Chronicle of History" also states: "The land of changnan domain belongs to the danger of obstructing Zhangzhang and Fu, and the Great Wall is established." "History", Zhonghua Bookstore, December 1987 edition, p. 1806. This Great Wall should be north of (Tan) Zhangshui and bounded by Zhaonan.
The Chronicle of the Xiongnu records the Great Wall of Northern Zhao built by King Wuling of Zhao, saying that "since the Dynasty and the Yin Mountains, the highest que is the stopper". In 297 BC, King Wuling of Zhao built the Great Wall of Zhao in Wuzhou, and in addition, the State of Zhao also built the Great Wall of Gaoliusai, Yuliusai, and Wuyuansai. Sai is not only another name for the Great Wall, but also a name for the Combination of the Great Wall and the geographical unit.
Zhao Bei Great Wall Photo: Dong Xuming
Two. Construction of the Great Wall of Wei. The "Chronicle of History" records: "In the year of Xiao Yuan, the sixth powerful country east of Heshan was merged with Qi Wei, Chu Xuan, Wei Hui, Yan Mourning, Han Lai, and Zhao Chenghou. There are more than ten small countries in Huaisi. Chu and Wei bordered Qin. Wei built the Great Wall, from Zhengbinluo north of Shangjun", Zhonghua Bookstore, December 1987 edition, p. 202 BC, the State of Wei built the Great Wall, from Zheng County (present-day Huazhou District, Weinan City, Shaanxi Province) along the Luo River (present-day Luoshui) north, to Shangjun (present-day Suide County), about 500 kilometers. (The "Records of History" also says: In the nineteenth year of King Hui of Wei (352 BC), "The princely states surrounded our Xiangling Tomb, built the Great Wall, and saiguyang.") "History", Zhonghua Bookstore, December 1987 edition, volume II, p. 722. Xiangling refers to the mausoleum of The Duke Of Jin, the ruler of the Spring and Autumn Jin Dynasty, in present-day Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province. It shows that the Great Wall was built here at that time, and the present-day Guyang County in Inner Mongolia was regarded as an important stop and the Great Wall was built.
3. The construction of the Great Wall of Qi. The Bamboo Book Chronicle of the Spring and Autumn Warring States period has records of the tenth year of King Xianwang of Zhou (the twelfth year of King Hui of Wei, 357 BC) that "Long Jia Shuaishi built the Great Wall in the west" and that in the eighteenth year of King Xianwang of Zhou (351 BC), "Qi built a defense against the Great Wall". In addition, the historical book "Guan Zi Light and Heavy" records the sentence "Yang Luye of the Great Wall, Yin Qiye of the Great Wall", and according to the life of Guan Zhong and the reign of Duke Huan of Qi, the construction age of this Great Wall (Great Wall of Qi) should be between 685 BC and 645 BC. However, now the academic circles believe that the book "Guan Zi" is a work entrusted by later generations to Guan Zhong, and it is an article found in the "Hanshu Yiwen Zhi", so it cannot be concluded that the Great Wall of Qi is the earliest Great Wall of Spring and Autumn, but it is recorded in the "Xiaxian" section of the "Lü Shi Chunqiu" edited by Lü Buwei, the minister of the Qin Dynasty, that Wei Wenhou liked to treat the soldiers with courtesy, "So the southern victory over Jing is in Liandi, the eastern victory over Qi is in the Great Wall, the Qi Hou is in the Great Wall, and the Heavenly Sons are dedicated." This clearly tells people that there was the Great Wall of Qi during the reign of Marquis Wen of Wei (446 BC to 397 BC). The Marquis of Weiwen and himself were made Marquis of Qi around 403 BC. The "Water Commentary on dongwen water" also quotes the "Year of the Bamboo Secretary" as saying: "In the twelfth year of the Duke of Jin, the king ordered