探索世界奥秘之万里长城 Unit5

In the heart of a harsh winter, Meng Jiangnu(孟姜女) decided to visit her husband who had been sent to work on the construction of the wall. Bringing warm clothes for her beloved husband, she went to the first tower and asked the soldiers where she could find him. They knew he was dead. They couldn't bring themselves to tell her the truth. So they sent her to the next watchtower along the wall. Once again, she was told the same story. So she walked along the wall, searching desperately for her husband. From the Tibetan Plateau(青藏高原) to the Yellow Sea. Here at last someone told her that her husband was dead, one of the million tortured souls who haunted the wall. Her sadness was so great and her despair so intense that her tears made a great breach in the wall.

There is still a temple dedicated to Meng Jiangnu. Here pilgrims come to ring the bell for good luck and offer a prayer in front of her statue. They can even look through a telescope at the breach in the wall caused by the tears of their long-dead heroine.

In the years after Emperor Qin's death, the people revolted against his empire. They seized the weapons of its Terracotta Army and smashed its harmless soldiers, setting roof timbers on fire and burying the army until its recent discovery. But this peasant revolt had little effect on future emperors. Soon, a new dynasty began to build a wall even greater than Emperor Qin's. Emperor Qin built his Great Wall with the blood and lives of the peasants. Now a new dynasty, the Han, continued his obsession with wall building. But they had some extra help.

The bronze statue of the flying horse of Hunan is one of the greatest discoveries in Chinese archeology. This was the ultimate weapon of the Han Dynasty. A new breed of horse introduced into China by her nomadic enemies. It was stronger, faster and tougher than any horse the Chinese had ever seen. It was the cruise missile(巡航导弹) of their generation. So it is no wonder the artist crafted it flying through the air, its hooves resting on the back of a startled swallow. Now, despite their military success, the new rulers of China, the Han, still needed a Great Wall. So around the time that Christ was alive, they constructed a second Great Wall.

In total, this Great Wall stretched for 6,700 miles and was the longest construction in all human history.