The Great Wall: China Against the World, 1000 BC – AD 2000 by Julia Lovell (PDF)

Description

Legendarily 2,200 years old and 4,300 miles long, the Great Wall of China seems to make an overwhelmingly confident physical statement about the country it spans: about China’s age-old sense of itself being an advanced civilization anxious to draw a clear line between itself and the “barbarians” at its borders. But behind the wall’s intimidating exterior—and the myths that have built up around it—is a complex history that has both defined and undermined China. Author Julia Lovell has written a new and important history of the Great Wall that guides the reader through the conquests and cataclysms of the Chinese empire, from the second millennium BC to the present day.In recent years, the Wall has become an ever more potent symbol of Chinese nationalism, of a determination to resist foreign domination. But how successful was the Wall in reality, and what was its real purpose? Was it a precursor, albeit on a huge scale, of the Berlin Wall—a barrier designed to keep its population in as much as undesirables out? Lovell looks behind the modern mythology of the Great Wall, uncovering a three-thousand-year history far more fragmented and less illustrious than its crowds of visitors imagine today. The story of the Wall winds through that of the Chinese state and the frontier policy that defined it, through the lives of the millions of individuals who supported, criticized, built, and attacked it.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I was ready to concede this as a lesser of Julia Lovell’s efforts before the end of the introduction. A worn riff on Britain’s spurned 1793 mission to Beijing illustrates the insularity of the Middle Kingdom. The Great Wall is dusted off as a metaphor of sinocentricity. A whiff of western told-you-so lingers in the air. Once awkward advances are rejected a curious attraction remains. Any attempt to fold 3000 years of Chinese history into 300 pages is ambitious, but here it is nearly pulled off. The story of ‘The Wall’ as deconstructed becomes transformed into a device which telescopes time.After obeisance to the legendary Yellow Emperor tales of the Warring States and Confucius from 500 BC are told. The Qin First Emperor of 221 BC built a wall in far off Mongolia, to the north of his terra cotta army and mausoleum where mercury rivers flow. This was no brick watchtower affair, but mud and wattle breastworks between mountains and valleys. The Han extended it in 100 BC to the distant deserts of Turkestan, where silk roads pass by Buddhist caves. How things this ancient are known is no mystery. The grand historian Sima Qian recorded them during his lifetime.Following the fall of the Han in 220 AD, disunity prevailed during the Three Kingdoms. Barbarian fought barbarian, and the victorious fell victim to settled life. Nomadism was well suited for warfare and conquest, but agrarianism and urban centers were far better for rule. Those who fought their way within became assimilated to Confucian governance, such as the 13th century Mongolian Yuan dynasty and the 17th century Manchurian Qing dynasty. The greatest wall builders were the Ming, who began the classic ramparts in the 14th century, as they are now known throughout the world.A theme of this book is the inherent flaw of defensive walls. The 7th century Tang dynasty is given as an example that forward campaigns were more effective, and that offense was the best defense. The walls, straddling peaks with forts in passes, make it hard to imagine they did not give an advantage to the defenders. Why else would they be built over again for 2000 years if they were of no use? The explanation is that weakness and corruption kept them from being properly guarded. Useful for early warning, to mobilize men and material, by themselves walls would never suffice.Lovell proposes a revisionist understanding of the barbarians beyond the wall. Not allowed trade with China during certain reigns, they were forced to raid and pillage to obtain goods they were unable to produce. In peaceful times there was a ‘tribute’ system, evolved during the Han dynasty. In return for furs and horses, the emperor gave money, metals, silk and grain, often of greater value, and marriage alliances. The tribal leader would submit authority to the emperor, and accede to treaties of non-aggression. The exchange favored the foreigners, but it was cheaper than wars or walls.Lovell notes a ‘gulag’ aspect to building the walls over the millennia. Prisoners were press ganged into construction and then garrisoned along the wall. Sections were built by a similar methods as the Grand Canal, linking Luoyang to the Yangtze in the 7th century with corvee labor. Once a symbol of feudalism, they were adopted by the communists in the late 20th century as an icon of national excellence. Mao Zedong exclaimed “He who has not been to the Great Wall is not a true hero!” Richard Nixon laconically intoned: “This is a great wall…it must have been built by a great people.”The author gives vivid descriptions of the places involved. There is too much coverage of reigns and campaigns, perhaps inevitable in a study of fortifications. Dry recitation of names and dates is a potential pitfall, but it is offset by a keen wit and sharp selection of ancient anecdotes. Beside lecturing at the University of London, Lovell is a translator of Chinese literature. The book works well as an introduction or a refresher on the dynastic successions from a perspective of the frontier. Although not as good as her later works on the Opium War and Maoism, it is worthwhile to read.