Han Jingzi, Zhao Liezi, and Zhai Yuanqi to enter the Great Wall. "The twelfth year of the Duke of Jin Lie, which is also the twenty-second year of King Weilie of Zhou (404 BC), can be used as evidence by the inscription on the Qiang bell excavated from the ancient tomb of Jincun in Luoyang. The inscription records this historical event in the sentence "Entering the Great Wall, first in Pingyin". "Pingyin" is the starting point of the western end of the Great Wall of Qi, that is, Pingyin City in Shandong. The "History of the Chu Dynasty" says: During the reign of King Xuan of Qi (319-301 BC), "shoot birds and the East China Sea, and build the Great Wall as a defense ... Then the east of the Great Wall is closed and the north of taishan is raised. "The Collected Histories of Yinyi (Liu Song Pei Xiao) Xu Guangyue: 噣, a work of 'independence'. Also, the eunuch. Cover, a 'benefit'. Yi County is in Le'an, and Gai County is in Taishan. There is a Great Wall in Lu County, Jibei, east to Haiye. "History of Suoyin" (Tang Sima Zhen) 噣, yin di. It is said that the big bird has a hook peck, and Ibizi also. Also, the sound of the disease, the word 遶也. Coverer, cover also. The archer surrounds the cover, so that there is no way to fly away, because the Great Wall is also defended, and the Great Wall should be in Jinan. "History of Justice" (Tang Zhang Shoujie) < Taishan County's record of > Yun: "There is the Great Wall in the northwest of Taishan, and the river trail is more than a thousand miles in Taishan, and the Lang Evil Terrace enters the sea. "Qi Ji" Yun: "King Xuan of Qi built the Great Wall on the top of the mountains, east to the sea, west to Jeju more than a thousand miles, to prepare for Chu." "The Great Wall starts from Jeju Pingyin County in the northwest, the Yuanhe River in the taishan mountains on the north gangshang, the economic state of Zichuan, that is, the southwest Of Yanzhou Bocheng County to the north, and the east to the Mizhou Lang Evil Terrace into the sea." "Ji Dai Ji" Yun: Qi has a huge defense of the Great Wall, enough for Saiye. The "History of Justice" says that from the great wall of Jeju to the east to the sea, the north of Taishan, and the south of the Yellow River to Chu. History, Zhonghua Bookstore, December 1987 edition, vol. 5, pp. 1730-1733. The "History of Su Qinlie" says: "There is a Great Wall in the west of Mount Tai, and the Yuanhe River passes through Mount Tai for a thousand miles, and reaches the Lang Evil Terrace and enters the sea.
The "Chronicle of History" also states: "In the seventh year of Chenghou (368 BC), he invaded Qi and reached the Great Wall. "History", Zhonghua Bookstore, 1987 edition, vol. VI, pp. 1799-1800. This means that seven years after Zhao Cheng, the State of Zhao invaded the State of Qi and attacked all the way to the Great Wall of Qi on the border with the State of Qi. "Justice" The west end of the Great Wall of Qi is in Binh Yin County, Jeju. "Taishan Chronicle" Yun: "There is a Great Wall in the northwest of Taishan, and the Yuanhe River passes through Taishan for more than a thousand miles, and Langya enters the sea." "The Chronicle of the Lands" Yun: "The invasion is thirty miles south of Mizhou." ”
Fourth, the construction of the Great Wall of Yan. In the first year of the reign of King Yan Zhao (311 BC), "Zhang Yi lobbied King Yan Zhao: The present king is not qin, Qin xia Jia Yunzhong, Jiuyuan, driving Zhao and attacking Yan, then Yishui and the Great Wall are not the great kings"; the "History of the Xiongnu Column Biography" contains: Yan Zhaowang 28 to 33 years (282 BC to 278 BC), "Yan also built the Great Wall, from Zhaoyang to Xiangping, placed shanggu, Yuyang, Right Beiping, Liaoxi, Liaodong County, to resist Hu."
