Ancient Defensive Projects (4)

The next development of wall construction techniques was to build additional ramparts that protruded from the city wall, so as to allow soldiers to see those enemies who would try to climb the walll from the side. Take Xi’an’s Ming Dynasty city wall for example. There is a rampart every 120 meters, and the distance between two ramparts is just within the range of an arrow’s shot from either of the two. At the same time, enclosure walls were added around the gate. Both of these measures in wall building emerged in the Han Dynasty, but they did not become popular until the Tang Dynasty.

Jilu Stronghold in the northwestern part of China was a very important castle in the north during the Han Dynasty. If you go further northwest and pass through what is now Ningxia you are sure to find many ruins and the remain of fortresses and strongholds along the route. Fortresses and strongholds are actually small castles. The excavation of those castles enables us to know about the subsidiary facilities of the Han-Dynasty walls, such as the shooting holes called “rotating shoot” on the crenels. This sort of device could be opened and closed conveniently. It could also adjust the angles from left to right, or vice versa. Through this “rotating shoot,” arrows could be shot outward or watchful eyes could be cast down onto the4 enemy’s movement. It was quite safe to do so. Additionally, within three meters outside the city wall, rows upon rows of sharpened stakes were buried to prevent enemies from approaching the wall swiftly.

Ancient Defensive Projects (3)

In ancient China, from the emperor’s capitals to the prefectures and counties, there were almost always city walls and moats built around them. Gatetowers, gateways, watch-towers, ramparts, and battlements were constructed so that the walls formed a strategically complete and impenetrable defensive system.

The most important gatetowers from the later Western Han period to the Sui Dynasty are multi-storied structures. Take, for example the east gate of HanguPass built at the end of the Han Dynasty. From the stone relief we can see that it was a gate with two passages. On top of each of the passages, there was a huge three-storied gatetower. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the gates had two-or three-storied towers. From the Tang to the Yuan Dynasties, the gatetowers were all single-storied. Only after the Ming Dynasty did gatetowers appear with two or more stories.

Gateways built before the Tang Dynasty were all beam-roofed, square-shaped wooden structures. In the period of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the span of gateways needed to be expanded, so slanted beams were used on both sides to support the roof; therefore a triangle-roofed gateway was formed. Such gateways can be seen in the frescoes in the Yongle Palace (Yuan Dynasty) and in the stone reliefs in Yanshan Temple ( Jin Dynasty) in Shanxi Province. Because of the constant use of gunpowder in incessant wars, wooden gateways were not resistant to fire. Thus from the Southern Song Dynasty, the technique that the southerners used to build arched waterways was gradually employed in the construction of gateways in the north. The earliest material examples were the gateways of the Yuan capital Dadu. This kind of gateway became popular between the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. For the same reason, gatetowers were also improved. As a result, battlements were added later on, wooden platforms were abolished, and the gatetowers were built in a drawn-back position, thus forming the common Ming-Qing-style gatetowers that we see today.

Wall building techniques have developed continuously to strengthen strategic and defensive capabilities. Consequently, parapets and battlements appeared on top of city walls. The battlement was the crenel, which was also called pini in ancient times. According to historical records, “the battlement was 85 centimeters high and 100 centimeters wide, and there was one every 50 meters apart.” To meet the needs of military defense work, the city walls were built high and thick. Watch holes and shooting holes were also constructed in the battlements.

Ancient Defensive Projects (2)

In ancient China, city walls emerged as early as in the Shang Dynasty (16^th- 11^th century B.C.). at that time, city walls were made and then tamped hard enough to make it solid and strong. The city walls were narrow on top, and wide at the bottom, forming a ladder-shaped cross section.

City walls appeared in the period when primitive society was developing into slavery society. It foretold the contention for and redistribution of property and power. It also foretold that human civilization would take the place of primitive ignorance. Although the deep ditches and moats around cities still bore traces of the clan society, the city wall already stood high in the twilight of a new ear. Even the imperial palace walls had the features of defensive works. It was the fierce fighting among primitive people that brought about the everlasting defensive projects on a large scale.

The techniques of soil tamping have been in use for a long time in China. Brick-faced walls did not appear until the Song Dynasty, and from then on brick-faced walls were on the increase. Chang’an, the capital city of the Tang Dynasty, enjoyed a reputation for having soil-tamped walls. Its gates, ramparts and corners were faced with bricks. The palace and royal city walls of Luoyang, the Eastern Capital of the Tang Dynasty, were all coated with bricks, inside and outside, which showed its wealth and prosperity, and the ever-increasing importance of its geographical position. The Yuan Dynasty saw some changes, as is seen from the historical site of Dadu, capital city of the Yuan Dynasty. The outer city walls were soil-tamped, but the royal city walls within the city were not only soil-tamped but also coated on the outside with natural flat stones. The palace in the royal city had its outside walls covered with bricks and inside walls covered with stones. According to historical records, the palace city walls were constructed with bricks. Because it cost too much to coat the walls with bricks, this practice took a long time to become popular. Brick walls then became very popular after the first half of the Ming Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, city walls at the county level were mostly brick structures, and soil-tamped walls could hardly be seen.

Ancient Defensive Projects (1)

When we mention ancient defensive projects, city wall, moats, fortresses, strongholds and castles naturally come to mind. Among the ancient defensive projects, city walls hold the most important position and play an essential role.

Walls are often seen in China surrounding palace and temple complexes and traditional houses. The open design of individual structures—the wide doors, windows and lattice-work walls, the many walkways and pavilions, which gave the buildings an altogether generous appearance, also made a sturdy wall to the outside necessary in order to form a closed unit. The building materials were either packed loess or mud, though in the Ming and Qing dynasties, bricks were preferred. Solid, high walls were built around cities. The most famous of all walls is the Great Wall. The gates of the Great Wall and the city walls usually consisted of two parts: the actual gateway and a complexes were built of stones and bricks. The towers, which were not necessary for defense, were made of wood.