⭐I finally got around to reading this after having it on my shelf for years. The Great Wall is a look through Chinese dynastic history and how it built and used walls through time. The book focuses on using the wall as a milestone gauge for much of its history that could be considered independent of the wall as well as how to look at the wall as a foreign policy instrument. It is filled with poems and narratives of citizens through the ages to reinforce her arguments and shows how todays common knowledge conflicts with the historical account. The book is interesting and gives a good history of the dynasties and how they each focused on the wall as a means to enclose and defend but its arguments about Chinese priorities and perspectives also has distinct political translations to modern China today that the author focuses on.The Great Wall is split into 12 chapters. It starts out by setting the stage in the opium wars and discusses the terms of trade in the late 18th century as well as the relative political positions of China and Britain. The author starts articulating her core thesis right from the beginning by discussing the Wall as an amazing construction that foreigners marveled at, like the early british travelers, but also how it represented an encasing of China’s cultural center and its lack of interest in considering the outside world as a region to learn from. The author then goes into Chinese history; she discusses the change in ecosystem from the south to the north and how the differences between agricultural life and steppe life led to conflicting boundaries. She discusses the unification of China under Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of China. The author discusses the Qin wall building and the Legalist system that was used as a means of governance. Confucius wasn’t adopted until the Han Dynasty (though he lived before the Qin). The major figures of China’s early history are all briefly discussed as well as a focus on the politics of the time and the ways in which emperors looked to consolidate power. The author moves from the Qin to the Han. The fall of dynasties from the beginning were catalyzed by steppe armies of the North descending South and destroying armies; with these dynamics the new dynasties were often quite quick to start rebuilding walls to the north to prevent history from repeating itself. This was how the author categorizes the Han’s building of more walls. The author argues the walls were both defensive as well as imperialist as they extended into areas clearly not suited for farming. The author briefly focuses on the volatile period from 386-618 when 3 dynasties overlapped none truly in control (northern Wei, Northern Qi and the Sui Dynasties). The author moves from the volatile Sui Dynasty to the much more revered Tang Dynasty where a more stable regime is seen. Wall building was not a priority and Emperor Taizong focused on consolidating his power and using more power diplomacy than defense. During the Tang period the Turkish risks to the north were seen off. The author moves to the Jin dynasty, the dynasty that was destroyed by the mongols. The Ming Dynasty is discussed, the Ming were the builders of the largest and most impressive stretches of Wall that are north of Beijing and are often considered what the Great Wall is today. The Ming built much extravagance including the Forbidden City in Beijing. The author then discusses the fall of China as it lost its luster and corruption grew. The monthly salaries of the army to maintain the wall had no revenues to back it and the 700k strong army was perhaps 1/10 the size. Eventually yet again, the cost of the wall and the bureaucracy was too great and taxation on the rural peasants too high that when the Manchurians came down from the North to a crumbling empire they were easily able to take control. The cycle of Chinese Dynasties ended with the coming of foreigners from farther abroad. The Opium Wars started the century of humiliation in which China was torn apart by various foreign governments. The growth of Chinese nationalism was in place and the author goes into Sun Yat-sen and the fight for independence that happened 100 years ago. The author gives some perspective on the nationalists and the communists and the ways in which they fought and cooperated.The author goes from the first dynasty to the modern era for China. The Great Wall is used as a symbol of foreign policy and a part of the mentality of Chinese leaders about the need for isolation at times. The author makes analogies between the Great Wall and the firewall that China is under for the internet. The argument sounds sensible and intuitive and all in all the book is well put together as well as informative about China from a historical perspective. That the wall is not the mythical object that it is often described at is definitely well argued and the human cost of it is pressed on the reader quite clearly. The association with the wall of the past with the firewall of today is where history turns to analogy. There are similarities clearly- the firewall is not to protect armed invaders from entering to uproot and replace the current regime, but rather that the diffusion of ideas that the internet might provide could heighten general dissatisfaction. I enjoyed reading this as it gave a good history of the dynasties and many of the notable characters in China’s history.

⭐Dispense with the notion that the Chinese lived sheltered, tranquil lives behind their Great Walls. Nothing could be further from the truth. With dazzling scholarship, much drawn from original Chinese sources, Ms Lovell traces a history of such turmoil and violence as to make Western experiences of barbarians seem as trivial as a gate-crasher at a children’s birthday party.Little wonder the that the Chinese moved millions of tons of earth and stone into fortifications, but as she so adroitly points out, not only were these fairly futile as a defensive exercise, but were also quite territorially aggressive given that much of the wall-building was sited well into ‘barbarian’ territory.What emerges is an Oriental race of enormous resilience, who not only tried to precisely define their territory physically, but perhaps just as importantly, defined their mental and psychological barriers to the greater world.Much of this will come as a disappointment to those entertaining doe-eyed notions of international friendship and co-operation etc. For the past 3000 years the Chinese have defended their individuality, and it remains to be seen if they will succumb to the multi-cultural soup-making of the West.Hugely perspective-enhancing.*Ms Lovell positively romps across an historical canvas of 3000 years – much of it accessible only in a daunting language – and condenses it in a story of uncommon skill and sagacity – all before the age of thirty!

⭐A very rough overview of Chinese history that is linked to the wall. Which is fine as that is in the title. However, Chinese history is about China, that expanding and contracting Empire that is in our time is reaching its geopolitical boundaries – not just the wall- and right now is at its greatest extent. As the south, east and other parts of China are not part of this book it is slightly focused on sales to westerners using the tag Wall- rather than China

⭐Julia Lowell’s two books on China are a must read ( the other is the Opium Wars) and she has a real insight into the cultural and political drivers. There are many books about the Wall ( John Man’s is also good) but Lowell is able to distill the whole theme of Wall building with the state of the Empire and the politics of the time. It is a masterly read providing not only historical analysis but also an insight into contemporary China and have they re-imagined the Wall as a symbol of New China and its continuous 3,000 civilization which she neatly dissects. Excellent reading

⭐Methinks one of the previous reviews is more about self promotion than anything else while another is blatant axe grinding which makes it meaningless. For me this a remarkably eccellent book indeed it is the best of its type I have ever read. The text is clear and easily readable,thec narration first class and character pen pictures outstanding. The 5 maps covering the 5 wall building periods are clear and uncluttered unlike most maps of the frontier walls. Ilook forward to other books by this author.

⭐For everyone who is interested to get a better picture about China’s 3000 year old history. This is the book. I already had been reading Dr. Julia Lovell’s fantastic book about the Opium-War, which I can recommend as an addition to this one. Both books are great reads. I can see that Mrs.Lovell is an expert in Literature because she has the skill not only to teach but to write entertaining History which in no part is ever boring.

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