Warring States YanFangcheng Photo: Dong Xuming
5. Construction of the Great Wall of Qin. The Chronicle of the Xiongnu records that in the thirty-fifth year of King Zhao of Qin (272 BC), "King Yiqu Rong and Empress Xuan were in turmoil and had two sons. Empress Xuan deceived and killed Yu Ganquan, the king of Yiqu Rong, and raised an army to destroy Yiqu. Therefore, Qin had Longxi, Beidi, and Shangjun, and built the Great Wall to resist Hu. ”
Warring States Qin Great Wall Photo: Dong Xuming
6. Construction of the Great Wall of Chu. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Fangcheng City of chu was also the prototype of the Great Wall and the continuation of the primitive society. Chufang City was built around the 7th century BC in the area from present-day Zhushan, Hubei to Biyang, Henan. The Zuo Chuan Gong (左傳僖公) says: "If the King is forced, the Fangcheng of the Chu State is the city, and the HanShui is the pond"; the Huainanzi says: "Fangcheng, the Great Wall of Chu during the Warring States period." From the north of Chengxian County in the south of the river, to the west follows Funiu Mountain, and turns to the watershed between the Bai River and the Turbulent River, which is now the north of Deng County. 2. "Translation notes on Huainanzi", Jilin Literature and History Publishing House, 1990 edition, page 40 of "Huainanzi" also contains: "In the past, the Chu people were in the south of Yuanxiang, north around Yingsi, west of Bashu, and east of Tanpi. Yingru is a pond, the Han River is a pond, the yuan is deng lin, and the square city is square. This means that the land of the Chu people is wrapped around the Fangcheng (Great Wall of Chu). 3. "Huainanzi Translation Notes", Jilin Literature and History Publishing House, 1990 edition, page 723. In addition, the "Zuo Chuan Shu Gong" records: In the spring of the twelfth year (648 BC), "the princely city wei ChuQiu Zhi Qi," that is, to prevent the Di people from invading, the princes built an outer city in the Chu Qiu of the Wei state, for which the Qinghua Jian "Lineage Year" also records that the Chu state built and used the Great Wall until the end of the Warring States period. Qinghua Jian's "Year of the Lineage" also mentions many times the trouble caused by the Great Wall to the invasion of the Jin people, which provides a documentary basis for us to understand the Great Wall of Chu.
Warring States Chu Great Wall Photo: Dong Xuming
The Chronicle of Qin Mentions that in the thirtieth year of King Huai of Chu (299 BC), "Qi envoy Zhangzi, Wei envoy Gongsun Xi, and Han envoy Violent Iris jointly attacked the city of Chu Fang". "Fangcheng" is undoubtedly a military defense project of the Chu State. The State of Chu has a record of "Fang Cheng", which is first found in the "Zuo Chuan", which says that in the sixteenth year of King Cheng of Chu (656 BC), the Duke of Qi Huan led the princes to cut down Chu, and the Chu State sent emissaries to persuade the Duke of Qi Huan to retire and said: "If the princes of The Emperor are desui, who dares to disobey." If the king is powerful, the Fangcheng of the Chu Kingdom is the city, and the Han Shui is the pool, although the crowd is useless. The Notes on the Water Classics by Northern Wei Li Daoyuan notes this: "Chu Sheng Zhou declined, controlled the southern lands, wanted to strengthen China, built more cities in the north, in order to force China, so it was called Wancheng, or Fangcheng"; it also said "Shenghong Cloud: There is an ancient city in the eastern boundary of Yedong... Hundreds of miles from north to south, it is called Fangcheng. It is called the Great Wall. And the "Book of Han And Geography" also has a record: "Ye, Chu Ye Gongyi." There is the Great Wall, known as the Square City". In this way, the first year of the construction of the Chu Great Wall was pushed to 656 BC, which is not the same as the founding date of the Great Wall of Qi recorded in the "Pipe", so some people believe that the earliest Great Wall appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period.
The "Chronicle of History" says: "Then there is no south outside fangcheng... Summer Road to the left. "History", Zhonghua Bookstore, December 1987 edition, vol. 5, p. 1748. "Justice" interpretation: Fangcheng Mountain is eighteen miles southwest of Xuzhou Ye County. It is known as Xuzhou, Yuzhou, etc. Yan Wei soldiers were under the great beam, and the soldiers of Chu Fangcheng were not allowed to go south to Yueye. Xu Guangyue of the "Collection of Interpretations": "The cover is the summer of The Summer of Jiangjiang." "Suo Yin" Xu Thought Jiang Xia, Not Also. Liu Shiyun "Chu Shi Zhu Xia, the road out of Fangcheng, people go north, to the west is left, so Yunxia Road to the left", which means Deye. "Justice" < includes the geographical chronicle > Yun: "Therefore, the Great Wall is 75 miles east of Dengzhou Neixiang County, south of Yong County, north of The Wing Wangshan, and where there is no soil, the stones are solid. The king of Chuxiang controlled the southern lands, fought for a strong China, and built more cities and the north, so as to adapt to Huaxia, and called it Fangcheng. "Press: This is said that the Liu clan is for the sake of gain, and there are few disciples in Yunyi, and it is not enough to prepare the way of Qin Yao and Wu Erguan.
