A Comparative Study Of The Great Wall Of The Western Han Dynasty And The Great Wall

The Western Han dynasty has a prominent position on Chinese ancient history and so does Roman Empire on European history. The Great Wall in He Xi (west to the Yellow River) area bears some resemblance with Hadrian’s Wall built by Romans in Britain. All these make it possible to draw comparison between the two. The dissertation points out that the clashes between different ethnic groups and civilizations is the underlying reason for the building of the Walls after comparing the background of the two walls.. When building the wall, both the Chinese and Romans adopted the principles of suiting the local condition and obtain building materials locally. Economy was an important reason behind the decision to build the walls. The two walls have deep-rooted relations though there have not been obvious evidence to show that they have any direct links. The dissertation has three chapters:the first on introduces the historic backdrop of the two walls and points out that economy is an important factor in deciding the building of the Great Wall in He Xi area while the occupation of Britain by Romans and the change of Roman’s policy in Britain provides the background of Hadrian’s wall. The second chapter deals with the remains of the two walls and provides the foundation for the comparison. The third chapter, which is the body of the dissertation, initially compares the two walls in three aspects including magnitude, labor used and functions and then tries to figure out the connection of the two. The dissertation holds that the two are all results of the clashes between different ethnic groups and economic considerations. The dissertation then probes into the trade relation between Rome and China and illustrates that the events in the Eurasia continent has correlations by citing previous scholar’s research.