Great Wall Of China Essay Example For Students

Great Wall Of China Essay Engagement and Human Rights in ChinaWith the great advancement of China’s economy and foreign trade relations within the last twenty years, one cannot help notice a simultaneous increase in Chinese human rights. Naturally, the question of whether the rights have stemmed from trade relations or the trade relations have developed out of greater human rights in China has come up for debate. The prevalent view of the country’s stance is that foreign nations’ humanitarian concerns for China have resulted from the obligations of all the investors in China. In other words, the human rights issue has been used as a bargaining chip by other countries after developing a strong economic tie. China has considered the fulfillment of basic economic needs a priority over the amendment of human rights abuses. This position has allowed China to further its economic ties, but at the same time, has allowed for neglect in the human rights sector that China still struggles to overcom e. China has spent over twenty years focused on its goal of building a strong economy. The drive for economic growth replaced the revolutionary zeal advocated for so long by Mao Zedong, and obvious changes have resulted from this new motivation. Despite the instability of the first few years after 1979, a cautious economic optimism has prevailed. The huge trade deficits of 1981 and 1982 have led to some conscious efforts in the early 1980s at strengthening the economynamely, a cut back on investments, a termination of expensive foreign contracts, a slimming of the domestic budget, and a replacement of the trade deficit by strong export policies. These early actions helped prompt a trade surplus of $6.2 billion in 1982 and $5.3 billion in 1983 (Spence 663). Also, China’s potential for trade relations was evident by a total foreign investment of $910 million in 1983 and $1.05 billion in international loans (Spence 668). In the beginning of the 1980s, China already showed dedica tion to its new goal of economic growth, and began achieving it through international trade relations. He had a strong army but the fierce tribes north of China, the Mongols and the Huns, were stronger. These nomadic tribes would come into China and steal crops and animals and then destroy everything left behind.Shih was very disturbed with these invasions, so in the year 214 B.C. E. he freed prisoners and gathered workers and herds of animals. He gave all this to Meng Tien, his loyal general. Meng and the men and animals were sent north to fortify Shihs kingdoms from invading armies. Shih planned to make a great wall by extending and enlarging preexisting walls made by previous rulers. This great wall would serve as a barricade to keep out all tribes that wanted to invade China. It also served to separate the civilized acts of the farmers in China to the barbaric acts of the nomadic tribes. What Shih did not know was that the construction would cause many deaths and much suffering to the builders of the wall. The wall which Meng and his men created had watchtowers, forty feet tall, every two hundred yards. The purpose of these towers was to alert the defending soldiers of approaching, attacking tribes. The soldiers at the towers signalled to each other by day using smoke signals, ! waving flags, blowing horns, and ringing bells; by night by lighting firework-like objects in the sky. The wall, itself, was approximately fifteen hundred miles long, thirty feet high and, at the base, twenty-five feet thick. It was made of the core of earth and gravel. Actually, it was two walls aligned with each other and then filled in with a stone base pounded smooth. The wall traveled over mountains and through valleys. It went from Liatun, on the coast near Korea, westward to the northern end on the Yellow River, southward to Lintao to close off the north west area of the empire from the Huns. The great wall is sometimes compared to a dragon with its head in the east and its tail in the west and its winding body. The dragon in China is considered a protective sacredness rather than a destructive creature. The top of the wall is approximately thirteen feet wide so six people riding horses could ride side by side along the top. On the side of the wall there are reliefs, which are two- dimensional figure!s on the wall. The Great Wall of China took hundreds of years to be totally completed and constantly maintained. As a barricade against invading armies it was very successful at keeping out unwanted people. Unfortunately, in the year 1215 AD, the Mongols came down, under the rule of Genghis Khan, and destroyed major parts of the wall. It took two years of constant fighting, but the Mongols were successful at breaking through the wall. Also, many years later, the Manchus, another strong tribe, penetrated the wall and took over parts of China. During the Ming Dynasty( 1368-1644 A.D.), the Great Wall was repaired by General Xu Da and watchtowers were added by General Qi Jiguang. Most of what tourists see today was made by these two generals. During World War II, the Great Wall was used for the transportation of troops. The Great Wall is so huge that it is the only man made creation which can be seen from the moon. BibliographyDelahoye, H. What role will poetry play in Essay. Drege, J.P.. Wilson, Dick. Zewen, Lou. THE GREAT WALL. New York: Warwick Press, 1987 Huang, Ray. CHINA A MACRO HISTORY. New York: M.E. Sharp Publishers, 1988 Huges-Stanton, Penelope. AN ANCIENT CHINESE TOWN. New York: Warwick Press, 1986 Kalman, Bobbie. CHINA THE LAND. New York: Crabtree Publishing Company, 1989Kan, Lao Po. THE ANCIENT CHINESE. London: Macdonald Educational Holywell House, 1981Nancarrow, Peter. EARLY CHINA AND THE WALL. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1980 Overbeck, Cynthia. Thompson, Brenda. THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1977 Toy, Sydney. A HISTORY OF FORTIFICATION. London: William Heinemann, 1955