Along with the Egyptian pyramids, the Chinese Wall is considered one of the greatest architectural structures that have survived to this day. She owns many different records, which are unlikely to ever be beaten. A national treasure of China and a surviving wonder of the world for the rest of humanity, the wall has long attracted the brightest minds in world history and archeology.
With regard to the Chinese Wall, numerous theories, hypotheses, and assumptions have been reliably proven, which, at first, seemed like a utopia. But in recent decades, scientists have been haunted by the question of who actually built this very wall? Why is "authorship" assigned to the Chinese nation by default, when a number of facts say the exact opposite?
Some features of the wall will help to understand the grandeur and scale of this structure. It is officially considered (although not proven in fact) that the beginning of construction falls on the 3rd century BC. e. The work involved 1/5 of the then population of China. This is more than 1 million people.
Its total length, including all branches, is 21,196 kilometers. This is approximately half the length of the equator of the globe. The thickness of the wall is about 5–8 meters, depending on the site. The height is also not the same - in the region of 7-10 meters. Besides:
- the total number of people involved in construction exceeded 2 million - about half the population;
- during the construction period, more than 300 thousand people died / died from various diseases, malnutrition, water shortages and other things;
- at first it was not a wall at all, but disparate structures, which were interconnected much later;
- The wall is a world cultural heritage site and is under the protection of UNESCO.
Myths and misconceptions
Naturally, throughout its history, such a grandiose building in every sense could not but be the object of constant delusional hypotheses, conjectures, and even outright untruths. What is worth only that famous newspaper duck, launched by American journalists on June 25, 1899, according to which the Chinese government decided to tear down the wall in order to improve trade with other countries. Allegedly, the wall interfered a lot, so they decided to build a road in its place.
This disinformation was instantly picked up by a large number of American newspapers (the "duck" was launched from Denver), and then the news was spread by European newspapers. In those days, information was transmitted many times slower than today, so falsification wandered around the world for a long time. The most famous misconceptions also include:
- the visibility of the wall with the naked eye from the surface of the moon - according to approximate estimates, this is equivalent to the fact that a person could see a hair from a distance of 3 kilometers;
- the visibility of the wall with the naked eye from the Earth's orbit - despite the testimony of numerous astronauts who allegedly saw the wall from space, this has not been proven for certain by anyone;
- the total mobilization for construction caused popular unrest, which is the reason for the fall of one of the most powerful Chinese Qin dynasties - in fact, participation in the work was forced, and any discontent was severely punished.
But, perhaps, the most interesting hypothesis, which has not yet been proven by anyone (as well as not disproved), puts the sole rights of the Chinese to the Great Wall under a question mark. Evidence is given that it was not built by the Chinese at all, as is commonly believed. And, I must say, some of this evidence looks quite plausible and exhaustive.
The essence of the hypothesis that casts doubt on the rights of the Chinese to the wall
The original version, which is official to this day, was that the wall was erected by the Chinese in the form of a defensive structure that prevents the constant raids of nomads from neighboring countries. Everything coincides: the wall ran along the entire perimeter of ancient China, which, being an important trading center, suffered from attacks by various groups. But one fact does not give scientists rest: the original construction of the wall made it convenient to attack the territory of China, and did not imply strengthening its defense. Why did the Chinese build a wall from which it would be easier for their enemies to attack? There is no answer yet. The so-called loopholes on one part of the wall are directed into the territory of China, and another state stretched behind them. That is, it is logical that the wall was built by another people (peoples) for the war with the Middle Kingdom. 
Wall builders - alternative version
The most popular version - the construction of the wall was made by the people living in the ancient state of Tartaria. Even the family ties of this people with the Slavs are indicated. By the way, numerous archaeological discoveries and finds, coupled with the design (location) of the wall, only confirm this version. But so far, scientists have not been able to work in this direction. Causes:
- the Chinese authorities at all times prevented the study of the wall;
- due to constant restorations and natural destruction, many facts of historical value have become inaccessible.
SOME Russian researchers (President of the Academy of Fundamental Sciences A.A. Tyunyaev and his associate, Honorary Doctor of the University of Brussels V.I. Semeyko) express doubts about the generally accepted version of the origin of the protective structure on the northern borders of the state of the Qin dynasty. In November 2006, in one of his publications, Andrei Tyunyaev formulated his thoughts on this topic in the following way: “As you know, to the north of the territory of modern China there was another, much more ancient civilization. This has been repeatedly confirmed by archaeological discoveries made, in particular, on the territory Eastern Siberia. Impressive evidence of this civilization, comparable to Arkaim in the Urals, not only has not yet been studied and comprehended by world historical science, but has not even received a proper assessment in Russia itself.
