The Great Wall of China is one of the most famous pieces of architecture and the most prominent defensive structure in world history. Consisting of several sections, it stretches for more than 8,000 kilometers in northern China and is so grand that it can be easily spotted on satellite images of the planet. Being a UNESCO cultural heritage site, the Great Wall of China is of incredible value not only for the entire Chinese people, who built this monumental structure for centuries, but also for the entire world community.
But in Lately in the circles of historians and prominent scientists more and more often they put forward hypotheses that the Great Wall of China was built not by the Chinese at all, but by their neighbors, just for the purpose of protection from the Chinese. Let's try to figure out what these assumptions are based on and how serious the doubters' arguments are.
Perhaps the very first thing that the supporters of the “non-Chinese” origin of the defensive wall point to is the location of the loopholes. If the wall was built by the Chinese for defense from northern nomadic tribes, then the loopholes should have been directed towards the north, from where the enemies could come. But the loopholes on most of the Great Wall of China for some reason look to the south, inside the Chinese territory, and the height of the southern walls exceeds the northern ones. Another unusual fact is the location of some of the surviving staircases, which are designed to allow warriors to hit the wall. They are also located on the north side of the military building.
Another interesting point is the structure of the wall itself. It is similar to medieval European and Russian defensive structures, which are designed to protect against firearms. But in the days of Ancient China, and even more so before our era, when, according to official historical science, the construction of the earliest sections of the Great Wall of China began, there were no firearms. The wild nomadic tribes did not possess such weapons either, to protect them from which the wall was supposedly built.
These facts suggest that those people who built this grandiose wall and later used it for defense were geographically located on the northern side. But if we assume that these were not Chinese, then who then?
Researchers of this issue believe that the wall was built by the inhabitants of a country called Great Tartary. This state is indicated on many European medieval maps. Particularly on the map of Asia 1754 years I-e Carte de l'Asie, the border between the state called CHINE and the territory designated GRANDE TARTARIE runs exactly at the site of the current location of the defensive structure.
While mysteries continue to accumulate in the question of the origin of the Great Wall of China, official historical science comments on what is happening only as pseudoscientific theories. But the history of mankind knows many examples when innovators were persecuted, and then recognized as the greatest scientists. It is possible that soon new facts will be revealed, proving that the Great Wall of China is called that not because the Chinese built it, but because it was built to protect against the Chinese.
A GROUP of British archaeologists led by William Lindsay managed to make a sensational discovery in the fall of 2011: a part of the Great Wall of China, which is located outside of China, was discovered in Mongolia. The remains of this huge structure (100 kilometers long and 2.5 meters high) were discovered in the Gobi Desert, located in the south of Mongolia. Scientists have concluded that the find is part of a famous Chinese landmark. The wall section materials include wood, earth, and volcanic stone. The building itself dates from the period between 1040 and 1160 BC.
Back in 2007, on the border of Mongolia and China, during an expedition organized by the same Lindsay, a significant section of the wall was found, which was attributed to the time of the Han dynasty. Since then, the search for the remaining fragments of the wall continued, which finally ended in success in Mongolia.
Great Chinese Wall Let us remind you that this is one of the largest architectural monuments and one of the most famous defensive structures of antiquity. It passes through the territory of Northern China and is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
It is believed that it began to be erected as early as the 3rd century BC. to protect the state of the Qin dynasty from the raids of the "northern barbarians" - the nomadic Xiongnu people. In the 3rd century AD, during the Han Dynasty, 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 parts of it that have survived to our time were built mainly in the 15th - 16th centuries.
Over the three centuries of the Manchu Qing dynasty (from 1644), the defensive structure fell into disrepair 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, began the restoration of sections of the wall as material evidence of the ancient origin of statehood in the lands of Northeast Asia.
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. In November 2006, in one of his publications, Andrey Tyunyaev formulated his views on this topic: “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 understood by world historical science, but has not even received a proper assessment in Russia itself. "
As for the ancient wall, according to Tyunyaev, “the loopholes on a significant part of the wall are directed not to the north, but to the south. And this can be 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. "
In 2008, at the First International Congress "Pre-Cyril Slavic Writing and Pre-Christian Slavic Culture" in Leningrad state university named after A.S. Pushkin Tyunyaev made a report "China - the younger brother of Russia", during which he presented fragments of Neolithic ceramics from the territory of the eastern part of North China. The signs depicted on the ceramics did not look like Chinese characters, but showed almost complete coincidence with the Old Russian runic - up to 80 percent.
