The Northern Qi，Northern Zhou and Sui Great Wall

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The Northern Qi Great Wall In 550，Gao Yang seized the throne of the Eastern Wei dynasty（534-550），and the dynasty was renamed Qi，which was called Northern Qi in history.The Northern Qidynasty（550-577）had a vast territory including the present-day Hebei province，Henan province，Shanxi province and Shandong province.In its north there were the threats from the nomadic tribes of Tujue，Rouran and Qidan and so on，and in its west there was the Northern Zhou regime opposed to it.For the sake of defense，the Northern Qi dynasty（550-577）began to build its own Great Wall.According to the History of the Northern Dynasties，in the 3rd year of Tianbao reign（552 AD），the Northern Qi dy-nasty（550-577）built a Great Wall from Xihezongqinshu（the northwest of Datong today）to Bohai Sea（the present-day Shanhai Pass）in the east.In the 6th year of Tianbao reign（555 AD），the emperor ordered to levy 1，800，000 people to build another Great Wall from Xiakou in Youzhou（the present-day Nankou of Juyongguan Pass in Beijing) to Hengzhou(the present-day Datong City) in the west, with a total length of over 900 li. In the first year of Tiantong reign (565 AD), in the strategically important positions of the 2,000 li from Kuduishu to the sea, it built fortresses on mountains and in valleys. According to the records in the History of the Northern Dynasties, the Great Wall constructed by the Northern Qi dynasty (550-577) in the direction from the west to the east totaled more than 1,500 kilometers, with a garrison post set in every 30 kilometers, and 25 prefectures and towns were set up in the strategic positions to station troops for defense. Besides, at the beginning of the 8th year of Tianbao reign(557 AD), the Northern Qi dynasty (550-577) built a wall inside the original Great Wall, from Kuluoba(the southwest of Datong today) to Wuheshu(in the northeast of Pingxingguan), with a total length of more than 200 kilometers. Inthe first year of Tiantong reign (565 AD), they again extended the inner Great Wall in Wuheshu to the east and connected with the outer wall of Juyongguan.

In addition, in order to defend against the NorthernZhou dynasty (557-581), the Northern Qi dynasty(550-577) also built a Great Wall in the direction from the south to the north. According to the Zi-zhi-tong-jian(or General Mirror for the Aid of Government), in the second year of Heqing reign(563 AD), Huli Guang, Minister of Public Works led 20,000 troops to build a Great Wall of over 100 kilometers,i.e. the section of Great Wall today we see among Youguan, Guangchang and Fuping.

In the Southern and Northern dynasties (420-589), the Northern Qi dynasty (550-577) was the dynasty which built Great Wall for most times.

The Northern Zhou Great Wall In 557, Yuwen Jue usurped the throne of the Western Wei dynasty (535-556) and renamed the dynasty as Zhou, which was called Northern Zhou in history. It had the territory including Hebei province, Shanxi province and Shandong province. In order to defend against Tujue and Qidan in the north, the Northern Zhou dynasty(557-581) rebuilt the old Western Wei dynasty Great Wall in the north. The Northern Qi dynasty (550-577) and the Northern Zhou dy-nasty(557-581) lay one in the east and the other in the west, but the latter one was much stronger than the former.

In 557, the Northern Zhou dynasty(557-581) conquered the Northern Qi dynasty(550-577). And later since Tujue harassed the border repeatedly, the Northern Zhou dynasty (557-581) rebuilt the Northern Qi Great Wall again.

The Sui Great Wall In 581, Yang Jian unified China and established the name of the dynasty as Sui. Ending the 400 years of feudal separation since the late Eastern Han dynasty (25-220), Emperor Wen began to build the Great Wall as soon as he was enthroned in order to fend off the intrusion of Tujue, Qidan and Tuguhun. During the Sui dynasty (581-618), although the Sui government adopted the strategies like as-sociating with the distant countries and attacking the near ones and making mischief among the khans inside the Tujue tribe, which achieved a lot, but Tujue was still their deepest worry. With no other methods, the government had to build the Great Wall, therefore the Sui dynasty(581-618) built Great Wall in large scale for 7 times in as short as 37 years, each time levying hundreds of thousands civilian labors or even a million.

However, the Great Wall built in the Sui dynasty (581-618) could only be seen mostly in the historical records, but not in reality. There are about three reasons:

Firstly, the Sui dynasty (581-618) rebuilt and repaired many parts of the Great Wall, mostly on the basis of theQin and Han Great Wall, but rarely built new ones of itself. Therefore people still considered the Great Wall rebuilt or repaired by the Sui dynasty (581-618) as the Qin and Han Great Wall.

Secondly, the Sui Great Wall was usually finished in a short time and had poor quality, most of which were without ramming, therefore after the weathering of the so many years, some had already become the present-day hils and some had been disappeared long before.

Lastly, some of the Great Wall built by the Sui Dynasty(581-618) might be covered by the Great Wall constructed in the Ming dynasty(1368-1644), which could no longer be seen.