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===Great Wall of China===

===Great Wall of China===

The '''[[Great Wall of China]]''' was designed to keep enemies out and protect their country. Constgruction took centuries, and was begun during the Qin dynasty, 221-206B.C. In 246B.C. the emperor Qin Shi Huang Di, whose original name was Ying Zheng, came to power in the state of Qin.  By 221 B.C, he had unified China using the Legalist philosophy of his state to encourage colonization and to build up the military in what was previously a minor desert state.   

The '''[[Great Wall of China]]''' was designed to keep enemies out and protect their country. Construction took centuries, and was begun during the Qin dynasty, 221-206B.C. In 246B.C. the emperor Qin Shi Huang Di, whose original name was Ying Zheng, came to power in the state of Qin.  By 221 B.C, he had unified China using the Legalist philosophy of his state to encourage colonization and to build up the military in what was previously a minor desert state.   

The Great Wall winds some 2,400 km (1,500 mi) along the edge of the Mongolian plateau from Gansu (Kansu) province in the west to the Yellow Sea in the east.  Its width ranges from 4 to 12 m (12 to 40 ft) and its height from 6 to 15 m (20 to 50 ft). It makes possible much more effective military defense of China from invaders.

The Great Wall winds some 2,400 km (1,500 mi) along the edge of the Mongolian plateau from Gansu (Kansu) province in the west to the Yellow Sea in the east.  Its width ranges from 4 to 12 m (12 to 40 ft) and its height from 6 to 15 m (20 to 50 ft). It makes possible much more effective military defense of China from invaders.

It was perhaps the greatest and largest thing ever created by man by that point. Unlike the wall we see today, it was originally an earthen and wooden rampart structure, and had earlier precedents, walls built by the various states of the Warring States period to keep out nomads in the north. There was a huge human cost involved; it is believed over a million people died in the construction. The wall that is visible today dates from the Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), begun after the expulsion of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1276 - 1368) and nearly a thousand years of nomad rule in China under various dynastic titles.  It did not, however, prevent a final nomadic group from conquering China at the end of the Ming dynasty in 1368 - the Manchus.  The Shanhaiguan pass, the main route into and out of Manchuria, was not protected by the wall, and in 1644, Manchus, Buddhist descendants of the Jurchen tribes who had fought the Han Chinese for centuries, invaded the north of China, exploiting the weak late-Ming government and infrastructure. This resulted in the formation of the Qing dynasty, which lasted until the revolution of 1911.

It was perhaps the greatest and largest thing ever created by man by that point. Unlike the wall we see today, it was originally an earthen and wooden rampart structure, and had earlier precedents, walls built by the various states of the Warring States period to keep out nomads in the north. There was a huge human cost involved; it is believed over a million people died in the construction. The wall that is visible today dates from the Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), begun after the expulsion of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1276 - 1368) and nearly a thousand years of nomad rule in China under various dynastic titles.  It did not, however, prevent a final nomadic group from conquering China at the end of the Ming dynasty in 1368 - the Manchus.  The Shanhaiguan pass, the main route into and out of Manchuria, was not protected by the wall, and in 1644, Manchus, Buddhist descendants of the Jurchen tribes who had fought the Han Chinese for centuries, invaded the north of China, exploiting the weak late-Ming government and infrastructure. This resulted in the formation of the Qing dynasty, which lasted until the revolution of 1911.

==Ming Dynasty: 1368-1644==

==Ming Dynasty: 1368-1644==

The Ming period is the only era of later imperial history during which all of China was ruled by a native, or Han dynasty. The success of the Chinese in regaining control over their own government is an important event in history, and the Ming dynasty thus has been regarded, both in Ming times and even more so in the 21st century, as an era of Chinese resurgence.

The Ming period is the only era of later imperial history during which all of China was ruled by a native, or Han dynasty. The success of the Chinese in regaining control over their own government is an important event in history, and the Ming dynasty thus has been regarded, both in Ming times and even more so in the 21st century, as an era of Chinese resurgence.