Mysterious 99,999 'spooky' bricks to build the Great Wall of China

The Great Wall was built with the wisdom and sacrifices of many Chinese people. Not only is it one of the 7 wonders of the world, but it also contains many mysteries that posterity wants to learn.

The Great Wall of China is a famous wall of China, built continuously of earth and stone from the 5th century BC to the 16th century, to protect the nation from attack by the Xiongnu and Mongols. Ancient and other nomadic tribes.

Admire the majestic beauty of the Great Wall.

Several sections of the wall were built in the 5th century BC, the most famous of which is the wall that was ordered by the first Emperor of China Qin Shi Huang to be built between 220 BC and 200 BC. This part of the wall is located to the north away from the current section of the Great Wall, built during the Ming Dynasty.

Preliminary research published in 2009 estimated the length of the structure to be 8,850 km. According to the latest survey data, the project is 21,196 km long. However, if all sections of the wall were joined together, its total length could reach 56,000 km. The average height of the wall is 7 m above the ground. The upper side of the wall is on average 5-6m wide.

The building material of the Great Wall of China is something no one expected

Over thousands of years of history, the great work is still "racing liver and longevity". Is the construction made of rare and complex materials so sustainable? In fact, the mortar that helped the Chinese create the Great Wall is a blend of glutinous rice - a very important food for people in the southern region of the country.

During the restoration of the city wall in the capital Xi'an, people found it difficult to remove the mortar from the ancient bricks. When tested with chemicals, experts found that this material reacts with the reagent, which is glutinous rice. Infrared analysis also revealed a similar molecular structure to glutinous rice. In other words, it is the sticky rice mortar that creates the "stone-like" sustainability of the building to this day.

According to experts' research, they discovered that ancient Chinese builders mixed sticky rice porridge with limestone that was heated at high temperature, adding water and other ingredients to create a thick mortar. separate.

Unlike plain rice, glutinous rice after cooking will stick together more tightly, becoming very hard when dry. This construction is solid and waterproof. Maybe the ancients sensed the difference from reality, so they put this material into construction, considering it a precious material. Thereby, this is one of the most technological innovations in ancient history.

In addition to the Great Wall, a number of ancient towers and bridges built in the Tang and Song dynasties in Quanzhou, once suffered a 7.5-magnitude earthquake but still stood. Or the ancient citadel built in Nanjing, Xi'an under the Ming Dynasty, has undergone 600 years of history but has not yet subsided. They have the same feature that they all use sticky rice mortar. After the Song and Yuan dynasties, this mortar was used more widely.

The smile of a beauty makes a dynasty perish

The story happened in the Western Zhou Dynasty (1122 - 711 BC), recorded in the "History of Sima Qian". At that time, Chu U Vuong was the 12th king of the Zhou Dynasty, but also the last king of the Western Zhou Dynasty. He was judged by history books as a military man, because he was infatuated with a beauty named Bao Tu, so he lost his fortune.

According to ancient documents recorded, Bao Tu was a beautiful beauty that was second to none. Despite being loved by Chu U Vuong wholeheartedly, the beauty never smiled. Loving this concubine with all his heart, King Chu was determined to use all means to exchange for Bao Tu's smile.

Chu U Vuong lost his fortune because of Bao Tu.

At that time, around the land of the Zhou Dynasty, many oil towers were built called Ly Son stations, which were used to light up fire pillars to signal the arrival of the Quan Nhung army, and the vassals came to the rescue. Consecrated by a court official, King Zhou lit a fire on the oil tower. The surrounding vassals rushed to the rescue. However, when they arrived, the soldiers were shocked to find out that they had been tricked. Seeing the chaotic scene below, Bao Tu burst into laughter from the high platform. King Chu also rejoiced because of that. To please the beauty, Chu U Vuong also set fire to the radio a few times, causing the vassals to rush to the rescue and have to leave in anger.

Later, when Dog Nhung's army marched to Ly Son station to attack, King Chu ordered the fire to be set on fire, and the surrounding vassals thought it was a joke like the previous times, so no one came to rescue. In the end, rebel rebels stormed into the city, the Zhou Dynasty perished and the Western Zhou Dynasty collapsed.

99,999 bricks and an extra one caused the wall to have to be rebuilt a second time

Gia Duc Quan is the westernmost gate of the Great Wall, built in the border area bordering the Gobi desert. This gate is located at the narrowest point of the western part, built in the early Ming Dynasty, around 1372. Among the remaining gates, Gia Duc Quan is the most intact ancient military structure, and It is known as "The First Impressive Heaven".

Because it was built on the Gobi desert and the westernmost part of the ancient Chinese territory, in addition to its defensive function, this gate is also an important stop of the legendary "Silk Road", connecting China with other countries. West and Central Asia.

Fortunately, this gate has never had a war.

This place is also known as "Hoa Binh Quan", which is extremely solidly fortified and fortunately has never had a war.

Since its inception, this gate has been associated with a strange legend related to a man named Dich Khai Chiem, who lived during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). As a man who was good at both architecture and arithmetic, he was asked by the superior to undertake the task of designing the gate, estimating the exact number of bricks to build the citadel.

Dich Khai Chiem calculated and determined that it took 99,999 bricks to complete the work. The officer in charge didn't believe it and said that if he miscalculated one member, the soldiers would have to do hard labor for 3 years.

 Gia Duc Quan Tower.

When Gia Duc Quan finished building, of course, only one brick was left. The mandarin was very happy to find a way to punish Dich Khai Chiem as well as the soldiers who built the citadel. At that time, Dich Khai Chiem said, the extra brick was originally placed there by the gods, just moved to another place, the whole wall will collapse.

The official did not believe him, so he threw the brick away. Suddenly, the wall immediately collapsed, had to be rebuilt a second time. After the construction was completed, the brick was placed in the same position as before and is still located on the Gia Duc Quan tower.

The gate is perilously located between two cliffs, where only swallows can fly through

Located on Nhan Mon mountain in Dai district, about 20 km north of Xinzhou city, Shanxi province, China, Nhan Mon Quan is an important gate to cross the Great Wall.

With its rugged terrain, nestled between two steep cliffs, and home to a lot of terns, this pass is called Nhan Mon Quan with the implication that only swallows can pass through the gate. majestic mountains.

Nhan Mon Quan is an important gate to cross the Great Wall.

If the first section of the wall was soon built by Emperor Qin Shi Huang from BC, it would not be until the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) that the Nhan Mon Gate could be started. Not only was it an important military point in ancient and medieval Chinese history, this land also witnessed many large and small battles spanning thousands of years of history.

This place is built of bricks with paved streets. The surrounding walls stretch from east to west for about 5 km and are arranged with many watchtowers. Traces of history are still imprinted on the city gate, reminiscent of a chaotic time of war.

In the past, Nhan Mon Quan had many ancient towers. At the east gate there is a tower that is still standing, but much of it was burned down during the war with Japan.

Nhan Mon Gate is also known more through the story "Chieu Quan Cong Ho", or through the pen of the late writer Kim Dung becoming a legendary land appearing in the novel series "Thien Long Bat Bo". This place is associated with the character Kieu Phong - the great hero who used his own life to exchange for peace for the people of the two countries Song - Lieu.