Great Wall of China
The Great Wall required more than a million workers. Over half of them died of
overwork or fled the harsh conditions. The original building of the Great Wall, around
221 B.C., also involved a huge work force. Shihuangdi, the Chinese emperor who
conceived of this project, connected shorter walls that had been built along China’s
northern border centuries before. He also extended the wall for hundreds of miles. The
resulting fortified wall was and still is the longest structure on earth.
The most obvious benefit of the building of the Great Wall was protection. The wall
helped prevent nomadic horsemen from invading China’s farms along the northern
border. Also, it kept farmers living along the border from joining the nomads. Building
the Great Wall enabled Shihuangdi to get rid of his enemies. He ordered them to work on
distant parts of the wall. He also sent soldiers to work on the wall. As a result, the
soldiers could not band together and rise up against the emperor.
However, building Shihuangdi’s wall is estimated to have required more than 300,000
workers, most of whom were drafted against their will. Thousands of farmers and
merchants were required to supply the workers with food, clothing, tools and shelter.
Most of these supplies never made it to the work sites; bandits roaming the countryside
robbed the supply caravans.
The work of constructing the wall was so difficult and living conditions were so harsh
that thousands of workers died. Often they were buried in the wall itself. Thus, the Great
Wall of China gained the gruesome title “the worlds longest cemetery.”