As for the so-called "Chinese" wall, it is not quite right to speak of it as an achievement of the ancient Chinese civilization. Here, to confirm our scientific correctness, it is sufficient to cite only one fact. LOOPHOUSES on a significant part of the wall ARE NOT DIRECTIONAL TO THE NORTH, BUT TO THE SOUTH! And this is clearly seen not only in the most ancient, not reconstructed sections of the wall, but even in recent photographs and in works of Chinese drawing.
It is generally accepted that they began to build it in the 3rd century BC. to protect the state of the Qin dynasty from the raids of the "northern barbarians" - the nomadic people of the Xiongnu. In the 3rd century AD, during the Han Dynasty, the construction of the wall was resumed and it was extended to the west.
Over time, the wall began to collapse, but during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), according to Chinese historians, the wall was restored and strengthened. Those sections of it that have survived to our time were built mainly in the 15th-16th centuries.
Over the three centuries of the reign of the Manchu Qing Dynasty (since 1644), the protective structure dilapidated and almost everything collapsed, since the new rulers of the Celestial Empire did not need protection from the north. Only in our time, in the mid-1980s, restoration of sections of the wall began as material evidence of the ancient origin of statehood in the lands of Northeast Asia.
Earlier, the Chinese themselves made a discovery about the belonging of ancient Chinese writing to another people. There are already published works proving that these people were the Slavs of Aria.
In 2008, at the First International Congress "Pre-Cyrillic Slavic Writing and Pre-Christian Slavic Culture" in Leningrad state university named after A.S. Pushkina Tyunyaev made a report "China is the younger brother of Russia", during which he presented fragments of Neolithic ceramics from the territory
eastern part of northern China. The signs depicted on ceramics did not look like Chinese characters, but showed almost complete coincidence with the Old Russian runic - up to 80 percent.
Based on the latest archaeological data, the researcher expresses the opinion that during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, the population of the western part of Northern China was Caucasoid. Indeed, throughout Siberia, up to China, mummies of Caucasians are found. According to genetic data, this population had the Old Russian haplogroup R1a1.
This version is also supported by the mythology of the ancient Slavs, which tells about the movement of the ancient Rus in an easterly direction - they were led by Bogumir, Slavunya and their son Scythian. These events are reflected, in particular, in the Book of Veles, which, let's make a reservation, is not recognized by academic historians.
Tyunyaev and his supporters draw attention to the fact that the Great Wall of China was built in a similar way to European and Russian medieval walls, the main purpose of which is protection from firearms. The construction of such structures began no earlier than the 15th century, when cannons and other siege weapons appeared on the battlefields. Before the 15th century, the so-called northern nomads did not have artillery.
Pay attention to which side the sun is shining.
ON THE BASIS of these data, Tyunyaev expresses the opinion that the wall in eastern Asia was built as a defensive structure marking the border between two medieval states. It was erected after an agreement was reached on the delimitation of territories. And this, according to Tyunyaev, is confirmed by the map of that
the time when the boundary between Russian Empire and the Qing Empire passed along the wall.
We are talking about a map of the Qing Empire in the second half of the 17th-18th centuries, presented in the academic 10-volume " world history". That map shows in detail the wall that runs exactly along the border between the Russian Empire and the Empire of the Manchu Dynasty (Qing Empire).
There are other translations from the French phrase "Muraille de la Chine" - "a wall from China", "a wall delimiting from China". Indeed, in an apartment or in a house, we call the wall that separates us from our neighbors a neighbor's wall, and the wall that separates us from the street - outer wall. We have the same thing with the name of the borders: the Finnish border, the Ukrainian border... In this case, the adjectives indicate only the geographical location of the Russian borders.
It is noteworthy that in medieval Russia there was the word "whale" - knitting poles that were used in the construction of fortifications. So, the name of the Moscow district Kitay-gorod was given in the 16th century for the same reasons - the building consisted of a stone wall with 13 towers and 6 gates...
According to the opinion enshrined in official version history, the Great Wall of China began to be built in 246 BC. under Emperor Shi Huangdi, its height was from 6 to 7 meters, the purpose of construction was protection from northern nomads.
Russian historian L.N. Gumilyov wrote: “The wall stretched for 4,000 km. Its height reached 10 meters, and watchtowers rose every 60-100 meters. He also noted: “When the work was completed, it turned out that all armed forces China is not enough to organize an effective defense on the wall. In fact, if a small detachment is placed on each tower, then the enemy will destroy it before the neighbors have time to gather and give help. If, however, large detachments are spaced less often, then gaps are formed through which the enemy will easily and imperceptibly penetrate into the interior of the country. A fortress without defenders is not a fortress.”
