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Great Wall of China Timeline

(7th Century BC – Present)

The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications built across the northern borders of China to protect against invasions. Constructed and rebuilt by multiple dynasties over more than two millennia, its most famous sections were built during the Ming Dynasty. Stretching thousands of kilometers, it stands today as one of the most impressive architectural feats in human history and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Less

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Ancient Origins

Chinese wall-building techniques emerge

800 BC - 500 BC

The Chinese were already familiar with the techniques of wall-building by the time of the Spring and Autumn period between the 8th and 5th centuries BC, laying the groundwork for the later construction of extensive defensive walls across northern China.

Image source: Great Wall of China

Chinese wall-building techniques emerge

First walls built in the 7th century BC

700 BC - 601 BC

The first walls that would eventually become part of the Great Wall date to the 7th century BC, when rival states constructed fortifications to defend their territories against one another and against nomadic peoples.

Walls joined together in the Qin dynasty

221 BC - 206 BC

During the Qin dynasty, the earlier walls built by separate states were joined together into a unified defensive system under the first emperor, creating the earliest version of what would become known as the Great Wall of China.

Loss of records of the Qin walls

206 BC

There are no surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin walls, as most of the ancient walls have eroded away over the centuries, and very few sections remain today.

Non-Han dynasties build border walls

386 - 1227

Dynasties founded by non-Han ethnic groups also built border walls: the Xianbei-ruled Northern Wei, the Khitan-ruled Liao, Jurchen-led Jin and the Tangut-established Western Xia all constructed defensive walls, reaching further north than Han-built fortifications.

Jin dynasty border fortifications

1115 - 1234

The Jurchen-led Jin dynasty constructed extensive border fortifications in northern China; these Jin dynasty walls are now measured at 4,010 km (2,492 mi) in length, forming a significant portion of the total Great Wall remains.

European Accounts

European travelers fail to mention the Wall

1200 - 1400

None of the Europeans who visited China or Mongolia in the 13th and 14th centuries, such as Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, William of Rubruck, Marco Polo, Odoric of Pordenone and Giovanni de' Marignolli, mentioned the Great Wall.

Ibn Battuta hears of China's Great Wall

1346

The North African traveler Ibn Battuta, who visited China during the Yuan dynasty around 1346, had heard about China's Great Wall, possibly before he had even arrived in China.

Image source: Ibn Battuta

Ibn Battuta hears of China's Great Wall

Portuguese reach Ming China by ship

1514

Soon after the Portuguese reached Ming China by ship in the early 16th century, accounts of the Great Wall began circulating in Europe, although no European was able to see it for another 100 years.

Gaspar da Cruz discusses the Great Wall

1559

In 1559, in his work 'A Treatise of China and the Adjoyning Regions', Gaspar da Cruz offered an early discussion of the Great Wall, one of the first Western accounts of the structure.

Image source: Gaspar da Cruz

Gaspar da Cruz discusses the Great Wall

João de Barros's Asia mentions the Wall

1563

One of the earliest European descriptions of the Great Wall may be the one contained in João de Barros's 1563 work 'Asia', an important early Portuguese account of the region.

Image source: João de Barros

João de Barros's Asia mentions the Wall

González de Mendoza praises the Wall

1585

Bishop Juan González de Mendoza described the Great Wall in 1585 as a 'superbious and mightie work' of architecture, though he had not seen it himself. Other early Western accounts include those of Gaspar da Cruz, Bento de Goes, and Matteo Ricci.

Bento de Góis enters China via Jiayu Pass

1605

Perhaps the first recorded instance of a European actually entering China via the Great Wall came in 1605, when the Portuguese Jesuit brother Bento de Góis reached the northwestern Jiayu Pass from India.

Image source: Bento de Góis

Bento de Góis enters China via Jiayu Pass

Ming Dynasty

Ming dynasty begins building best-known sections

1368 - 1644

Successive dynasties expanded the wall system over the centuries, but the best-known sections of the Great Wall of China were built by the Ming dynasty between 1368 and 1644.

Ming builds the Liaodong Wall

1450 - 1460

During the mid–15th century, the Ming also built a so-called 'Liaodong Wall', extending the defensive system to protect the Liaodong region in the northeast.

Image source: Great Wall of China

Ming builds the Liaodong Wall

Qi Jiguang builds watchtowers and brick facing

1567 - 1570

Under general Qi Jiguang's supervision, 1,200 watchtowers from Shanhaiguan Pass to Changping were constructed between 1567 and 1570, and sections of the ram-earth wall were faced with bricks.

