Throughout history, the Great Wall has stood as a powerful symbol of Chinese civilization, garnering global recognition and interpretation across time and cultures.
As early as the 4th century AD, the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus recorded the Great Wall in his work Res Gestae, describing it as a circular wall with high ramparts surrounding the land of the Seres. The Seres, as China was known in Greco-Roman times, referred to the land of silk. His description of the circular wall is understood to reference the Great Wall, making Marcellinus the earliest known European scholar to document it.
In 955, al-Mas’udi, a Baghdad-born scholar who had traveled to China’s coastal regions, wrote about the Wall in his work The Meadows of Gold. He described the easternmost edge of the world as the border between China and Silla, reaching as far as the Great Wall of Gog and Magog.
From its inception, the Great Wall has attracted attention from across China’s various social and ethnic groups. Internationally, it has come to symbolize Chinese civilization itself—interpreted and reimagined by many cultures, giving rise to both a tangible and a conceptual Great Wall.
From Myth to Reality: Cross-Cultural Encounters
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Joseon envoys traveled annually to Beijing, often along the post roads that paralleled the Great Wall in Liaodong and Jizhou. In their writings, these envoys not only praised the Wall’s grandeur and strength but also documented its surrounding multicultural life, where Han Chinese, Mongols, Manchus, and Koreans coexisted.
For instance, in 1598, the envoy Yi Hangbok noted encountering a Mongolian delegation en route to Beijing, observing that eight or nine out of ten were Han, and only one or two were true Tartars. Similarly, in 1602, envoy Min Yonghwan recorded that after the Longqing Peace Talks, the barbarians gathered outside the wall, came and went freely, and there was no longer a need for defense.
Meanwhile, Jesuit missionaries from Europe—having transitioned from hearsay to firsthand experience—began shaping Western perceptions of the Great Wall. Italian missionary Matteo Ricci praised it as an impenetrable line of defense built by the Ming. In 1575, Spanish monk Martin de Rada called it one of the world’s most famous architectural feats. In 1687, French Jesuit Jean-François Gerbillon, who participated in Sino-Russian negotiations, affirmed the Great Wall is indeed one of the most extraordinary engineering achievements in the world.
These missionaries spread their observations through letters and publications, igniting wide interest in Europe about the Great Wall.
Western Capitalism and Shifting Attitudes Toward the Wall
European attitudes toward the Great Wall evolved alongside the rise of capitalism. Initially, China—advanced in economy and culture—was admired as a model civilization. However, as Europe industrialized, its thinkers began to devalue ancient civilizations, including China. As the Wall symbolized China, evaluations of it mirrored this shift.
Voltaire praised the Great Wall as a construction greater than the pyramids in 1756 An Essay on Universal History, the Manners, and Spirit of Nations. Yet in his 1764 Philosophical Dictionary, he portrayed both monuments negatively that the Great Wall is a colossal work born of fear and anxiety; the pyramids are relics of vanity and superstition.
In 1792, King George III dispatched Lord George Macartney to establish diplomatic relations with the Qing Dynasty. When the British delegation passed through Gubeikou, Deputy Envoy George Staunton described the Wall with mixed emotions: admiration for its scale and construction, but skepticism about its strategic utility.
He remarked that the sheer scale of the project was awe-inspiring, and the challenges of transporting materials into such mountainous terrain were nearly unimaginable. Referring to it as merely a “wall” hardly did it justice. Still, he cautioned that no fortification could determine a nation’s fate—while it may delay an enemy, it cannot stop them entirely.
Despite the diplomatic failure, a moment of warmth occurred: 13-year-old Thomas Staunton, who had learned Chinese during the trip, conversed with Emperor Qianlong, who was so pleased he gifted the boy a silk purse.
Years later, as a Member of Parliament, Staunton played a pivotal role in advocating military action during the debates preceding the Opium War. His speech helped push the British House of Commons to approve war against China.
The Evolving Global Perception of the Great Wall
Despite early European prejudices, many Western scholars eventually offered more balanced and positive assessments of the Great Wall based on direct study and fieldwork.
American explorer William Edgar Geil, a member of the Royal Geographical Society, conducted the first systematic Western survey of the Wall in 1903—from Shanhaiguan to Gansu.
He praised the wall’s peaceful purpose, noting that it was conceived to maintain peace, making it, in his view, one of the most remarkable achievements in both ancient and modern history. Geil emphasized that China’s commitment to defense over aggression had helped preserve its civilization, contrasting this with the fate of warlike nations that had vanished while the peace-loving Chinese endured through millennia. Reflecting on the wall’s symbolism, he expressed the belief that it was better to pile stones than to throw them, and better to build protective walls than to dig graves. He concluded with a tribute to the enduring virtue behind the Great Wall, which for over two thousand years had stood as a guardian of peace and a means of resolving conflict.
By the early 20th century, due to extensive research and glowing accounts by explorers like Geil, the Wall’s international image shifted to a more positive light. This foreign admiration influenced Chinese perceptions as well, strengthening the Wall’s symbolic power in national identity.
As a cultural icon, the Great Wall continues to attract global attention and interpretation. Its evolving image reflects broader historical shifts, changing values, and interactions between civilizations. The international discourse surrounding the Wall is now an integral part of its cultural legacy, enriching our understanding of its multidimensional nature.
This complex history supports the creative transformation and continued relevance of Great Wall culture, reinforcing its role as a source of national spirit and global cultural heritage.
Source: xinhua, cgtn, people’s, BBC, global times