Moreover, the loophole towers are located on the South side, as if the defenders repelled attacks from the NORTH ????
Andrey Tyunyaev offers to compare two towers - from the Chinese wall and from the Novgorod Kremlin. The shape of the towers is the same: a rectangle, slightly narrowed upwards. From the wall inside both towers there is an entrance blocked by a round arch, lined with the same brick as the wall with the tower. Each of the towers has two upper "working" floors. Round-arched windows were made in the first floor of both towers. The number of windows on the first floor of both towers is 3 on one side and 4 on the other. The height of the windows is approximately the same - about 130-160 centimeters.
And what does a comparison of the preserved towers of the Chinese city of Beijing say with medieval towers Europe? The fortress walls of the Spanish city of Avila and Beijing are very similar to each other, especially in that the towers are located very often and have practically no architectural adaptations for military needs. Peking towers have only an upper deck with loopholes, and are laid out at the same height as the rest of the wall.
Neither the Spanish nor the Peking towers show such a high resemblance to the defensive towers of the Chinese Wall, as the towers of the Russian Kremlin and fortress walls show. And this is an occasion for reflection for historians.
Photos from open sources
The most grandiose wonder of the world - the Great Wall of China, which has a length of almost nine thousand kilometers, is perceived today by us far from being a fortification against enemy raids, but only as a unique ancient monument. For this reason, few people think, but on which side of this wall were those very enemies?
Photos from open sources
The Chinese Wall was not built by the Chinese
But in 2011, British archaeologists unearthed an unknown part of the Chinese Wall, and came to extreme amazement: its loopholes were directed towards modern China. It turns out that the famous wall was not built by the Chinese, then by whom and from whom?
From the north of Ancient China lived nomadic tribes who could hardly build such a grandiose structure. And in general, scientists considered that even with modern technologies the construction of such a wall would require laying tens of thousands of kilometers of railways, using hundreds of thousands of machines, cranes and other equipment, leaving tens of millions of people and spending at least a hundred years on all this.
In ancient times, there were no such opportunities, which means that it took more than one thousand years to build a giant wall, in comparison with which even the Egyptian pyramids seem like toys in a sandbox. Why and who needed it, because it is meaningless from both an economic and a military point of view. But someone built this wall, most likely with higher technology than we have today. But who? And for what?
Photos from open sources
The Chinese wall was built by the Slavs
The medieval geographical atlas of Abraham Ortelius, released back in 1570, helped answer this question. It could be seen that modern China is divided into two parts - southern China and server Catai. It was between them that a wall was laid, which, apparently, was built by the inhabitants of the mysterious Tartaria, which occupies the territory of Siberia and the Far East modern Russia and northern part of modern China.
The ancient vessels found in the northern provinces of China back in the sixties of the last century, but deciphered quite recently, completely shed light on this mystery. Paradoxical as it may seem, they were written in runic - ancient Slavic writing. Yes, and in the ancient treatises of China, they often talk about white people who live in northern lands and communicate directly with the gods. These were the ancient Slavs, the descendants of Hyperborea, who lived in Tartaria. It was they who built the Great not Chinese, but the Slavic wall. By the way, on the rune the word "china" means only "high wall".
The truth about the Chinese wall is not needed by the powerful of this world
But against whom was this "high wall" built? It turns out that against the race of the Great Dragon, with which the White race of the Russians, who lived in Tartaria, fought for a long time. This battle at the level of two extraterrestrial civilizations ended with the great victory of the White race more than seven and a half thousand years ago. It is this date that the Slavs consider the beginning of the creation of the World, the ancient Slavic calendar began with it, which, to our regret, was canceled by Peter the Great.
Photos from open sources
And the fact that there was once a war of extraterrestrial civilizations, legends of many peoples of the world say, naturally, it is reflected in the traditions of the Slavic and Chinese people. So why didn't these civilizations leave any traces on Earth? It turns out that they did, and the Great Wall of China is not the only unique evidence of this. A lot of such artifacts have been found, but no one is in a hurry or even dares to publish all this data: firstly, then you need to rewrite all history and geography, and secondly, for many peoples, say, the same Americans or Chinese, this is not at all profitable .
Even we Russians cannot restore our true history - the history of the ancient Slavs, which, as it turns out, goes back not centuries, but millennia. However, see the new documentary"Ancient Chinese Russia", where you will find answers to these and many other questions that modern "fundamental" science is silent about.
Some saw this building in the photo, others visited, others dream of doing it. The information below will be of interest to many.
Can this gigantic structure be seen from space?
