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Mystery of Great Wall partly unveiled  |
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 The historic Great Wall naturally has a reputation for being built with such splendid natural scenery as a backdrop. But how it was actually built has always been something of a mystery. Now some bricks have been found with characters engraved in them that could lead the way to solving the mystery of how centuries ago, 5,000 kilometres of wall, forts and staircases were built on mountain ridges without any machinery at all.
Long famed as the "Number One Pass Under Heaven", the Shanhaiguan section of the Great Wall in Hebei province was a military defense system in the Ming and Qing dynasties. At Dongluo City－－the outer part of the Shanhaiguan Great Wall －－researchers have found that many of the heavy, dark－blue bricks have been engraved, recording exactly when and where the bricks were made. Most were made in 1584 in the Ming Dynasty, but the most important finding is that this section was built by the army and the local government working together. Historians say the exact time and location of the bricks production shows that there was even a full quality control system used in the construction process.
Dong Yaohui, Secretary General of China Great Wall Research Society says: "Everyone had their own duty in building the Great Wall. By writing when and where the bricks were made, the construction quality of Great Wall was fully guaranteed."
The bricks in the Dongluo City section of the wall are some of the highest quality and have survived damage from the environment really well. A deeper study into this should help explain how the Wall is so solid－－and how building materials were made and developed.
Editor: Rebecca & Ronnie
Source: CCTV.com
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