Wind howls across the plateau, sun beats down on the backs of soldiers, slaves and peasants. Listen closely and you’ll hear the pounding and tamping of wood against the earth. These were the sounds of the Great Wall of China being built. It all started around 221 BCE when Mongolia was thought to be planning to take over China. The wall was built to keep Mongols out and protect travelers on the silk road. The Great Wall of China was a source of national pride for the Chinese, and at the same time a constant reminder of sacrifice and the tyrannical wrath of their leader, Emperor Qin.
The construction of the Great Wall took centuries of hard labor to build, taking with it the lives of millions of innocents peasants. The Great Wall no doubt ably had many positive benefits: it was originally built to protect the Chinese from nomadic tribes called Xiongnu, to act as a signaling outpost telling soldiers if they were enemies nearby, but it also united China together.
However, the construction of the Great Wall was a very tedious affair, it demanded the employment of millions of innocent peasants, where they were enslaved until death, working in harsh conditions, over-worked and underfed.
For the Chinese, the great wall was a national landmark that made them proud, but at the same time, it was a continual reminder of how much they had sacrificed for its completion. But it all goes to one question. Did the benefits outweigh the costs?(To outweigh is to be greater than or larger).
Many people look only at beauty when they see the wall. The wall brought death, depression, and simply was not helpful in protecting China. The construction of the great wall took many years, and with it the death of many peasants and soldiers.
From a list of compiled sources, including legends and folk songs as well as historical documents, it states that “tens of thousands of soldiers died from hunger sickness, and extreme heat or cold.” This shows that Emperor Qin, intoxicated with the ardor of his power, did not care about how many innocent lower class people died, he only cared about the construction of his Great Wall. Also from the list compiled from various sources, including legends and folk songs as well as historical documents states “Heavy fighting against the Xiongnu during much of the 2nd century BCE. One campaign in 104 BCE reported 80 percent Han casualties”. This shows that the Great Wall of China was not strong enough to keep out the Xiongnu invasion and many slaves, convicts, and peasants who lived close to the wall, died.
Emperor Qin obviously did not care about the millions of people he was putting to work and they became very depressed. In a list compiled from various sources, including legends and folk songs as well as historical documents, it states “During the short ten year period of Qin wall-building, there was heavy use of peasant laborers, who worked seven-day work weeks with little food. During the eight months of winter, temperatures reached 20-to 30-below zero, Fahrenheit.” The building of the Great Wall enslaved millions of the chinese population and put them in very harsh conditions for many years.
For the millions of people working on the wall, life was very hard. Also from the list of compiled sources, including legends and folk songs as well as historical documents, it states “Soldiers were forced to leave [their families and villages for several years. Without any family or friends, many workers were lonely, bored, overworked, and underfed. Many peasants and soldiers attempted to move across the border to live with the Xiongnu to escape their terrible fate. The Great Wall of China wasn’t build strong enough to withstand attacks from enemies such as the Xiongnu.
In the background essay about The Great Wall of Ancient China: Did the Benefits Outweigh the Costs? It states that the main material used to construct the walls were several “layers of dirt”. Dirt is not sturdy enough to protect a large population, such as China. Dirt can easily be broken through by the Xiongnu.Also a chinese poem describing the life of the Han cavalry (horseback) soldier, it states “We fight South of the wall, we die north of the wall”. This is because the horseback soldiers constantly have to fight the Xiongnu because the Wall is not able to hold up against their attacks.
However, the Xiongnu are too powerful and eventually kill the soldiers, which is why they built the wall. If the wall was not even able to serve it’s purpose, then why was so much effort put in to build it? Although one may say building the Great Wall of China was worth the costs because it provided a buffer zone between invading people from the north, this is not true as the wall was made of dirt and could easily be overcome.
In conclusion, The great wall was not worth the benefits because the wall required many sacrifices, made many feel depressed, and was not helpful in protecting China.
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