Ancient China underwent incessant wars, disunity and violent social upheavals. As a result, people led miserable lives. Ancient military defensive projects were constructed to resist invading enemies. Therefore, city walls, high or low, huge or small, are scattered all over China. They have become an essential symbol of military projects.

China's Rivers (4)

China also has a large number of continental rivers, which either disappear into the desert or flow into inland lakes. They are located mainly in the northwest, and drain one-third of the country’s total landmass. The Tarim River in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is fed by glaciers and snow from the Kunlun Mountains and the Pamir Plateau. It flows for 2,179 kilometers and is China’s longest continental river.

One of China’s major problems is that her rivers are not well distributed. Ninety percent of them are in the south, and many areas in the north suffer from severe water shortage, at least for part of each year. The rivers north of the Huaihe and the Qinling Mountain Range have a large flow in summer, but either dry up or freeze in winter. As a result, navigation and trade between the north and the south were once severely restricted. To solve this problem, the Chinese constructed the Grand Canal, still one of the nation’s major transportation arteries. The canal stretches for more than 1,794 kilometers from Beijing to Hangzhou in the south. It flows through four provinces, and links the Changjiang, Huaihe, Huanghe, Haihe and Qiantang river systems. The canal has provided an important economic link between the north and the south and has now become a major tourist attraction.

Lakes of all sizes are scattered throughout China but are more concentrated on the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Changjiang River Plain and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The lakes on the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Changjiang River Plain have the function of regulating floods, and they are the sources of farmland irrigation, and freshwater aquatic products.

On the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau there are large alpine lakes, most of which are continental saltwater lakes. The Qinghai Lake, covering 4,583 square kilometers, is the largest saltwater lake in China as well as the largest lake in the country.

The largest freshwater lake in the country is the Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province, covering 3,583 square kilometers.

China's Rivers (3)

Originating at the northern foot of the Bayahar Mountains in Qinghai Province, the Huanghe is the second longest river in China. It traverses Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and Shandong from west to east before finally draining into the Bohai Gulf near Shandong Province. Its principal tributaries are the Taohe, Huaihe, Wuding, Fenhe, Weihe, Luohe and Qinhe rivers. It flows a total length of 5,464 kilometers and covers a drainage area of 752,400 square kilometers. The middle and lower reaches of the Huanghe are called by anthropologists and archaeologists “the cradle of Chinese civilization.” Many cities in the region such as Luoyang, aifeng and Anyang in Henan Province, Xi’an and Xianyang in Shaanxi Province were capitals of China’s great dynasties. But in spite of all its distinguished history, the Huanghe was long a region plagued with misery. Before 1949, the river was known as “China’s sorrow.” The river is stained a brownish yellow with silt carried from the Loess Plateau. As it passes through Mengjin County in Henan Province, the current slows and the silt is deposited to a depth of 10 centimeters each year on the riverbed. Throughout history, the river has repeatedly burst its banks and changed its course, causing extensive flooding in the surrounding countryside. Today, thanks to major ecological and water conservancy projects, the Huanghe no longer poses such a threat.

The Heilong River ( Black Dragon River) is one of the great rivers of Asia. Much of the northeastern border between China and Russia follows the course of the Heilong River, also known to the Russians as the Amur River. After passing beyond China’s borders, the river flows towards the northeast, ultimately emptying into the Pacific Ocean. It has a total length of 2,965 kilometers and a drainage area of 890,000 square kilometers inside China. Its main tributaries are the Jieya, Songhua and Wusuli rivers.

The Zhujiang River, the fourth longest in China, is the general name for three converging rivers: the Xijiang, Beijiang and Dongjiang rivers. The quantity of its discharge is second only to that of the Changjiang River. The Zhujiang River traverses Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong, and Jiangxi, emptying into the South China Sea at Modaomen in Guangdong Province. It has a total length of 2,200 kilometers and a drainage area of 452,000 square kilometers.

China's Rivers (2)

The Changjiang is China’s longest river, and the third longest in the world. With the Tuotuo River as its source, it flows a total length of 6,300 kilometers through Qinghai, Tibet, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shanghai, and finally empties itself into the East China Sea. The total drainage area is more than 1.8 million square kilometers. It is estimated that the mean volume of water discharged at the mouth of the river is 22,000 cubic meters per second, while the sediment deposited at the mouth amounts to about 182 milllion cubic meters annually. The river is fed by about 700 tributaries, chiefly the Yalong, Minjiang, Jialing, Wujiang, Xiangjiang, Hanjiang, Ganjiang, and Huangpu rivers.

The Changjiang River valley, with 24.67 million hectares of cultivated land, has always been an important agricultural base in China. Grain and cotton outputs make up more than 40 percent and 30 percent of China’s total respectively, and rapeseed, sesame, raw silk, tea and tobacco also flourish here.

The Changjiang is the major east-west transportation artery for Central China. It serves a wide hinterland throughout its basin. Marco Polo once commented, “ on its banks are innumerable cities and towns, and the amount of shipping it carries upstream and down is so inconceivable that no one in the world who had not seen it with his own eyes could possibly credit it. Its width is such that it is more like a sea than a river.” In the fast-flowing portions of the river, river craft used to be pulled upstream by teams of coolies. They hauled their loads on long bamboo ropes from the river’s edge, or from steep paths cut into the cliffsides. The journey down stream through the gorges was once a fearsome dash through rolling, rock-strewn waters. Today, the waters have been somewhat tamed, and the river is navigable from Yibin to the sea with different forms of transportation. The dam which is being built across the river will be one of the largest in the world.