Han Great Wall Site

The Great Wall of Han runs through the entire Hexi region in Gansu, also known as the "Hexi Han Sai", with a total length of 1,507 kilometers, with the Yumen Pass ruins and the Dunhuang Han Great Wall as its prominent representatives.

The Han Fortress in Hexi built a barrier and order that could not be easily crossed. No one was allowed to cross it without permission inside or outside the Great Wall. It was the bottom line for peaceful coexistence and a manifestation of the prestige and strength of the Western Han Dynasty.

Hexi Hansai has formed a long-distance transportation guarantee system and is also an important geographical guidance system in the western Gobi Desert, providing navigation to ensure life safety.

The Hexi Han Pass and its customs defense organizations achieved orderly management of foreign exchanges and ensured the order of personnel exchanges and goods transactions between the East and the West.

Overall, Hexi Hansai is a symbol and witness of peace.

The construction of the Hexi Han Fortress extended from Lingju (now Yongdeng) to the northwest to the Mamitu area of ​​West Lake in Dunhuang. Further west into the Lop Nur area, it was mainly composed of pavilions and forts, and was built in five phases.

The first one was in the sixth year of Yuanding (111 BC), when the section from Lingjusai (now Yongdeng County) to Jiuquan was built.

The second time was in the fourth year of Yuanfeng (107 BC), when the section from Jiuquan to Yumen was built.

The third time was in the third year of Taichu (102 BC), when the section from Zhangye to Juyan Lake (today's north of Liangzhou, around Minqin) was built.

The fourth time was in the early years of the Tianhan Dynasty (100 BC), when a watchtower was built from Dunhuang west to Yanze (Lop Nur).

The fifth time was in the third year of Emperor Xuan's Dijie reign (67 BC), when the Awei Pass was built to the area around Dou, which is now the Gulang area.

The beacon towers of the Han Great Wall in Dunhuang are located in the east and west of Dunhuang. They are connected to the Han Great Wall in Guazhou in the east, and run from east to west along the south bank of the Shule River straight into the Yanze (Lop Nur). The total length is 198 kilometers. The Danggu Beacon Tower section in front of you is the most well-preserved section of the Han Great Wall in China, which is built layer by layer with reeds and gravel.

The Great Wall has different names in different historical periods. It was called the Great Wall in the Qin Dynasty, the Saiyuan in the Han Dynasty, and the Bian Wall in the Ming Dynasty, but the general meaning is the Great Wall.

Its architectural structure and style vary from place to place with the characteristics of the terrain. Some places have tall and large brick and stone walls; some places have earth walls; some places have no walls, covered with fine sand, and observing footprints, called "Tiantian". Other places cleverly use swamps that cannot be crossed by people and horses as barriers, which is also a defensive measure. In short, the Han Great Wall in Dunhuang adopts a method of combining local materials with defense, and is built in sections and sections. The principle of construction at that time was: adapting to local conditions. Because there was a lot of gravel and crushed stone in the local area, and there was a lack of loess for ramming, the ancients adopted a very unique construction method. First, red willow and reeds were woven into a frame, and gravel was used in the middle, and layers were stacked. To ensure its stability, reeds were used as pads and soil was laid between each layer. The groundwater with high salt content makes the gravel condense and is extremely solid. Despite thousands of years of wind and rain erosion, it still stands in the Gobi sandstorm, and it is vicissitudes and spectacular. In terms of length, the Han Great Wall is a veritable Great Wall.

Another significant difference is that the beacon towers of the Han Dynasty were all built inside and outside the Great Wall (only one has been found built on the Great Wall so far), while the beacon towers of the Ming Dynasty were all built on the Great Wall.

Tiantian: Generally, a layer of fine sand three to five meters wide is spread on the inner side of the Han Great Wall to detect illegal entry and exit. In a few cases, it is laid on the outer side of the Han Great Wall. If the patrol soldiers find footprints left by the enemy, they will report to the superiors immediately. Do a good job of early warning.

In the desert, the Great Wall transcends time and space, recording infinite romance. There is an old Chinese saying: 'There are thousand-year-old earthen walls, but no thousand-year-old brick walls'. The Han Dynasty Great Wall here spans two thousand years of history. It has gone through wind and rain, and still stands in the desert with infinite scenery. Nowadays, it is rare to see buildings that are more than two thousand years old. In the desert of Dunhuang, seeing the Han Dynasty Great Wall that is so well preserved, everyone can't help but sigh at the wisdom of the ancients.