Some of these facts about the Great Wall of China will certainly surprise you. Most of the information is not entirely accurate. Come up to the wall and see for yourself.
It is by far the longest man-made object on earth, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Asia, and a must-visit place when in China. But if your eyesight is not good enough to compete with modern optics, trust the astronauts and textbooks. The Great Wall of China is not visible from space.
Can this great landmark be seen from orbit?
Perhaps under ideal conditions, but all this is very doubtful. Despite the longstanding myth that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure visible from space, astronauts disagree. They mistake other objects for a wall, but so far have not been able to see the structure without the help of technology.
But in low orbit, the astronaut managed to capture a picture of the Great Wall, and all thanks to a good camera, but, again, this does not mean that it can be seen with the naked eye.
While NASA claims that tracks and many man-made objects, including roads, are visible from low orbit, entire continents blend together when viewed with the naked eye from space. When building the Great Wall, local materials were used in exactly the same color as the surrounding area, which makes it indistinguishable. 
Why did people think the Great Wall could be seen from space?
Back in 1754, before spaceships began to roam the universe, an English priest wrote that the wall was so long that it could be seen from the moon.
Sir Henry Norman, an English journalist, took up the idea in 1895. Both were impressed by the wall, but didn't know very much about space.
For decades, the idea that the Great Wall of China should be visible from space has been propagated by many writers. In the end, the concept became a common belief, but this myth has already been dispelled.
Is it really one solid building?
No no and one more time no. The Great Wall is actually a discontinuous network of walls and segments with spurs and branches. Sections have been built over the centuries, some of them only connected by simple berms and earth. Sometimes geological features were used to eliminate the insurmountable task of constructing such a landmark. In some places, all that remains are battlements and small towers, and the bricks from there have long been carried away, the walls have been converted.
How long is the Great Wall of China?
Since the structure consists of a large number of segments, many of which have been destroyed by people or the forces of nature, it is very difficult to obtain accurate data. GPS, ground-based radar technology, and satellite images were used to determine the true length of the wall. In addition, 290 km of the wall are covered in sandstorms and were not visible until 2009!
The overall result looks like this: the length of the structure is about 8851 km (this is the part that tourists are offered to visit, which we imagine). According to one study, all parts of the wall have a total length of more than 20,920 km.
It is estimated that 22 percent of the wall has disappeared over time.
Is it really one of the Seven Wonders of the World?
Despite its age and size, the Great Wall of China has never been listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Perhaps this is good. After all, the only remaining ancient miracle that has not been destroyed is the pyramid at Giza!
The Great Wall of China has been added to the so-called New Seven Wonders of the World since it won an online and telephone poll in 2007.
Is this structure meant to protect China?
Unfortunately, the hard work and monumental efforts did not quite pay off. The Great Wall never held back invaders from the north. She only slowed them down a bit. In fact, Manchu nomads regularly raided the wall for many years. They ended up controlling certain parts of China for 250 years.
Despite strategic setbacks, the wall served as a highway system for moving troops and supplies, and signal towers provided an important communications network. While raiders could bypass the wall, it did provide surveillance and act as a first warning system to alert others that invaders were advancing.
How old is the grandiose structure?
The construction of the early parts of the wall began over 2,000 years ago, but what we consider to be the Great Chinese wall, was built during the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century to deter Mongol raiders.
Didn't China's enemies destroy the Great Wall of China?
No. The greatest damage to the sections, oddly enough, was caused by farmers who took away fertile soil for landing. Many bricks and stones were salvaged and then used to build roads.
Is it possible to walk along the building on foot?
Yes. Some adventurers even walked or cycled the entire length of the wall. Much of it is in ruins, but tour companies offer options such as sleeping on the less popular sections of the wall.
Many sections of the wall are completely closed to restoration work or archaeological research, which will most likely never end if they ever begin. The Chinese government has been criticized for preventing access to segments of the Great Wall of China. It turned out that it was not so much concerned about the preservation of historical value, but about directing tourists to more popular sections of the wall, where souvenir stalls abound.
Is this place really crowded with tourists?
Don't believe everything you see in the photos. If you visit any section of the Great Wall of China outside of Beijing, especially in Badaling, you will be in the company of hundreds if not thousands of other visitors.
The wall is incredibly crowded during major holidays in China such as National Day and Chinese New Year.
Other interesting facts about the Great Wall of China
- Mao Zedong once said, "He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a hero."
- Dried wolf dung was burned for hours along the wall to send smoke signals of enemy movements.
- It is believed that sections of the Great Wall of China may contain the remains of workers who died during construction. Despite the huge loss of human lives during the construction of the structure, archaeologists have not found any human remains.
