Defence
work of the Great Wall during the Ming Dynasty was divided into architectures
of differing grades, classes, forms and uses, such as fortressed town,
castle, garrison city, mountain pass city, stronghold city, city wall,
watch tower, wall tower and furnace mound (for making smoke as signal
in case of invasion). These architectures are connected with each other
and coordinate with each other, forming a complete network of defence
projects. But they can be divided in to three parts: Mountain pass
city, Beacon fire site and wall.
Mountain pass city
The mountain pass city is a major defence stronghold along the Great
Wall of the Ming Dynasty. During emergency, top generals and high-ranking
officers were stationed in the mountain pass city, whose location was
considered to be of great importance.
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Beacon
fire site
Beacon fire site were known by a score of names: feng sui, feng tai,
yan dun, lang yan tai, ting, sui, etc. They were known as ting or sui
or ting sui during the Han Dynasty. In the Tang and Song dynasties they
came to be called feng tai. But they were known as yan dun or duntai
in the Ming Dynasty.
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the architecture of Beacon fire site:
Beacon Fire Site is an independent high platform, with attached houses
and facilities to make smoke or start fire, either on top or below
the raised platform. Underneath the platform is the sleeping quarter
for soldiers, stable and warehouse. The building materials and the
structure of beacon fire site are the same as for other defence works.
They are eitherbuilt of stones or rammed earth or bricks
and stones. Discover
more...
The
Wall ( or rampart )
The wall is the main construction work, connecting strategic mountain
passes and beacon fire sites into an integrated unit. The wall is built
in accordance with the terrain. Its width and height vary from place
to place. Take Juyongguan Pass and Badaling for instance.The body of
the wall here averages 7 or 8 meters in height. It is 6 or 7 meters
thick at the base. The top is 5 meters wide. The wall is therefore narrow
at top and broad at base. Discover
more...
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Defence
work of the Great Wall during the Ming Dynasty was divided into architectures
of differing grades, classes, forms and uses, such as fortressed town,
castle, garrison city, mountain pass city, stronghold city, city wall,
watch tower, wall tower and furnace mound (for making smoke as signal
in case of invasion). These architectures are connected with each other
and coordinate with each other, forming a complete network of defence
projects. But they can be divided in to three parts: Mountain pass
city, Beacon fire site and wall.