2015-09-07

The Great Wall of Korea(s)?

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Heard of the Great Wall of China (만리장성, ),  where Chinese dynasties from, from the Han in B.C.E. 233 (Or the Jin in B.C.E. 770-443, the historians argue about this), where it stretches thousands of kilometers from East to Central China? Well, how about the Great Wall of Korea?

To fully understand the Great Wall of Korea(s), you must understand the Great Wall of China.
The Chinese Great Wall was made in order to stop tribes of the North (such as Mongolians and the Manchurian peoples) from invading China. The literal Chinese translated name for the Great Wall of China is the 10,000-li long castle. Li (or ri) is a form of Ancient East Asian measurement where 1 li roughly equals to 0.4 km. And since, in one point of history, the Great Wall of China was 4000 km long, so the name is quite reasonable.

Red: The Goguryeo Great Wall
Blue: The Goryeo Great Wall
Now, onto the Great Wall of Korea (천리장성, 千里長城). The first "Great Wall of Korea" I will talk about is the one built during the Goguryeo Dynasty (Red line on the map), a dynasty that lasted about 700 years. This Great Wall's literal translated name is the 1000-li long castle.  However, the Goguryeo Great Wall wasn't 400 km long; it was 700 km long! The reason they named it the 1000-li castle was just because they thought "it was so long it stretched over 400 km", but stretched even more. In conclusion: they barely estimated the distance. The Goguryeo Great Wall was built from the year 631 to 647 after the Goguryeo Dynasty and the Chinese Tang Dynasty's relations worsened. And yes, the Goguryeo Dynasty controlled VAST areas beyond the borders of current North Korea, controlling both the place where Confucius the Chinese philosopher was born and the current major Russian city of Vladivostok. That's why they could even build their Great Wall and why the People's Republic of China now operates the place.

The Second Great Wall of Korea's literal translation did almost exactly fit its description; it was about 400 km long. This Great Wall, built in the early days of Goryeo Dynasty (Called themselves the descendants of Goguryeo), is inside the borders of North Korea, and was the border of Goryeo Dynasty and a bunch of other Chinese Dynasties (and later the Mongolian Empire).

All the Korean Great Walls fit a similar purpose with the Chinese Great Wall; to protect themselves from the enemies of the North. If Korea never was divided or they still had territory up to the red line of the map, the Korean Great Walls would be better known today. However, with the Old Great Wall being in China (which has a longer Great Wall) and the New Great Wall being in the mysterious nation called the "Democratic" People's Republic of Korea, it is very unknown to many around the globe.

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