The researcher, on the basis of the latest archaeological data, expresses the opinion that during the Neolithic and Bronze Age, the population of the western part of North China was Caucasian. Indeed, all over Siberia, up to China, Caucasian mummies are found. According to genetics, 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 the eastern direction - they were headed by Bogumir, Slavunya and their son Scythian. These events are reflected, in particular, in the Veles book, which, let us 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 similarly to the European and Russian medieval walls, the main purpose of which is to protect against firearms. The construction of such structures began no earlier than the 15th century, when guns and other siege weapons appeared on the battlefields. Earlier in the 15th century, the so-called northern nomads had no artillery.
BASED ON these data, Tyunyaev expresses the opinion that the wall in the east of 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 the time when the border between The Russian empire and the Qing Empire passed exactly along the wall.
We are talking about the map of the Qing Empire of the second half of the 17th-18th centuries, presented in the academic 10-volume " World history". That map shows a detailed picture of the wall that runs exactly along the border between the Russian Empire and the Empire of the Manchu Dynasty (Qing Empire).
On the map of Asia of the 18th century, made by the Royal Academy in Amsterdam, two geographical formations are indicated: in the north - Tartarie, in the south - Chine, the northern border of which runs approximately along the 40th parallel, that is, exactly along the wall. On this map, the wall is marked with a bold line and labeled "Muraille de la Chine". Now this phrase is usually translated from French as "Wall of China".
However, literally translated, the meaning is somewhat different: muraille ("wall") in a construction with the preposition de (noun + preposition de + noun) and the word la Chine expresses the object and belonging of the wall. That is, the "wall of China". Based on analogies (for example, place de la Concorde - Place de la Concorde), then Muraille de la Chine is a wall named after the country that the Europeans called Chine.
There are other versions of translation from the French phrase "Muraille de la Chine" - "wall from China", "wall separating from China." Indeed, in an apartment or in a house, we call the wall that separates us from our neighbors, the neighbor's wall, and the wall that separates us from the street - outside wall... We have the same thing when naming borders: the Finnish border, the Ukrainian border ... In this case, adjectives indicate only the geographical location of the Russian borders.
It is noteworthy that in medieval Russia there was the word "whale" - a knitting of poles, which were used in the construction of fortifications. So, the name of the Moscow region 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-Huang, its height ranged from 6 to 7 meters, the purpose of construction is to protect against northern nomads.
Russian historian L.N. Gumilyov wrote: “The wall stretches for 4 thousand km. Its height reached 10 meters, and watchtowers towered 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, sparsely arrange large detachments, then gaps are formed through which the enemy will easily and imperceptibly penetrate into the depths of the country. A fortress without defenders is not a fortress. "
It is known from European experience that ancient walls more than several hundred years old are not repaired, but rebuilt - in view of the fact that the materials for such long time get tired and just fall apart. But in relation to the Chinese Wall, the opinion was fixed that the structure was built two thousand years ago and nevertheless survived.
WE WILL NOT go into polemics on this issue, but just use Chinese dates and see who and against whom built different sections of the wall. The first and main part of the wall was built before our era. It runs along 41-42 degrees north latitude, including along some sections of the Yellow River.
The western and northern borders of the Qin state only by 221 BC. began to coincide with the section of the wall built by this time. It is logical to assume that this site was not built by the inhabitants of the Qin kingdom, but by their northern neighbors. 221 to 206 BC a wall was built along the entire border of the Qin state. In addition, at the same time, 100-200 km west and north of the first wall, a second line of defense was built - another wall. It certainly could not build the Qin kingdom, since it did not control these lands at that time.
