|
III. Teaching Time: Four periods IV. Background Information 1. The Great Wall of China In 221 B.C. the First Emperor started to build a great wall right across the north of his empire. He wanted to keep the tribes of Huns and Tartars outside his country. There were earlier walls built in some places by different kings of China, but the First Emperor, now that he ruled all China, decided to complete the wall. He decided to make it run right across from Tibet to the sea, a distance of over 1 500 miles. It took seven years to build. The Great Wall ran across wild, steep, mountainous country, over the mountains and down the valleys. North and west of it there were only wild mountains and deserts, and south and east there were the rich Yellow River plains. It was built higher than a double-decker bus. In most places it was wide enough for eight men to march side by side along the top. It was built of stones and clay. There were huge blocks of stones on the sides, and on the top there were more stones. Cars could travel along the top. About every two hundred yards there were tall, strong towers where soldiers could keep watch for the enemy, and where they could light fires to signal to each other. There were always soldiers inside these towers, winter and summer, keeping guard against attacks from the Huns. There were a few well-guarded gateways with huge wooden gates, strengthened with iron nails. These connected the main roads of China to other roads through the mountains and across the desert. The Great Wall has often been rebuilt through the centuries, and much of it is still standing today. Visitors can still see it running like a snake across the country and can still walk along the top. Much of the traffic which passes through the ancient gateways has not changed much. But today, as well as horses and carts there are motor cars and trucks. To build such an enormous wall across such wild and mountainous country without any modern tractors or other heavy machines was very difficult. All the Emperor's builders were thousands of men, often prisoners of war. They lifted the earth in buckets and dragged the stones in teams with ropes over their shoulders. They worked in such wild and distant places that it was difficult to supply them with enough food or to make proper shelters in which they could sleep. Thousands of workers died and were buried in the clay inside the wall. The people hated the Emperor for his cruelty but he made them finish the wall. Many people were seized and forced to work on the wall far away from their homes. Many of them never came back. Superstitious people who believed in magic used to say that the Emperor had ridden across the mountains on magic horses. The wall appeared under him as he went along. Wherever the horse stamped its foot, a watch-tower appeared. But the wall was not made by magic. It was made by the work and lives of thousands of men. (责任编辑：admin) |