7. Construction of the Great Wall of Zheng. The "Zuo Chuan Gong Gong" says: "Mei Chengzhi, Daimyoya, descendants do not forget" "Huaide Weining, Zongzi Weicheng", saying that Zheng Guo is discussing the construction of the Great Wall.
8. The Great Wall of Zhongshan. The "Chronicle of History" says: "In the sixth year of Zhao Chenghou (369 BC), Zhongshan built the Great Wall. "History", Zhonghua Bookstore, December 1987 edition, vol. 2, p. 718.
Zhongshan Great Wall Photo: Dong Xuming
Conclusion: All the Great Wall of the Warring States and the Great Wall of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, because they were built on the territory of the Heavenly Sons of the Zhou Dynasty, should be regarded as the courtyard walls of the brothers of the same ethnic group.
The Spring and Autumn Warring States belonged to the slave society, and the division of feudalism implemented by the brothers was opposed to the eyes, the weak and the strong, so that they swallowed the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, and finally the Qin State unified the world, and the original thousand years of the remaining princes' land collapsed and disappeared, and the courtyard wall (the Great Wall) built by the laborers and the people lost its function, and there were few left. However, Qin Shi Huang annexed the Seven Xiongs and only unified the Central Plains, which became a new confrontation with the powerful steppe peoples, and the greater China had a confrontation and collision between two major tribes, and the steppe tribes posed a threat to the Central Plains. Qin Shi Huang was carrying the "Record Book" sent by Fang Shi and saw the record on it: "It was 'Hu' who destroyed the Qin Dynasty. Therefore, 500,000 soldiers were requisitioned, and Pai Mengtian and Yang Wengzi were generals, leading troops to build the Great Wall, connecting quicksand to the west, Liaoshui to the north, and Korea to the east. Carts were being pulled around China to transport grain. This is from the content of the Huainan Zi: "The Emperor of Qin recorded the picture, see his biography: 'Hu Ye, the deceased Qin. 'Because of the death of half a million, the Duke of Meng Weng and Yang Wengzi will build the Great Wall. It belongs to quicksand in the west, hits Liaoshui in the north, and knots Korea in the east, and the counties in China pull the car and pay it. "Translation of Huainanzi", Jilin Literature and History Publishing House, 1990 edition, p. 885 "Therefore, the Qin Dynasty used the original Great Wall of Qin, Zhao, and Yan to re-plan and design the Great Wall along the 40° north latitude line of 400 mm of rainfall, so that there was the Great Wall in the true sense of Chinese history, and the garrisons at both ends of Jiayuguan and Shanhaiguan were accurately built on the 40° north latitude line without a coordinate map, of which the Middle Great Wall floated up and down on this line. With such a Great Wall, there is also a big pattern of the Chinese nation, the Great Wall has become the backbone and spiritual symbol of the Chinese nation, the Great Wall shoulders the two civilizations of the grassland and the Central Plains, the Great Wall protection continues the rise and development of Chinese civilization; the grassland nomads and the farming peoples of the Central Plains go hand in hand under the regulation of the Great Wall, thus contributing to the great unification of multi-ethnic groups and multiculturalism.
Zhao Qinhan Great Wall Photo: Dong Xuming
Author: Liu Zhiyao
Member of the Chinese Society for the History of the Southern and Northern Dynasties of the Wei and Jin Dynasties,
Director of the Great Wall Society of China,
Member of Shanxi Writers Association,
Vice President of Datong Great Wall Cultural Tourism Association
Shanxi is one of the ten masters of conservation research on the Great Wall
Deputy Director of the Great Wall of China Cultural Research Center
Editor: Liu Yi
Review: Yuan Jianqin
Source: Datong Great Wall Cultural Tourism