- Sections of the wall contain bullet holes from the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).
- The wheelbarrow is one of China's many inventions over the centuries. It was used to transport materials during the construction of the structure.
- President Nixon's historic 1972 visit to China included a tour of Badaling, where the most popular part of the wall is located (80 km north of Beijing).
- The Badaling section of the wall, the closest to Beijing and the most visited, was used as the end of the bike ride for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
- Over 25,000 watchtowers have been built throughout history.
- Being sent to work in this place was an extremely terrible sentence and was often a punishment for corrupt officials and criminals.
The Chinese Wall is a world famous monument. open it from a new side, without depriving of mysteries and attractiveness for researchers and history buffs.
- The construction of the Great Wall of China began in the reign of Emperor Shi Huang about two thousand years ago. It was not built all at once. Construction continued by the Han and Sui dynasties, and most of it was built thanks to the Ming rulers in the 17th century.
- Chinese historians claim that the construction of the wall began in the 5th century BC. The warring peoples tried so hard to protect themselves from each other. There is a saying in the Celestial Empire that a Chinese who has not been on the Great Wall cannot be considered a Chinese.
- Wall length 2500 meters, but if we count the branches, hills and turns, then its size will increase to 8850 km, while it is not solid, but consists of segments, since the provinces built separate sections that were supposed to connect.
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- The wall stretches from the deserts of the northwestern part of the country to the Yellow Sea, where one section of the fortifications even goes into the water. The average width of the structure is 5 meters, the maximum height is 8, the highest mountainous area is 1450 meters above sea level.
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- V early periods the wall was an earthen rampart, which was lined with unbaked bricks, and the voids were filled with stones, clay and reeds. It was only during the Ming dynasty that stone slabs were used, but in the western sections in the provinces of Gansu and Shanxi, the embankment remained uncovered.
- For a long time, even the Chinese themselves were not interested in the preservation of the wall, especially during the unification of the north and south, when the functions of the wall as a defensive structure came to an end. The wall fell into disrepair, it was dismantled to use the stone for other buildings, and by the 1950s, when the drainage of sites for the needs of Agriculture, sand storms came, "wearing away" the stone. The wall is still collapsing - in 2012, in Hebei, a 36-meter-long section was washed away due to heavy rains.
- About a million people took part in the construction over 17 centuries.. Soldiers, criminals, captives were driven here, and when there were not enough workers, peasants. From hard work, malnutrition, epidemics and lack of clean water people died by the thousands, which is why the Wall of China is also called the longest cemetery in the world. However, the millions of victims described to the construction site of the century are an exaggeration.
- Why the wall was built is still a mystery.: the version of the defensive structure from the nomads is criticized for the fact that the mountains along which the rampart passes are themselves an obstacle to the cavalry. According to another version, the towers were built earlier and were within sight of the fire, perhaps they were part of a warning system when any danger approached. Garrisons were placed in the towers, provisions and water were stored. The road between the towers was built later for the quick transfer of soldiers, besides, it could serve for the relatively safe movement of merchants.
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- Parts of the wall always had gaps and the Mongols took advantage of them at the beginning of the 13th century, having managed to capture the north of China, and by 1279 - the south. On the territory of modern Mongolia in 2011, another 100-kilometer section of the wall was discovered. But no towers, remains of utensils, garbage were found here - most likely, no one here carried out a permanent service and the site was abandoned over time.
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- In the valleys where the wall passed, fortresses with gates were erected.. There could be two gates - one was erected opposite the other for the length of the arrow flight. The enemy, "capturing" one entrance, found himself in a trap and fell under fire from the defenders of the fortress.
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- WITH late XIX century, there is an opinion that the Great Wall of China is visible from space, even from the moon. This myth is still in circulation, although none of the astronauts, even from orbital stations, could distinguish this landmark, according to scientists, human vision must be 8 times sharper for the wall to become visible. In satellite photographs, the wall is visible only through optics.
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- The most popular section of the wall - Baladin, passes through Beijing. It has been better preserved than other parts, since it was the "gateway to the capital". It was opened for tourists in 1957, and at the 2008 Olympics, the gate was the finish line for cyclists.
- Every year in China, the Great Wall running marathon takes place - part of the way, athletes walk along the China Wall.
- The solution for fastening stones and slabs was prepared not on powder from human bones, but from rice flour and lime. And corpses embedded in the walls, according to scientific research also no. Although there are many legends about workers buried in the wall.
- For the burial of the dead builders, a ritual was used when a cage with a rooster was placed on the coffin before the funeral.. The bird, according to popular belief, did not allow the soul to leave the body and stay wandering along the wall forever.
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