During the Han Dynasty (from 206 BC to 220 AD), sections of the wall were built, located 500 km to the west and 100 km to the north of the previous ones. Their location corresponded to the expansion of the territories controlled by this state. It is very difficult to say who built these defensive structures - southerners or northerners. From the point of view of traditional history - the state of the Han dynasty, which sought to protect itself from the warlike northern nomads.
In 1125, the border between the Jurchen kingdom and China passed along the Yellow River - this is 500-700 kilometers south of the location of the built wall. And in 1141, a peace treaty was signed, according to which the Chinese Song Empire recognized itself as a vassal of the Jin state of Jin, pledging to pay him a large tribute.
However, while the lands of China proper were located south of the Yellow River, another section of the wall was erected 2,100-2,500 kilometers north of its borders. This part of the wall, built from 1066 to 1234, runs through Russian territory north of the village of Borzya near the Argun River. At the same time, 1.500-2.000 kilometers north of China, another section of the wall was built, located along the Great Khingan.
But if only hypotheses can be put forward on the topic of the nationality of the builders of the wall due to the lack of reliable historical information, then the study of the style in the architecture of this defensive structure allows, it seems, to make more accurate assumptions.
The ARCHITECTURAL style of the wall, which is now located in China, is captured by the peculiarities of the construction of the “handprints” of its creators. Elements of the wall and towers, similar to the fragments of the wall, in the Middle Ages can be found only in the architecture of the ancient Russian defensive structures of the central regions of Russia - "northern architecture".
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 to the inside of both towers there is an entrance, covered with a round arch made of the same brick as the wall with the tower. Each of the towers has two upper "working" floors. Round-arched windows are made on the ground 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 about the same - about 130-160 centimeters.
The loopholes are located on the upper (second) floor. They are made in the form of rectangular narrow grooves about 35-45 cm wide. The number of such loopholes in the Chinese tower is 3 deep and 4 wide, and in the Novgorod tower - 4 deep and 5 wide. On the top floor of the "Chinese" tower, there are square holes along its very edge. There are the same holes in the Novgorod tower, and the ends of the rafters protrude from them, on which the wooden roof is held.
The situation is the same when comparing the Chinese tower and the tower of the Tula Kremlin. The Chinese and Tula towers have the same number of loopholes in width - there are 4 of them. And the same number arched openings- 4. On the top floor, between the large loopholes, there are small ones - near the Chinese and Tula towers. The shape of the towers is still the same. In the Tula tower, as in the Chinese one, white stone is used. The vaults are made in the same way: at the Tula - gate, at the "Chinese" - the entrances.
For comparison, you can also use the Russian towers of the Nikolsky Gate (Smolensk) and the northern fortress wall Nikitsky monastery(Pereslavl-Zalessky, XVI century), as well as a tower in Suzdal (mid-XVII century). Conclusion: design features The towers of the Chinese Wall show almost exact analogies among the towers of the Russian Kremlin.
And what does the comparison of the surviving towers of the Chinese city of Beijing 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. Beijing towers have only an upper deck with loopholes, and are laid out in the same height with 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 do. And this is a reason for thought for historians.
Apple shoots cool videos not only to advertise its devices, but also for screensavers for them.
So, the other day I was hooked by a video that is spinning in Apple TV standby mode - about the Great Wall of China. It turned out to be so interesting that I decided to delve into the essence of the issue.
And you know, this is really fun. Here are 15 most curious facts about the Great Wall of China.
1. The total length of the Great Wall of China is about 21,500 km
Many believe that it is equal to 6276.442 km, but this is a misconception.
The last figure was compiled without taking into account the natural barriers, which were conceived as part of the wall. And also without various branches.
2. It was built for more than a dozen centuries
It took over two millennia to build.
The first foundations were laid as early as the 8th century BC.
3. Such a whopper was not immediately noticed
The first Europeans who saw the Chinese Wall were the Portuguese.
Surprisingly, the building was noticed only in the middle of the 16th century. It was discovered by the famous missionary Bento De Gois.
4. The Great Wall of China is not its only name
It turns out that it has changed its name over the years.
Among them were: "Barrier", "Revelation" or "Fortress", "Purple Border" and "Dragon Land". It received its final name only at the end of the 19th century.
