Wall of Han Dynasty

The tyrannical Qin Dynasty was brought down in 206 B.C. mainly because of draining the national treasure for constructing the Wall. Several years of civil war ensued and finally in 202 B.C., a new feudalistic dynasty gained power. The Han dynasty ruled for 400 years and this period is regarded as the first golden time in Chinese history. Earlier Hans period lasted from 202 B.C. to 8A.D. the while period from 25 A.D. to 220 A.D. is called the Later Han. The Wang Mang and Liu Xuan dynasty ruled between the two period for a short period.

Emperor Liu Bang popularly known as the Han Gaozu brought in some policies to replenish the national treasure and at the same time to evade any wars with the neighboring Huns.

To stabilize the economy of the country he relaxed taxes on the peasants and restored the agriculture. Further he went into a matrimonial alliance with the Huns who were in the north. To check the over ambitious Huns he wed his daughters to them. This marriage treated existed for 100 years.

Junchen, the Hun ruler often dispatched his troops to the border and as a result there was regular plundering and killings. When Han Wudi had succeeded the throne the country was economical strong and had the military prowess to fight with an external enemy. Thus the 30 year of war finally started with the Huns.

The Great Bend area of the Yellow River was recaptured in 127 B.C. when General Wei Qing led an army and marched west from Yunzhong County. To fortify the frontier, he built the Shuofangzhen County and rebuilt a part of the wall left undone by the Qin Dynasty.

Thereafter the Hans built the Wall thrice.

The wall of the Hans Dynasty that ran west from now Yongdeng to Jiuquan.
In 121 B.C., the Hans defeated the Huns utterly. The Hu officials governing the Hexi territory submitted and thus the area was incorporated to the Han territory. Han established the two counties of Wuwei ,Jiuquan, Zhangye and Dunhuang Counties to protect the Gansu Corridor which is the route on the Silk Road, to defend and maintain the Silk Road that led to the West Regions. King Han Wudi built the wall that started from west Yongdeng to Jiuquan.

The wall of the Hans Dynasty that ran towards the west from Jiuquan to Yu'me.
Gaining control of the Hexi region paved way for the Hans to diplomatic missions with the west and thus the Silk Road was formally opened. With the opening of the Silk road it made avenues for the second diplomatic venture for Zhan Qian to the West Regions But since there were persisting troubles on the Silk road , Wudi subdued the neighbouring Liulan and Cheshi and built a wall that started from Jiuquan to Yu'me.

The wall of the Hans Dynasty that ran Yu'men to Yanze, i.e. present Luobupo
The wall that was running from Yu'men to Yanze in 102 B.C. was built to consolidate their position. 500 kilometers north running parallel to the middle portion of the Hexi-Region, Wall Han Wudi built the fortresses to perpetuate the safety of the Gansu Corridor in 101 B.C.

Qin-Han Great Wall
Combining the three walls was the Hexi-Region Wall of the Han Dynasty. This wall linked up with a portion of the Qin-Dynasty Wall was running 10,000 kilometers in total. It is the longest wall in the Chinese history and crosses over six provinces, Hebei, Xinjiang Liaoning, Ningxia Inner Mongolia, and Gansu.

Border Wall
The Wall of the Earlier Han was also known as the “border wall”. The wall, 3 to 4 meters high and approximately two meters wide was made of stone and earth.

In A.D. 25, Wang Mang's shortlived Dynasty fell in the hands of Liu Xiu, of the Earlier Han Dynasty. Liu Xiu became Later Han's foremost emperor. The turbulent period was taken advantage of and the Huns once again started busting the north border.

To take measures Liu Xiu recruited soldiers for the border to built lower and slender border walls to the south of the Earlier-Han Wall. Beside them he set up lighthouses and fortresses. General Ma Cheng ascended the throne after Du Mao, continued to construct the four border walls individually from the Hexi Region to Weiji, from Heshang to Anyi, from Taiyuan to Jingxing and from Zhongshan to Ye. The Later Han's capital, Luoyang was well protected by the four barriers.

The Great Wall of China is one of the wonders of the world. Know more about this spectacular Wall of the Han Dynasty at 123Chinese NewYear.