Great Wall

Wall of Han

It is often said that the Qin Dynasty unified China and the Han Dynasty strengthened the unification of China. Looking back in history, we can see a continuing effort to protect the whole country by both dynasties. Emperor Qin Shihuang initiated the national defense project and Emperor Wu (140-87 B.C.) of the Han Dynasty started a major renovation of the Great Wall along the Yellow River, extending it to the far west in present-day Xinjiang, which was known as part of the "Western Regions" in the Han Dynasty. A chain of beacon towers were constructed at five kilometer intervals along the wall in what are now Shaanxi, Shanxi and Hebei. Thus an efficient defense line was formed. When, at a later date, the Huns split into a northern and a southern faction, they no longer had the combined strength to be a threat to the Han court. As a consequence, no further major work was undertaken on the Great Wall.

In addition to its prime function as a protection against invasions, the Great Wall of the Han Dynasty also gave rise to a boom in trade. Commodities such as jade, gold, spices, horses, precious gems and silk were in great demand and the presence of the Great Wall channeled this trade along the famous Silk Road. Merchants from Rome, Antioch, Baghdad and Alexandria traveled eastward in pursuit of their businesses. No matter what road they traveled, they could not reach their destination without passing through the Great Wall. Soon towns were built at these safe and busy gates and their economies flourished as they became centers of trade.

It is true to say that the Great Wall was "great" not only militarily, but economically as well in the Han Dynasty.