5. The wall can be seen from space - it's not true
Despite its size, the Great Wall of China cannot be seen from space.
Many astronauts claimed to have seen it from near-earth orbit, but in fact it turned out that they confused it with rivers.
6. The path along which the wall goes, indicated by the dragon
This is the most popular Chinese myth, but it is terribly curious.
It is said that a huge dragon pointed the direction of the wall to the workers. And they have already built it in his footsteps.
The Chinese themselves claim that the final shape of the structure resembles a dragon. Coincidence?
7. The construction "wheelbarrow" was invented during the construction of the Great Wall of China
Although it took a very long time to create, the Chinese still tried to somehow optimize this process.
8. Great Wall - the largest cemetery in the world
During the construction, tens of thousands of workers died.
In addition, more than one battle was fought on it. Many people are buried right in the foundation. It seems that no one has seen their ghosts yet. :)
9. They say the wall is partially built of human bones
This is one of the popular myths that was later refuted by scientists and archaeologists.
All kinds of remains are buried under the wall.
10. It is difficult to keep it in good condition.
Due to the huge size of the Chinese Wall, 2 organizations are involved at once: the Great Wall Society and the International Friends of the Great Wall.
Nevertheless, 70% of the area remains in disrepair due to the impossibility of reconstruction. However, the Chinese have plans for the future development of the wall.
11. The most famous legend is about the crying of the farmer's wife
Meng Jiang, the wife of one of the builders of the Chinese Wall, learned of her husband's death while on the job.
She cried so loudly that the part of the wall where the remains were hidden collapsed from her crying. After that, the husband was able to calmly bury, and a monument was erected on the site of the remains.
12. One of the "ingredients" of the wall is edible
In the course of research, scientists have found that one of the components of the Great Wall of China is rice.
It was thanks to him that the wall became stronger. It was a kind of cement.
13. The Wall did not do its job well.
No matter how regrettable it was, but the wall was "so-so".
The fact is that many of the sites were either too large for the guards to fail, or the basis was clay or even earth. And at some points the wall is quite low.
14. Until now, not all parts of the Great Wall of China have been found
It would seem that in our time there are few unexplored areas.
Nevertheless, scientists and archaeologists continue to mark new fragments of the wall complex on the maps. The last statement about finding new branches was made in 2012.
15. Now we do not see the whole wall
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 not as a fortification structure against the raids of enemies, but only in the form of 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 were extremely amazed: 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, nomadic tribes lived who could hardly have built such a grandiose structure. And in general, scientists considered that even with modern technologies the construction of such a wall would require building tens of thousands of kilometers of railways, employing hundreds of thousands of machines, cranes and other equipment, abandoning tens of millions of people and spending at least a hundred years on all this.
In ancient times, there were no such opportunities, it means building a giant wall, in comparison with which even the Egyptian pyramids seem like toys in a sandbox, it took more than one thousand years. Why and who needed it, because it is meaningless both from 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, published back in 1570, helped to answer this question. It could be seen on it that modern China is divided into two parts - southern China and server Catai. It was between them that the wall was laid, which, apparently, was built by the inhabitants of the mysterious Tartary, which occupies the territory of Siberia and the Far East. modern Russia and the northern part of modern China.
Ancient vessels found in the northern provinces of China 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 Runitsa - an ancient Slavic script. And in the ancient treatises of China, it is often said 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 Tartary. It was they who built the Great, not Chinese, but Slavic wall. By the way, the word "china" on the Runitsa means only "high wall".
The truth about the wall of China is not needed by the powers that be
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 Russians, who lived in Tartaria, fought for a long time. This battle at the level of two extraterrestrial civilizations ended with a great victory for 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 once a war of extraterrestrial civilizations occurred, say the legends of many peoples of the world, of course, it is reflected in the legends of the Slavic and Chinese people. So why haven't these civilizations left any traces on Earth? It turns out they did, and the Great Wall of China is not the only unique evidence of this. There are a lot of such artifacts found, but no one is in a hurry or even dares to publish all this data: firstly, then it is necessary to rewrite the whole history and geography, and secondly, for many peoples, say, the same Americans or Chinese, it 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, which modern "fundamental" science is silent about.