Image source: Qi Jiguang

Qi Jiguang builds watchtowers and brick facing

Wall defends against Manchu invasions

1600 - 1644

Towards the end of the Ming, the Great Wall helped defend the empire against the Manchu invasions that began around 1600, serving as a critical barrier for decades.

Manchus cross the Great Wall

1644

The Manchus were finally able to cross the Great Wall in 1644, after Beijing had already fallen to Li Zicheng's short-lived Shun dynasty, paving the way for the Qing conquest of China.

Modern Era

William Stukeley's letter sparks visibility myth

1754

One of the earliest known references to the myth of the Great Wall's visibility from the Moon appears in a letter written in 1754 by the English antiquary William Stukeley, who claimed it 'may be discerned at the Moon'.

Image source: William Stukeley

William Stukeley's letter sparks visibility myth

'Great Wall of China' standard in English and French

1800 - 1899

By the nineteenth century, 'the Great Wall of China' had become standard in English and French, although other European languages such as German continue to refer to it as 'the Chinese wall'.

Henry Norman repeats Moon visibility claim

1895

In 1895 Henry Norman wrote that besides its age the Wall 'enjoys the reputation of being the only work of human hands on the globe visible from the Moon', further spreading the myth.

Ripley's Believe It or Not! spreads the myth

1932

The myth that the Great Wall is visible from the Moon also appears in the 1932 strip of Ripley's Believe It or Not!, helping make the erroneous claim ubiquitous in popular culture.

Image source: Ripley's Believe It or Not!

Ripley's Believe It or Not! spreads the myth

Erosion threatens Gansu sections

2007

In 2007 it was estimated that more than 60 km (37 mi) of the wall in Gansu province may disappear in the next 20 years, due to erosion from sandstorms.

Voted one of the New 7 Wonders of the World

Jul 7, 2007

The Great Wall of China is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in 2007 it was voted one of the New 7 Wonders of the World in a global poll.

Image source: New 7 Wonders of the World

Voted one of the New 7 Wonders of the World

Unknown Ming wall sections discovered

2009

In 2009, 180 km of previously unknown sections of the Ming wall concealed by hills, trenches and rivers were discovered with the help of infrared range finders and GPS devices.

Report: 22% of Ming Wall has disappeared

2012

A 2012 report by the National Cultural Heritage Administration states that 22% of the Ming Great Wall, or 1,961 km (1,219 mi), has disappeared.

Comprehensive mapping survey concludes

2012

In 2012, based on existing research and a comprehensive mapping survey, the National Cultural Heritage Administration concluded the remaining Great Wall sites include 10,051 wall sections, 29,510 individual buildings, and 2,211 fortifications, spanning 21,196.18 km (13,170.70 mi).

Earlier dynasties' wall sites measured

2012

Qin, Han and earlier Great Wall sites are 3,080 km (1,914 mi) long in total; Jin dynasty border fortifications are 4,010 km (2,492 mi); the remainder date back to Northern Wei, Northern Qi, Sui, Tang, the Five Dynasties, Song, Liao and Xixia.

Concrete repair near Liaoning-Hebei border

2014

In 2014 a portion of the wall near the border of Liaoning and Hebei province was repaired with concrete, drawing criticism as an inappropriate restoration of the historic structure.

Nine new sections found in Ningxia and Gansu

Mar 2015 - Apr 2015

In March and April 2015, nine sections with a total length of more than 10 km (6 mi), believed to be part of the Great Wall, were discovered along the border of Ningxia autonomous region and Gansu province.

Badaling visitor limit instated

2018 - 2019

The Badaling Great Wall saw nearly 10 million visitors in 2018, and in 2019, a daily limit of 65,000 visitors was instated to protect the site from overcrowding.

Image source: Badaling

Badaling visitor limit instated

Shanxi section damaged by construction workers

2023

A section of the wall in Shanxi province was severely damaged in 2023 by construction workers, who widened an existing gap in the wall to make a shortcut for an excavator to pass through.

Key Facts

  1. The earliest walls were built as early as the 7th century BC by various Chinese states before unification.
  2. Emperor Qin Shi Huang connected and extended existing walls around 221 BC after unifying China.
  3. Most of the well-preserved wall visible today was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) using brick and stone.
  4. The Great Wall stretches approximately 21,196 kilometers (13,171 miles), including all its branches and sections.
  5. The Great Wall was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

Source

This Great Wall of China timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

We work hard to keep these timelines accurate, but mistakes do get through. If you spot one, email us at [email protected] and we'll fix it for future visitors.

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