The Great Wall 长城

长城是中国也是世界上修建时间最长、工程量最大的一项古代防御工程。自公元前七八世纪开始，延续不断修筑了2000多年，分布于中国北部和中部的广大土地上，总计长度达50000多千米，被称之为“上下两千多年，纵横十万余里”。如此浩大的工程不仅在中国就是在世界上，也是绝无仅有的，因而在几百年前就与罗马斗兽场、比萨斜塔等列为中古世界七大奇迹之一。
The Great Wall is an ancient work of defense which it took the longest time to construct with the greatest quantity of work in China and in the world. Ever since the 7th or 8th Century B.C., construction of it continued for more than 2,000 years, as a result of which it is seen on the vast lands in the north and middle of the country with a total length of over 50,000 metres, and hence its claim of “spanning more than 2,000 years and covering over 100,000 li”. Such a gigantic project that it took is unique not only in the history of China but also in that of the world, on which account it has been rated as one of the Seven Wonders of the World among such as the Roman Gladiators’ Arena and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
约公元前220年，一统天下的秦始皇，将修建于早些时候的一些断续的防御工事连接成一个完整的防御系统，用以抵抗来自北方的侵略。在明代（公元1368～1644年），又继续加以修筑，使长城成为世界上最长的军事设施。它在文化艺术上的价值，足以与其在历史和战略上的重要性相媲美。
In the year 220 B.C. or so, First Emperor of Qin (259-210 B.C.), who had just managed to unify the entire China, had the disconnected defense works that had been built earlier linked up into a complete system of defense for the purpose of repelling the invasion from the north. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), as ordered, the construction continued, and the Great Wall was made into the longest military work in the world, whose claim to cultural and artistic values can stand at par with its importance in history and strategy.
河北宽城满族自治县潘家口水库内的“水下长城”部分已成为高高在上的悬城。地处河北宽城满族自治县境内的潘家口水库里，有一段世上独一无二的“水下长城”奇观。建于500多年前的喜峰口、潘家口城堡是明代长城的两个重要关隘，是当时中原通往北疆和东北边陲的咽喉要道，这一带的长城共有墩台兵器库21座，敌楼160座，长约50公里。1975年国家在这里修建的大型水利枢纽工程潘家口水库蓄水后，水位超过了长城高度，喜峰口、潘家口城堡淹没于水中，从此这段历经五百年沧桑的长城便隐身水下。因连年干旱，潘家口水库水位急剧下降，在20世纪末，隐身水下20多年的长城露出水面。
The so-called “Great Wall Underwater” in the Panjiakou Reservoir, the Man [Manchu] Nationality Autonomous County, Kuancheng, Hebei, has been suspended highly in parts. How did the stretch of wall come to form a unique and miraculous spectacle? Xifengkou and Panjiakou Fortresses constructed more than 500 years ago were two important passes for the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty and major lines of communication leading from central China to the northern and northeastern frontiers, on which stretch that lasted for about 50 kilometres there were 21 arsenals and 160 watch towers. The year 1975 witnessed the completion of Panjiakou Reservoir, a large water conservancy project, and after the waters reached its designed capacity, the level of water surpassed the height of that part of the Great Wall. Therefore Xifengkou and Panjiakou Fortresses were submerged, and the stretch of the Wall of 500 years of age was overwhelmed underwater. However, years of drought on end had sent the level of the water within the Panjiakou Reservoir dropping rapidly, so at the end of the 20th century, that stretch which had been hidden under for 20 or more years remerged above the water.
长城修筑的历史长城修筑的历史可上溯到公元前9世纪的西周时期，周王朝为了防御北方游牧民族俨狁的袭击。曾筑连续排列的城堡“列城”以作防御。到了公元前七八世纪，春秋战国时期列国诸侯为了相互争霸，互相防守，根据各自的防守需要，在自己的边境上修筑起长城，最早建筑的是公元前7世纪的楚长城，其后齐、韩、魏、赵、燕、秦、中山等大小诸侯国家都相继修筑长城以自卫。这时长城的特点是东、南、西、北方向各不相同，长度较短、从几百千米到l000～2000千米不等。为了与后来诸侯国家所修万里长城区别，史家称之为“先秦长城”。
History of the Great Wall’s Construction dates way back to the Western Zhou Dynasty in the 9th century B.C., when the Zhou Kingdom, with a view to defending against the assaults from Yanyuan, a nomadic tribe in the North, built Fortress Array, i.e. fortresses that stood in continuity. When it was the 7th or 8th century, a time named the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, when the various feudal princes were seeking hegemony over and guarded against one another. So depending on their needs, they raised up great walls along their borders. The earliest length was built in the 7th century B.C. by the Chu Kingdom, to be followed by such other states as the Latter Qi Kingdom, and Han, Wei, Zhao, Yan, Qin and Zhongshan States, states of the feudal princes of various sizes, for the sole purpose of self defense. The great walls of the time were characterized by differing directions and shorter lengths measuring hundreds of metres to 1,000 to 2,000 metres, so that in order to distinguish the great walls of the time from those formed during the reign of the feudal princes, historians term them “Great Walls of the Former Qin Dynasty”.